Malaysian Flight MH370 Search News, Update: Search Area for Missing Aircraft Expanded
Recent news concerning the still missing Malaysian Flight MH370 indicated that the underwater search for the aircraft has been expanded into the southern Indian Ocean.
The latest update from the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) came on Wednesday. The agency admitted in their statement that they don't know where else to pinpoint their focus if the Boeing 777 can't still be found in the aforementioned area.
Earlier reports indicated that the search range for the Malaysian Flight had been focused on a 23,000-square mile seabed area where experts previously believed to where the missing airplane crashed.
The new expanded zone now covers 46,000 square miles, an area similarly the size of Pennsylvania.
The statement from JACC, however, said that aside from the greater area to cover, the impending local winter weather could also hamper the search operation.
"The search into the expanded area has already commenced, with search efforts focused in the south to take advantage of the last of the usable weather in that area," the press release from JACC reads. "The search plan has been modified to enable continuous search operations during winter and to ensure that the entire [46,000 square mile] area is searched as quickly and effectively as possible."
"Expert advice is that the highest probability of locating the aircraft is within the [46,000 square mile] search area. Beyond that, it is not possible to refine the search area to one of greater likelihood."
According to a report from NBC News, the expanded search zone initiative was agreed upon back in April by ministers from Australia, Malaysia and China.
The jetliner disappeared on March 8 last year while it was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. All 239 people on board in the plane were presumed to be already dead by Malaysian officials.