No sign of Malaysian jet; search will be “long haul”

21 March 2014

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Australian authorities said Friday they had called off their search for the day for two mystery objects that may or may not be parts of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Five search planes were combing the remote area as part of an international effort to locate possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The plane disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board.

The surveillance aircraft participating in the search include planes from Australia and New Zealand and one U.S. Navy plane.

Malaysia\’s defense minister said China has also deployed multiple ships and aircraft, with Japan, Britain and France providing additional assistance. But more help is needed.

"I will also be speaking with the U.S. secretary of defense (Chuck Hagel) at 21:15 tonight to request further specialist assets to help with the search and rescue efforts, including the operated vehicles for deep ocean salvage."

So far, there have been no signs of the missing plane or any firm clues as to what happened to it when it disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australia released satellite imagery Thursday showing two large objects investigators say could be part of the flight. One piece is about 24 meters long and another is five meters long.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters his country is "throwing everything we\’ve got" in an effort to find the plane.

"We have an Australian naval ship that is steaming as fast as it can to the area. It is an extremely remote part of the southern Indian Ocean. It is about 3,000 kilometers southwest of Perth. It\’s about the most inaccessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the earth, but if there is anything down there we will find it. We owe it to the families of those people to do no less."

Darkness, clouds and rain prevented rescue planes from seeing anything on Thursday.

Abbott also said he discussed the search efforts with Chinese President Xi Jingping, whom he described as "devastated," as most of the passengers were Chinese.

Investigators are not ruling out any possible causes, including catastrophic mechanical failure or terrorism. They say it is possible that someone who knew what he was doing caused the plane to fly far off course

Twenty-six nations have been hunting for the plane across an area covering more than 7 million square kilometers, from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian Ocean.

Some of the families of the missing passengers are extremely frustrated with the investigation, accusing Malaysian authorities of lying. Police forcibly carried out hysterical and sobbing relatives from a government briefing on Wednesday.

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