The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is expected to be a protracted one lasting up to a year.
Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said the challenges in the deep water search was such that it may take anywhere between eight and 12 months before they could come up with anything.
He said Malaysia, Australia and France were committed in finding the missing jetliner and with effective search efforts, he expressed confidence it would eventually be found.
He was speaking at a press conference today along with Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and French Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau president Jean-Paul Troadec here.
Hishammuddin said the next phase of search would involve China and this would be discussed in a tripartite meeting in Canberra, Australia on Monday.
“I will be leaving on Sunday and the discussions will focus on assets, families and expert advice on how to continue the search,” he said, adding the meeting would be attended by Chinese, Australian and Malaysian officials.
He reiterated that the search was on the right track but acknowledged the challenge was great, given the sheer size of the search area.
Asked whether it was right to discount Australian exploration firm GeoResonance’s claim that the plane could be in the Bay of Bengal, he said such claims would only distract the current search.
“If nothing turns up, who is going to be responsible for the lost time?” he asked.
“That lead can only be confirmed by physically getting appropriate vessels to search that area. But, I just want to stress that by doing that, we are distracting ourselves from the main search,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh navy has mounted a renewed search for the plane in the Bay of Bengal, following the claim by GeoResonance.
Two navy ships – BNS Bangabandhu and BNS Anusandhan – started the search on Tuesday night.
No plane wreckage in Bay of Bengal
Meanwhile, according to Bernama, nothing has so far been found in the Bay of Bengal, with regard to GeoResonance’s report.
Houston said currently, three Bangladeshi navy ships were scouring the area, with one of the ships equipped with echo sound capability to assist in ensuring a thorough search in that particular area.
“But I will say very quickly that I have the heaviest weight put on all the evidence that is before us, the great work that the world team here in Kuala Lumpur has found, the analysis of the manual handshakes between the aircraft and the satellite.
“And also, the stimulation work has been done to define the area in the southern Indian Ocean. I’m confident the area in the southern (Indian) ocean is the right search area and I’m sure that in time, we will find the aircraft in that area of the Indian Ocean,” he said.
