Australia, Malaysia to launch jet search

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says an intensified underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-370 will start in about two weeks.

In a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Abdul Razak, in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya, the Australian prime minister pledged that his country will do everything possible to find the missing plane, adding that the hunt would continue for as long as necessary.

“That search will continue until all that is humanly possible to be done has been done to scour the probable impact site,” Abbott said, adding, “It will commence in about a fortnight’s time. It will utilize the best-available technology. It will last as long as it needs to scour the seabed.”

Abbott also stated that Australia and Malaysia will contribute USD 60 million each, which is roughly half the estimated total cost for the intensified search operations.

MH-370, with 239 people aboard, is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia on March 8. The massive air, sea, and underwater search operations have failed to find any wreckage so far.

NGD/AB/SS