1 year on, investigators still hopeful about finding MH370

Kuala Lumpur, March 8: It's been a year since the MH370 had disappeared soon after taking off from the Malaysian capital for Beijing and all efforts to trace the missing aircraft carrying 239 people on board have proved to be futile. On March 8, the plane had vanished less than a hour after taking off.

The international search team believes that the aircraft lies somewhere off its course. A 60,000 square kilometre area on the seafloor of the Indian Ocean, south of Western Australia, has been identified as the "priority zone" of which only 40 per cent has been searched. Investigators hope to complete combing the rest of the area by the end of May.

Peter Foley, director of Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) who is in charge of the search for MH370, said they were confident of going in the right direction and the mystery could be cracked soon.

The ATSB's flight modelling and analysis of the data received from the satellite has been verified with the help of the Boeing, satellite company Immarsat and international bodies.

The ocean floor of the priority zone has been mapped and four vessels are surveying the area to trace the missing flight.

Foley said he was confident that the search systems will locate the aircraft.

Meanwhile, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss rubbished reports that his country was considering calling off the search operation.

Ministers from the Australia, Malaysia and China will meet in April to decide whether to look for MH370 beyond the priority zone.

Oneindia News