Missing MH370: Funding to aid search could last until April, says Pentagon
USS Kidd destroyer helping Malaysia searching the seas.
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WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that funding set aside for assistance to the Malaysian government in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft could last until April.
Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren provided the department's costs in response to a query from reporters earlier this week, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
"As of now, we've set aside USD4mil (RM13.2mil) to aid in the search. Based on our current expenditures, we expect these funds will last until sometime in the beginning of April," Warren said on Saturday.
The total cost for supporting the search for MAS flight MH370 is now about USD2.5mil (RM8.2mil), including operating costs of ships and aircraft currently supporting the search.
Warren said that variables such as the number of flight hours or any other assets that may be dedicated to the search could affect this estimate.
The official noted that some of the cost would have been incurred even without providing assistance to the search, because the USS Kidd destroyer "was already out and operating."
With two aircraft currently assisting the search and navy ships previously dedicated to the efforts, Warren said the US is doing all it can.
"We've offered the P-8 Poseidon and the P-3 Orion that are participating," said the spokesman.
Warren said there are plans to move the P-3 Orion assisting in the search to the southern search area in coordination with Australia.
"It's still up in the Bay of Bengal now. There is a plan for it to move further south. I don't have an exact timeline but I believe it's moving south toward the Cocoa Islands," he said.
In a telephone conversation on Friday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Malaysian Defence Minister and acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein discussed the ongoing search for the missing plane.
Hussein requested that US officials consider providing some undersea surveillance equipment, said a Pentagon statement. - Bernama
