Up to 34 aircraft and 46 vessels from six nations deployed
SEPANG: AN international search-and- rescue (SAR) operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board intensified yesterday with at least 34 aircraft and 46 ships deployed to the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca. Family members were told to prepare for the worst.
The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team of investigators to assist in the investigations.
The team includes investigators from NTSB and technical advisers from Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The round-the-clock search for flight MH370 entered its third day, amid growing anxiety over what could have happened to the plane.
The mystery of the plane's disappearance deepened after it was revealed yesterday that the pilots could have attempted a turnaround while en route to Beijing.
Royal Malaysian Air Force chief General Tan Sri Rodzali Daud said military radar records suggested that the plane could have altered its course.
"It is possible that the plane could have deviated from its original flight path and turned (back)," he said yesterday.
The director-general of the Civil Aviation Department Datuk Azaharuddin Abdul Rahman said the SAR operation had been expanded to 50 nautical miles around the South China Sea, where the pilots last established contact.
With hope fading fast for passengers onboard the flight, priority had shifted to locating the plane.
The assets deployed in the search included planes and ships from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia and the US.
The US yesterday dispatched a Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion with long-range search, radar and communications capabilities from the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.
The US also despatched two navy ships -- the USS Pinckney and the USNS John Ericsson -- to assist in the operations following a request from the Malaysian government.
The US embassy said the Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, arrived yesterday afternoon to assist in the search of the area.
It carried two MH-60R helicopters that can be equipped for SAR missions. The John Ericsson, a replenishment oilier operated by Military Sealift Command, also sailed out from Singapore yesterday morning.
An unspecified number of Vietnamese ships are also look-ing for the missing plane in its waters, while two Australian maritime surveillance patrol aircraft were the latest to join in the search.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott made the offer to deploy the aircraft in a telephone call at noon yesterday, adding that the aircraft were expected to arrive at a site to be determined by the Malaysian authorities.
"I accepted the offer and thanked the Australian prime minister.
"I believe the contribution will help us in our search for the missing plane," he said, adding that additional SAR assets and equipment were needed as the operation area had been expanded.
Six of the 227 passengers onboard MH370 were Australians.
The plane, with a crew of 12, was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when it disappeared from radar at 1.30am on Saturday.
Yesterday, Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Zulkefli Md Zin gave details of assets involved in the search for the missing aircraft.
He said the search had been widened after the latest information showed the pilots could have attempted to turn around and head back to Kuala Lumpur.
"Given the fact that the area of operations has been widened, we have decided to increase the deployment of assets to search for the plane."
Malaysian security forces, including the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), had initially mobilised 15 aircraft and nine vessels to assist in the operation.
Zulkefli said this had been increased to 22 fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, including a Royal Malaysian Navy helicopter, 11 Royal Malaysian Air Force aircraft, five MMEA aircraft and a Royal Malaysian police aircraft.
Of the vessels mobilised, 14 ships are operated by the Royal Malaysian Navy, while 13 are operated by MMEA.
Earlier yesterday, there were several reports of debris and oil slicks spotted floating 100km south-southwest of Vietnam's Tho Chu island.
However, Azaharuddin later said such reports were unverified.
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| A U.S. Navy helicopter lands aboard Destroyer USS Pinckney during a crew swap before returning to a search and rescue mission for the missing Malaysian airlines flight MH370 in the Gulf of Thailand, Sunday, March 9, 2014. The plane, which was carrying 239 people, lost contact with ground controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam after leaving Kuala Lumpur early Saturday morning for Beijing |
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| A U.S. Navy helicopter departs from the USS Pinckney to aid in the search and rescue |
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| Vietnamese Air Force officers sit in the cockpit of a search and rescue |
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| Rescue teams looking for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight have widened their search area |
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| MV Swift Rescue joins the search effort for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in the South China Sea. |
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| Singapore sends 2 warships |
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| A navigator on board a Vietnamese Air Force search and rescue mission |
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| an Orion aircraft departs from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, to aid in the search efforts for the missing Malaysian airlines flight MH370 |
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| shows Malaysian coast guard personnel checking a radar screen during search and rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight on March 9 |
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