By Farrah Naz Karim | New Straits Times – 2 hours 42 minutes ago
PERTH: Malaysia is optimistic that missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be found in this current phase of underwater search.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said with the most sophisticated of search tools being used to search a newly refined area, it was only a matter of time before the aircraft was found.
"There is a 99.9 per cent chance that the plane will be found... if.. it is lying at the area the search team is looking.
"Malaysia remains committed at finding the plane and we will find it," Hishammuddin said at launch of the Go Phoenix vessel here.
Malaysia's participation in this search is funded by Petronas, which has pumped in some RM67 million for the mission.
Flight MH370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members, was enroute to Beijing, China before it disappeared from radar screens about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12.41am on March 8.
The current search area is focused on the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down after veering off course.
Meanwhile Petronas Malaysia Petroleum Managament vice president Adif Zulkifli said the company's contribution to the search was part of its corporate social responsibility.
"The RM67 million contribution is for the Go Phoenix search vessel and the use of the sonar, " he said
