Search for Flight MH370 shifts location

Following the receipt of a “credible lead” the search for Flight MH370 has shifted to a new part of the Indian Ocean.

15:28 28 March 2014

The search for Flight MH370 has shifted location after further analysis of radar data showed that the plane was going faster than originally thought.

Because of this, the Australian and Malaysian governments said that search teams will focus on an area, which is 684 miles north-east of the previous zone. 

Although satellite data reportedly confirms that the plane, which disappeared on March 8, flew somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, there is still no trace of it.

A statement from AMSA said: "It indicated that the aircraft was travelling faster than previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel usage and reducing the possible distance the aircraft travelled south into the Indian Ocean."

Meanwhile, acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: "Because of ocean drift, this new search area could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images over the past week.”

The new search area is about 1,850km west of Perth and covers some 319,000 sq km.

John Young, general manager of AMSA’s emergency response division, said: "This is the normal business of search and rescue operations - that new information comes to light, refined analysis take you to a different place."