threatening to hamper the search for a missing
Malaysian jetliner in a remote stretch of the Indian
Ocean on Monday, as a submarine drone neared
the end of its mission scouring the sea bed with still
no sign of wreckage.
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which
vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board,
has narrowed to a 10 sq km (6.2 sq mile) patch of
sea floor about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) west of the
Australian city of Perth.
Search authorities and the Australian and Malaysian
governments have said a series of sonar signals, or
"pings", traced to the area may have emanated
from the plane's "black box" and present the most
credible lead as to its whereabouts.
However no pings have been detected in almost
two weeks and authorities now fear that, with the
flight data recorder's battery several weeks past its
expected expiry date, the black box may not emit
further signals.
A U.S. Navy remote controlled submarine, the
Bluefin-21, was on its ninth mission scanning the
largely unmapped stretch of sea bed where the
pings are believed to have come from, with still no
trace found, Australian search officials said on
Monday.
"Bluefin-21 has searched approximately two-thirds
of the focused underwater search area to date.
No
contacts of interest have been found to date," the
Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a
statement.
The center added that the search, which has so far
been largely unimpeded by weather, may be
affected as Tropical Cyclone Jack continued to
move south over the ocean.
"Widespread showers are developing with isolated
thunderstorms to the north and east south-easterly
winds," the center said of the weather forecast in
the search area.
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