Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: New Lead Could Shift Search Location, Finding Some Trace Of Missing Plane

In the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the world remains in the dark as far as where the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people vanished. A new lead via phone analysis could shift or extend the search area in the Indian Ocean.

An Australian official reveals that the search area should be focused farther due to an attempted call from satellite phone to plane failed, Associated Press reports via AOL News. This information comes to light weeks before the search is to be renewed.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss explains that analysis of the call that was attempted by Malaysia Airlines officials soon after Flight 370 was off the radar, “suggests to us that the aircraft might have turned south a little earlier than we had previously expected.” There were two calls that went out to the plane, but the first one that failed is the data Truss says they’re most interested in.

The current theory is that the airliner flew 1,100 miles off Australia’s west coast, but not one shred of debris from the plane or remains of passengers have been uncovered. Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan wants to meet with international experts next week in the hopes that the 23,000-square-mile search area can be changed or extended south based on new data.

“We think we may extend that area farther south; that’s the thing we’re currently considering,” Dolan tells The Associated Press.

Investigators are aware of the satellite phone calls, but methods had to be established in better analyzing phone data regarding the jet’s flight path. A similar analysis from satellite data of the plane’s engine transmitter helped them narrow down the search area concentrated on now.

The Malaysia Airlines plane was already flying south without communication past Sumatra and “beyond the range of Malaysian military radar.”

Dolan says:

“Previously, there was the possibility that it could have been quite a bit later, so we had to do our modeling based on a range of possibilities as to where the aircraft turned.”

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 after it indicated flying off its northern course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China.

Investigators have theorized that the plane continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean. They arrived to this conclusion based on the jet engine transmitter’s final ping.

Dolan ads:

“We’re now more confident that it turned comparatively early. That does make a difference to how we prioritize the search along the seventh arc.”

Investigators are trying to decide which area to focus their search on first. A large section of 435 long and 50 miles wide is the search perimeter currently. The first search consisted of a 330-square-mile radius of sea floor to the north, but officials realized they weren’t in the right location.

Malaysia and Australia are sharing the costs of the Flight 370 search, which could take up to a year and cost $48 million. Malaysia is responsible for the entire crash investigation and Australia has search and rescue responsibility.

Underwater vehicles equipped with side-scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounders, and video equipment will be provided by a Dutch contractor in three weeks for the ongoing search. Discovering wreckage, black boxes, voice recordings, and flight data is essential in helping solve the mystery. The black boxes will go along way in assisting experts to reach a solid answer.

The latest report by The Inquisitr regarding the mystery of Flight MH370,has to do with pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Another theory is that he
depressurized the cabin, killing everyone on board, and flew the plane until it landed on the ocean water and went down completely intact.

As DNA India reports, Malaysia Airlines has suffered crippling financial loss due to the MH370 and MH17 tragedies. Flights are nearly empty, but the airline is getting a branding overhaul.

[Image via MSN Images]