International and Australian aircrews involved in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370
International and Australian aircrews involved in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 prepare for an official photograph as they stand on the tarmac at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pierce Base in Bullsbrook, near Perth, April 29, 2014. The chance of finding floating debris from a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner has become highly unlikely, and a new phase of the search would focus on a far larger area of the Indian Ocean floor, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday. The international search effort for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, has so far failed to turn up any trace of wreckage from the plane. Given the amount of time that has elapsed, Abbott said that efforts would now shift away from the visual searches conducted by planes and ships and towards underwater equipment capable of scouring the ocean floor with sophisticated sensors. Reuters/Richard Polden

The current size of area being searched in the Indian Ocean to locate the 1-year old missing Boeing 777 carrying MAS Flight MH370 will be expanded, officials said Thursday. If nothing is found by May, the search area will be widened by an extra 60,000 kilometre (23,000-square-mile).

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, who met with Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Chuantang, in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, said the expansion will bring the search area to a total of 120,000 square kilometres. The figure covers "the entire highest probability area identified by expert analysis," he said.

Of the original 60,000 kilometre, Liow said 61 percent so far had been searched. Nothing has been found. The 39 percent, he said, will be searched by end of May, in which they hope to be able to find at least any trace of wreckage. "If the aircraft is in the area we are looking, we will find it," Truss said.

If they dont, the planned expansion will pursue. The entire 120,000 square kilometre stretch "would cover 95 percent of the flight path," Liow said. Truss said the important thing is to find the aircraft and then try and develop a plausible explanation for why the disaster occurred.

The search mission’s second phase is estimated to cost A$50 million ($38.74 million). It will be shouldered by Malaysia and Australia, Liow said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. The cost for the current search mission has reached $150 million.

The additional search area, the ministers said in a joint statement, could take a year to complete because weather conditions are expected get problematic in the location in the upcoming winter months.

"Ministers remain committed to bring closure and some peace to the families and loved ones of those on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, recognising the positive and productive nature of the ongoing collaboration. All three countries reiterated their commitments to use best efforts in the search for the aircraft."

MAS Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, disappeared March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew.

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