KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, Australia and China will make the decision on the search operations of the missing flight MH370 during the ministerial-level tripartite meeting scheduled for end of June, the Dewan Negara was told yesterday.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the decision would take into account the technical advice from the satellite expert team.
“Although the flaperon found in the Le Reunion Island has been confirmed to be originated from MH370, the search operations will continue at the existing search area in the Indian Ocean.
“This is based on the data analysis determined by the team of experts in the 120,000-square-kilometre area,” he said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin who had wanted to know the latest update on the missing aircraft.
When met at the Parliament lobby, Abdul Aziz said the search for the missing aircraft, which so far had covered 103,000sq km, would be stopped when it reached 120,000sq km.
“We have 17,000sq km left and the operation is expected to complete in two months. After that, we (Malaysia, Australia and China) will hold a meeting with experts before making any decision,” he said.
The aircraft with 239 people on board disappeared from the radar while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Currently, search efforts are conducted in the southern Indian Ocean where the flight MH370 was said to have ended its journey. — Bernama