Underwater search for Malaysia plane continues

The search for the missing Malaysia airliner has continued into its fourth week, with underwater operations currently underway.

On Saturday, two additional vessels carried out intensive underwater operations in search of the plane’s black boxes in the Indian Ocean, where the plane is thought to have crashed.

“Today Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield and (Britain’s) HMS Echo continue underwater search operations,” Joint Agency Coordination Centre said.

The passenger plane carrying 239 people disappeared from radar on March 8. The jetliner had departed the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur for the Chinese capital, Beijing.

A total of 13 aircraft and eleven ships are currently searching the Indian Ocean.

The search has intensified as the vessels are hoping to trace battery-powered signals or pings from the plane’s black box recorder, which could expire in a few days.

“We’re now getting pretty close to the time when it [black box recorder] might expire,” Angus Houston, Australia’s former military chief and now coordinator of the eight-nation search said on Friday.

Australia has assumed a large role in the search for the missing plane.

The relatives of the 239 passengers who were on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 have been accusing Malaysian authorities of withholding information regarding the fate of the plane.

However, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has vowed that his country would not give up on the search for the missing plane.

No debris belonging to the missing airplane have yet been found.