admin
PHU QUOC/KUALA LUMPUR/ BEIJING — Aircraft and vessels sent out by Vietnam on Thursday have found no debris in the waters where Chinese satellites spotted three floating objects in the hunt for the missing Malaysian airlines flight, Vietnamese Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu said on Thursday.
Vietnam authorities dispatched two aircraft and two ships to fly over the waters off Vietnam’s southern coast where Chinese satellites photographed suspected floating objects, said Pham, who is leading a frontline command in Phu Quoc island.
In addition, four aircraft were sent by the Vietnam air force to search the land area in Vietnam’s southern part. These comprises one seaplane and two An-26 aircraft that took off from Ho Chi Minh City and a Mi-171 helicopter from the Ca Mau airport in southern Vietnam.
However, the land area searches across the province of Kien Giang, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam, and U Minh Thuong national forest park yielded no clues, air force officials said.
Kien Giang is located about 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh while U Minh Thuong National Park or Upper U Minh National Park is located in the province of Kien Giang.
A huge international search operation has been mostly focused on the shallow waters of the Gulf of Thailand off Malaysia’s east coast. Vietnam has been searching off its eastern coast of Phu Quoc island as well as its western shoreline.
The Strait of Malacca has been included since Sunday but the search there has remained futile so far.
The search for the missing jet with 239 passengers and crew on board has now reached the sixth day with no signs of the plane’s whereabouts.
China forces to search 19,768 sq km for missing jet
Chinese forces, including eight vessels and five helicopters, will cover 19,768 square kilometres of waters on Thursday in search of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Chinese forces have searched 23,282 square km of waters suspected to be the missing site of the jet as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said.
China’s vice minister of transport He Jianzhong called for all information to be comprehensively analysed and flexibility in the search operation. He said that China will be in close contact with Malaysia’s search forces and inform Malaysia of its search plans.
Meanwhile, Chinese merchant ships are travelling in the Strait of Malacca and will help provide assistance, He said.
He added the centre will work with relevant Chinese authorities in stepping up satellite surveillance work.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 left Kuala Lumpur at 0:41 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m..
Contact with the aircraft was lost while it was over the Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control area in Vietnam.
The flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, including more than 150 Chinese.
Malaysia Airlines changes code of missing flight
Malaysia Airlines announced Thursday morning that the flight codes of its missing plane, MH370 and MH371, will be scrapped and replaced by new ones, but its service frequency will remain unchanged.
“As a mark of respect to the passengers and crew of MH370 on March 8, the MH370 and MH371 flight codes will be retired from the Malaysia Airlines’ Kuala Lumpur-Beijing-Kuala Lumpur route,” the carrier said in a latest statement.
Instead, new numbers — MH318 for flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and MH319 from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur — will be used effective March 14, 2014.
The company said there will be no changes to the frequency of its services with the double daily services to Beijing continuing to be operated. – Xinhua.
Online Reporter