Navy Continues Search for Missing Malaysian Airliner

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2014 – U.S. Navy aircraft and personnel remain engaged in the search effort for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, en route to Beijing, a Defense Department spokesman said today.

A P-8 Poseidon aircraft previously dedicated to search efforts in the Bay of Bengal has relocated to Perth, Australia, to join the southern search area, Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters.

“It is conducting a search in coordination with the Australians, 1,500 nautical miles west of Perth,” he said.

The P-8 can stay over its assigned search area for nine hours, Warren noted. "It is a vast area, … but the P-8 can search a tremendous amount of space,” he added.

Australia is directing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, Warren said.

“We routinely train with the Australians,” he said. “They're very close partners to us, and we particularly routinely train in maritime search.”

A Navy P-3 Orion continues to search for the lost aircraft in the Bay of Bengal, Warren added.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Kidd, which previously was taking part in search efforts off the coast of Malaysia, has left the search and moved on to other operations in the South China Sea, the colonel said.