MH370 investigation: Malaysia to host meeting with Australia, China on future course of action

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will convene a two-day meeting with Australia and China to chart out a course of action for the investigation into the missing flight MH370, which is presumed to have crashed into the sea off Western Australia’s coast with 239 people on board two years ago. Deputy Transport Minister Ab Aziz Kaprawi told state-owned news agency Bernama here that the meeting would also look at in detail, other issues, including the recent discovery of debris. [caption id=“attachment_2843204” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Australia, China and Malaysia have said previously they will call off the search for the Boeing 777 if nothing is found in a designated search area in the remote Indian Ocean. Reuters[/caption] The meeting, involving officials from Australia, China and Malaysia is expected to take place at the transport ministry office beginning from Monday. “Top of the agenda of the meeting is on the future direction of the search operation for MH370. Only high ranking officials will attend the meeting. Malaysia will be represented by Department of Civil Aviation director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman,” Ab Aziz said. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which leads the multi-nation search in the Indian Ocean, is expected to complete searching the designated 120,000 sq km of the sea by end of this month. Australia, China and Malaysia have said previously they will call off the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 if nothing is found in a designated search area in the remote Indian Ocean. So far 105,000 square kilometres of the 120,000-square kilometre seafloor search zone has been covered without success. Several pieces of debris found thousands of kilometres from the suspected crash area have so far shed no light on the cause of the disaster. The Beijing-bound MH370 aircraft with 239 passengers and crew on board disappeared from civilian radar screens on 8 March, 2014 and its flight path is believed to have ended in the southern Indian Ocean.