Malaysia Airlines MH370: Australia, China and Malaysia to review search effort for missing plane

The figureheads of Malaysia, Australia and China are due to meet on Thursday (16 April) to review the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The £90m (£61.3m) search in the southern Indian Ocean, led by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre and Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is due to finish in May, has so far revealed no trace of the missing Boeing 777.

The plane vanished from radar on 8 March last year after veering off its original flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing for reasons still unknown today. Satellite data suggests it crashed along the so-called seventh arc in the Indian Ocean.

"What is crucial to note is that the handshake [satellite contact] from the Satcom data they analysed was specific to MH370," Malaysia's Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

All 239 passengers are presumed dead, and the Malaysia government in January declared the disappearance of the plane "an accident".

Liow will be meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and China's Transport Minister Yang Chuantang to review the ongoing search efforts.

"The Ministerial Tripartite Meeting will see our three nations reviewing the search efforts to date and collectively deciding on the next step based on advice by the experts from the search strategy working group (SSWG)," Liow said in a statement.

Underwater vessels have covered over 37,000 square kilometres or 61% of the 60,000 square kilometres search area.

"This is a remote location with adverse sea and weather conditions and known depths of more than 6,000m. Waves have been known to reach heights of 15 to 18m," said Liow.

"Hence, by no small measure, it has been a challenge for the search and recovery team," he said.

Liow said the three nations were still committed to finding the aircraft a year on.

"Malaysia has committed more than A$60m for the search and recovery along with the Australian government, which clearly demonstrates our commitment to finding MH370," he added.