The search of the missing flight is still in progress

Underwater search resumes for flight MH370

May 22, 2014

The underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 resumed on Thursday in the same part of the southern Indian Ocean where pings from a black box were detected in early April.

The torpedo-like Bluefin 21 was lowered into the water from the Australian navy vessel, Ocean Shield, to continue mapping the ocean floor.

It is hoped that the continued mapping of the sea would help in picking up outlines of the wreckage of the passenger plane that disappeared on March 8.

“Bluefin 21 will search the remaining areas in the vicinity of the acoustic signals,’’ search authorities said.

The search operation had been suspended for a week while repairs were done to the equipment.

Ocean Shield will continue searching until May 28, when it will return to Perth and off-load the U.S.-owned Bluefin 21.

Chinese survey ship Zhe Kezhen will join the Ocean Shield later this week in mapping the ocean floor in preparation for a commercially contracted deep ocean search with towed side-scan sonar.

The head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said on ABC television on Thursday he was confident the search was being conducted in the right area.