(CNN)-- More than four days since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over Southeast Asia, Malaysian officials not only dont know what happened to the plane, they dont seem sure where to look. On Wednesday, officials announced they had once again expanded the search area. It now covers 27,000 square miles,more than double the size of the area being searched just a day before. Such a dramatic expansion at this stage of the investigation is troubling, said CNN aviation expert Richard Quest. At this stage in the investigation and search and rescue, I would have expected to see by now a much more defined understanding of what the route was, where the plane was headed and a narrowing of the search consequent upon that, he said on CNNs New Day. Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Missing Malaysia plane way off course Did Flight 370 veer off course? Malaysian Airlines: Crowdsourcing search Oceanographer: Plane debris will move Indeed, the lack of a clear direction prompted Vietnam to say Wednesday that its pulling back on its search efforts until Malaysian authorities come up with better information on where to look for the plane. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished early Saturday with 239 people on board during a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. Phan Quy Tieu, Vietnams vice minister of transportation, said the information Malaysian officials provided was insufficient. Up until now we only had one meeting with a Malaysian military attache, he said. For now, Vietnamese teams will stop searching the sea south of Ca Mau province, the southern tip of Vietnam, and shift the focus to areas east of Ca Mau, said Doan Luu, the director of international affairs at the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority. At a news conference Wednesday, Malaysian transportation minister Hishamuddin Bin Hussein defended his governments approach. We have been very consistent in the search, he said.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 18:15:58 +0000
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