Officials announced Thursday that the search area for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will be doubled if the aircraft is not found by May.
About 60,000 square kilometers— or 23,000 square miles—of the Indian Ocean will be searched by the deadline, and another 60,000 square kilometers will be scoured as investigators continue the search.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that 61 per cent of the first 60,000 square kilometers has been searched, and the remaining 39 per cent will be finished by May. Searching the additional 60,000 square kilometers could take an additional year.
Malaysia, Australia, and China are all committed to continuing the search for debris or evidence of a crash site.
"We are confident we are searching in the right area," Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Warren Truss told reporters. "We are confident we have the best search equipment... if the plane is in the area we will find it."
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 while flying between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beijing, China. There were 239 passengers and crew on board.
Two months ago, the Malaysian government officially ruled on the incident.
"We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident ... and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives," Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement.
Australia and Malaysia split the cost of the 120 million Australian dollar ($93.6 million) search effort over the past year. The next phase of the search is expected to cost A$50 million, or US$39 million. The 120,000 square mile search area will cover 95 per cent of the missing plane's flight path.
