US ship ordered to Indian Ocean in search for airliner

By: 11 years ago

This US Navy photo shows Guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) as it responded on January 5, 2012 to a distress call from the master of the Iranian-flagged fishing dhow Al Molai, who stated he was held captive by pirates. Kidd鈥檚 visit, board, search and seizure team detained 15 suspected pirates who were reportedly holding a 13-member Iranian crew hostage for the last two months. Kidd is conducting counter-piracy and maritime security operations while deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of responsibility. AFP PHOTO/US NAVY/HANDOUT

WASHINGTON鈥擳he US Navy on Thursday ordered a ship to the Indian Ocean to search for a missing Malaysian airliner amid reports the plane kept 鈥減inging鈥� a satellite after losing radar contact.

The focus of search efforts shifted from the South China Sea after the White House said 鈥渘ew information鈥� indicated the plane may have gone down to the west in the Indian Ocean.

鈥淭he USS Kidd is transiting the Strait of Malacca en route to the Indian Ocean,鈥� a navy official told AFP, referring to a guided-missile destroyer initially deployed to the Gulf of Thailand.

An additional US aircraft, a P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane, also was headed to the area, where a P-3 Orion was already aiding the search effort, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move followed reports that the Boeing 777 airliner鈥檚 communication system continued to 鈥減ing鈥� a satellite for a number of hours after the plane disappeared off radar.

The signal came from the jet鈥檚鈥渁irplane health management system鈥� that provides a flow of data on the airliner鈥檚 operations, according to the Wall Street Journal and ABC 黑料社.

The Journal later retracted one detail in its original report, which had incorrectly stated that invesigators were looking at signals from the plane鈥檚 Rolls-Royce engines.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with 239 on board, took off from Kuala Lumpur nearly a week ago bound for Beijing, but vanished off radar somewhere across the Gulf of Thailand.

New questions, deepened mystery

The possibility that the plane kept flying for several hours raised a host of new questions about the fate of the airliner and deepened the mystery surrounding the jet鈥檚 disappearance.

The international hunt initially focused on the South China Sea east of Malaysia, along the plane鈥檚 intended route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The White House said that unspecified new information had prompted authorities to examine an area to the west in the Indian Ocean.

鈥淚t鈥檚 my understanding that based on some new information that鈥檚 not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean,鈥� spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

鈥淲e are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy.鈥�

Malaysian officials have said the airliner may have doubled back after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

A second American destroyer, the USS Pinckney, remains in the Gulf of Thailand, and it was unclear if it would remain in the international search effort after this week, officials said.

US officials said Wednesday that American military spy satellites detected no sign of a mid-air explosion when the plane went missing at 1:30 a.m. Malaysian time on Saturday.