Race against time to find MH370

Angus Houston says finding a piece of wreckage from the missing flight MH370 would give the best idea for where to start the underwater search. Courtesy: SKY News

Still looking ... Flight Engineer Warrant Officer Steve Woods keeping watch on-board a RAAF Orion during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Picture: Cpl David Gibbs/Australian Defence Force Source: AFP

A HUGE search team is racing against time to find the black box from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Lead search co-ordinator Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said two ships will today search a single 240 kilometre track, using technology on board the vessel Ocean Shield and HMAS Echo.the search window was narrowing every day.

"The Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy have commenced a subsurface search for emissions from the black box pinger from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370," he said.

But he warned it's a race against time.

"On best advice, the locator beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions. So we are now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire," he said.

He expressed disappointment at not having found any debris yet.

"Unfortunately all the leads we got from the satellites turned out to be other things other than wreckage from the aircraft."

However the leader of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre isn't giving up hope.

"I think there is still a great possibility of finding something on the surface. There are lots of things in aircraft that float," he said.

Up to 10 military planes, four civil jets and nine ships are involved today, with the first aircraft having departed at 6am local time.

HMAS Perth will also join the search effort, but will take about four days to reach the area.

Air Chief Marshall Houston said he met with the CEO of Malaysia Airlines yesterday and the pair had a "very constructive meeting".

Race against time ... Retired Australian air chief marshall Angus Houston says time is running out to find the black box from MH370. Source: AFP

Explosive claims of concealment

MALAYSIAN Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim claims Malaysia is deliberately concealing information about missing flight MH370 and the country's radar system should have easily tracked the plane.

The explosive claims come in an interview with the UK Telegraph , in which the former Deputy Prime Minister called for an international group to lead the investigation into the missing flight, as Malaysia's integrity "is at stake".

Mr Ibrahim stated that when he was Malaysian finance minister in 1994, he authorised the installation of a sophisticated radar system.

Explosive new claims ... Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Picture: Kazuhiro Nogi Source: AFP

It was "not only unacceptable but not possible, not feasible" that Malaysia's radar system did not track flight MH370 after it changed course while flying over the Gulf of Thailand in the early hours of March 8, he told The Telegraph.

"We don't have the sophistication of the United States or Britain but still we have the capacity to protect our borders," he said.

Under standard operating procedure, the Malaysian air force should have been alerted to a problem with MH370 within minutes, he said.

Mr Ibrahim accused the Malaysian government of an "intention to suppress key information" about MH370.

Search resumes on day 28 ... Royal New Zealand air force P3 Orion copilot Squadron Leader Brett McKenzie scouts the search zone in the Indian Ocean. Picture: Rob Griffith Source: TheAustralian

ACCOUNT: A day in the search for MH370

CHINA: Diplomat says some passengers' families are 'extreme'

The claims may refocus world media attention on the response of the Malaysian authorities to the missing plane, which has declined this week as the search ends its fourth agonising week.

Today's search in the Indian Ocean will involve up to 14 planes and nine ships, the federal government's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says.

JACC said the search for the downed jet would focus on a vast area of about 217,000 square kilometres, about 1700 kilometres northwest of Perth.

It said the search would focus on "three areas within the same vicinity''.

JACC said 26 State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers would work as observers on three of the civil aircraft, and the other civil plane would act as a communications relay.

Fair weather is forecast for the search area today, with visibility around 10 kilometres and a cloud base between 300 to 600 metres, JACC said.

The search resumes after Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday and said authorities can't be certain of success in the search for MH370.

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