Post date: Mar 11, 2014 1:6:55 PM
Malaysia's Transport Minister joins the search operation for the missing Malaysian plane.
IN AIR, STRAIT OF MALACCA (MARCH 11, 2014) (MALAYSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE) - Malaysian Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Bin Tun Hussein, joined a search plane on Tuesday (March 11) to check for any signs of debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Malaysia extended the massive search operation for the plane to the Strait of Malacca after initially focusing on the South China Sea.The Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia's west coast.
The plane, with 239 people on board, has been missing for four days and a search involving crews from 10 countries widened on Tuesday to a larger swathe of the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.
Hussein joined the search party over the Strait of Malacca two days after local authorities said they would extend their search in that area as they believe flight MH370 might have turned back.
The Malaysian military believes the airliner flew for more than an hour after vanishing from air traffic control screens, changing course and travelling west over the Strait of Malacca, a senior military source said.
Malaysian authorities have previously said flight MH370 disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for the Chinese capital Beijing.