New Delhi: Following days of mystery, the United States has stepped forward and announced that authorities have seen an “indication” that the Malaysia Airlines jetliner may actually have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
A senior Pentagon official said that the USS Kidd is moving into the area to kick off a search.
That comes on the heels of a report that found the plane may actually have flown between four and five hours after it disappeared from radar.
With the search expanded to cover an area stretching from South China Sea to Andaman Sea, the Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard have been pressed into service for the search operation.
India has deployed two C-130, one Mi-17 V5 helicopter of Indian Air Force and Dornier and P8i, maritime reconnaissance aircraft of Indian Navy.
In addition, ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard will be combing the area to locate the possible crash site.
Both Navy and Air Force are also ready to reinforce their assets on short notice.
Meanwhile the Defence Crisis Management Group is also activated to monitor the progress of the search operations at Headquarter Integrated Defence Staff.
The plane was carrying 239 passengers when it went missing.
