Chinese satellites deployed in search for missing Malaysia Airlines jet as Cathay crew 'spot debris'
Defence ministry will redeploy 10 satellites; crew on Cathay Pacific flight to Kuala Lumpur spot debris floating off southeast Vietnam
China's defence ministry will redeploy 10 satellites to join the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared on Saturday with 239 people on board after three days of fruitless searching.
As the Malaysian authorities announced they were doubling the size of the search area, Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department said it had received a report from the crew of a Cathay Pacific plane flying from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur at about 3pm that debris was spotted near Vung Tau, off southeast Vietnam.
The department said it had notified its counterparts in Vietnam, Malaysia and Hainan .
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But the location of the debris does not match the path expected to have been taken by Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which should have flown over Ho Chi Minh City. The location supplied to the Civil Aviation Department was more than 125 kilometres southeast of the original flight path.
The satellite control centre in Xian will relieve the satellites of other tasks to step up weather monitoring, communication and search operations in the area where the plane disappeared, the ministry said.
Beijing said it would expand the search and called for Malaysia to strengthen its efforts. This followed several false leads from the sighting of debris and oil slicks thought to have come from the plane, which vanished en route to Beijing.
Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority, said the size of the search area would be doubled to 100 nautical miles around the spot where the jet disappeared.
Three Chinese civilian ships and the frigate Mianyang arrived yesterday and three more ships are on the way to the area where the plane lost contact.
