Malaysian Air Search Zone Shrunk on Analysis Using Fuel Data

Australian surveillance planes searching for Malaysian Air Flight 370 combed a remote area in the southern Indian Ocean as data about the plane’s fuel reserves narrowed the search zone.

Fresh analysis from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board allowed the search to be focused on an area about the size of Italy, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in an e-mailed statement. That’s about half the size of the zone planned yesterday, said John Young, the agency’s general manager of emergency response.

“We still have grave fears for anyone that might have managed to escape the aircraft in the southern ocean,” he said in a video posted on the agency’s website. “It remains a big area.”