Missing MH370: Underwater search starts as it is revealed final words were 'Good night Malaysian 370'

Malaysian authorities face heavy criticism after originally saying the last words from the missing plane were "all right good night"

Nine ships and 10 aircraft are involved in the hunt for wreckage from MH370 today, hoping to recover more than fishing gear and other flotsam found since Australian authorities moved the search 1,100 km (685 miles) north after new analysis of radar and satellite data.

Houston said the challenging search, in an area the size of Ireland, would continue based on the imperfect information with which they had to work.

"But, inevitably, if we don't find any wreckage on the surface, we are eventually going to have to, probably in consultation with everybody who has a stake in this, review what to do next," he said.

Using faint, hourly satellite signals gathered by British firm Inmarsat PLC and radar data from early in its flight, investigators have only estimates of the speed the aircraft was travelling and no certainty of its altitude, Houston said.

n underwater drone capable of diving to 4,500 metres is helping in the search for missing flight MH370.

The Bluefin Robotics Bluefin-21 drone weighs 750kg and will be used to map the vast Indian Ocean seabed as the hunt continues. It set off from Perth today and is expected to take five days to get to the search area.

It will use sonar to build up an idea of the terrain and it is only the second time it has been used in salvage operations. The only other time was when it helped recover an F-15 near Okinawa, Japan.

According to Bluefin Robotics it has multiple sensors. The company says the Bluefin 21 "has immense capability but is also flexible enough to operate from various ships of opportunity worldwide."

Mirror