No trace of plane in Bay: Navy

Bangladesh Navy has not found any trace of the missing Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 in the Bay of Bengal, even 10 days after its mysterious disappearance on Mar 8 with 239 passengers on board.

“We have already scoured six blocks of the Bay of Bengal but found no trace of the missing plane,” said Director of Naval Operations Commodore SM Hakim on Wednesday.

The search is on in the Bay of Bengal, dividing it into eight blocks. Two other blocks will be searched on Thursday, he said at a press conference at the navy headquarters in Dhaka.

“We have talked to trawlers and fishing boats and around 20 ships of ours deployed in various parts of the Bay, but they have not so far given us any information on the missing plane,” said Hakim.

“Usually traces surface in the sea if any plane crashes there and such a search operation is mounted, but we have not found anything,” he added.

Two frigates and as many patrol aircraft engaged in the search since Saturday will be in the sea until further orders, said Hakim.

Earlier, on Friday, Bangladesh joined the search for the missing plane following orders by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Until that day, 13 countries with over 50 ships and around as many aircraft had been involved in the search but failed to find any clue.

India, meanwhile, joined the search on Friday as reports surfaced that the missing plane had crashed either in the Bay of Bengal or somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

The flight, MH370, bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, had gone missing an hour after it took off.

Indications are that the plane had changed course at an altitude of 35,000 feet and flew towards the Indian Ocean.

The search was extended to the Bay of Bengal following Malaysian requests after this course alteration was detected.

According to Reuters, an international land and sea search for the missing plane is now covering an area the size of Australia.