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             Australia 'Refines' Search for Missing Malaysian Plane

   by VOA News

   Australian officials say they have further "refined" the search area
   for the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that mysteriously disappeared in
   March.

   Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said Thursday authorities will now
   focus "a little further to the south" within the present search area in
   the southern Indian Ocean.

   Truss said the determination was made following further analysis of a
   failed attempt to contact the Boeing 777. He said the new information
   suggests the plane may have turned south earlier than previously
   thought.

   The announcement came as Australian and Malaysian officials signed a
   memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the next phase of the
   search. Under the agreement, the cost of the search is being evenly
   split by both countries.

   Next month, authorities will begin a massive underwater search of
   60,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean seabed, about 1,800
   kilometers off of Australia's west coast. The operation is expected to
   take up to a year and cost $48 million.

   The airliner was headed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 when it
   disappeared with 239 people on board. It did not send a distress call
   and its communications devices were disabled or malfunctioned.

   Malaysian authorities say they believe someone intentionally diverted
   the plane. Australian officials said in June they are now confident the
   jet was on autopilot when it crashed and that the plane's pilots were
   likely unresponsive due to a lack of oxygen.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/australia-refines-search-area-for-missing-malaysian-plane/2430661.html