Hunt for missing jet widens to distant waters

Source: Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Authorities are expanding their search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane to the Malacca Strait, far from its last confirmed location, the airline said Tuesday, injecting new mystery into an investigation that so far has failed to come up with any answers.

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Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that search and rescue teams expanded their scope to the Malacca Strait between Malaysia's western coast and Indonesia's Sumatra island — the opposite side of Malaysia from the plane's last known location.

To reach the strait, a busy shipping lane, the plane would have had to cross over the country, presumably within the range of radar.

An earlier statement said the western coast of Malaysia was "now the focus," but the airline subsequently said that phrase was an oversight. It didn't elaborate. Civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the search remained "on both sides" of the country.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/search-widens-missing-malaysian-passenger-jet