MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The search for the missing wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 should shift to a new underwater area, as it is not likely for the wreckage to be found where it was initially predicted, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in press release Tuesday.
"Given the high confidence in the search undertaken to date, the experts agreed that the previously defined indicative underwater area is unlikely to contain the missing aircraft," the release said.
The debris drift modeling results indicated that the search for the aircraft remains should shift north of the current search area, the ATSB said, citing a report prepared by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). This shift is predicted to present the "highest probability" of finding the lost wreckage, the Bureau noted.
"When considered together with updated flight path modelling, the experts concluded that an unsearched area between latitudes 33°S and 36°S along the 7th arc of approximately 25,000 km², has the highest probability of containing the wreckage of the aircraft," the release added.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, less than an hour after takeoff. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 777 aircraft.
Since the incident, Australia, Malaysia, and China have been making combined efforts to find the missing wreckage.
