Fresh BD search for missing plane

FE Team | Published: May 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Bangladesh Navy has launched a fresh search operation for the missing Malaysian passenger aircraft, MH Flight 370, in the Bay of Bengal, following the suggestion by an Australian survey company that the wreckage of a plane might be found in the bay, report agencies.
According to news published in international media, the Aussie sea-survey firm, GeoResonance, claimed that electromagnetic fields captured by airborne multispectral images some 190 kilometers off the coast of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal showed the evidence of aluminum, titanium, copper and other elements that could have been part of the missing aircraft.
But the Joint Agency Coordination Centre heading the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 dismissed marine exploration company GeoResonance's claim.
Meanwhile, days after authorities dismissed the idea that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be in the Bay of Bengal, a top Malaysian official said Friday he is considering sending a ship there.
Contacted, director of BN Intelligence, Commodore Rashed Ali, said Friday that two naval ships - a frigate and a survey vessel - have been conducting a search operation in the Bay of Bengal to verify the international media reports.
"The two ships have been conducting search operation from April 29, but are yet to identify the presence of anything in the connection till Friday evening," he added.
Asked how long the search operation can continue, Commodore Rashed Ali said nothing definite can be said about it.
Earlier, on March 15, two frigates and two maritime patrol aircraft of Bangladesh Navy were deployed in the Bay and its adjoining areas as part of a search operation for the missing Malaysian aircraft.
The Bangladesh navy wrapped up the operation several days later as it did not find any elements to prove that the aircraft was crushed in Bangladesh water territories.
Acting Transportation Minister of Malaysia Hishammuddin Hussein said the tip could be confirmed only by sending vessels to the area, which is thousands of kilometers away from the official search area in the southern Indian Ocean.
"But I just want to stress that by doing that, we are distracting ourselves from the main search," he said Friday. "And in the event that the result from the search is negative, who is going to be responsible for that loss of time?"
Hishammuddin said the chance of finding Flight 370 in the Bay of Bengal is "highly unlikely," but he has not yet decided whether to send a vessel there.