Frustration in futile search

Two weeks after a Malaysia Airlines airliner went missing with 239 people on board, officials are bracing for the “long haul” as searches by more than two dozen countries turn up little but frustration and fresh questions. The international team hunting the Boeing 777/200ER in the remote southern Indian Ocean returned on Saturday to an area where suspected debris was spotted by satellite earlier this week. Six aircraft and two merchant ships are scouring the area, though Australian officials have cautioned the objects, one up to 24 metres (72 feet) in length, may not be related to the missing aircraft or might have sunk. China, Japan and India are sending planes and Australian and Chinese navy vessels are steaming to the zone, more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) southwest of Perth. “Weather conditions in the search area are good, with 10 km (six miles) of visibility,” said Australian Maritime Safety Authority Sam Cardwell. Aircraft and ships have also renewed the search in the Andaman Sea between India and Thailand, going over areas that have already been exhaustively swept to find some clue to unlock one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation. Malaysian officials have been realistic about their ability to lead the operation with a global dynamic that some have said is beyond the country’s technical capabilities and expertise. The Beijing-bound MH370 Flight from Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers on board vanished from the radar screen somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam border on March 8. The search, involving dozens of countries from around the world, entered its third week on Saturday but the aircraft is still untraced.