Underwater Search for Flight MH370 to Be Completed by June 2016
The plane went down over the Indian Ocean in March 2014.
— -- The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean will conclude in June 2016, according to a statement put out on Wednesday by the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC).
More than 30,000 square miles of the sea floor have already been searched since the aircraft disappeared in March 2014, making it the largest and most expensive aviation investigation in history.
"Consistent with the undertaking given by the Governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China earlier this year, 120,000 square kilometres will be thoroughly searched. It is anticipated this will be completed around June 2016," the JACC statement said.
The search will continue through the Christmas and New Year period, the JACC said.
The aircraft was headed to Beijing, China, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it went missing on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board. In August 2015, a plane part was found on a beach in the Indian Ocean that was determined to be part of the missing jet.