The focus of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has changed following further studies of satellite data.
Australian officials now believe the plane may have turned south earlier than thought and will focus on the southern part of the search area in the Indian Ocean.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters: “The search area remains the same, but some of the information that we now have suggests to us that areas a little further to the south… are of particular interest and priority."
Australia and Malaysia have signed an agreement to share costs on the search’s next phase.
The airliner, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines has admitted that almost 200 of its cabin crew have resigned in the year to July.
In a statement to the Telegraph, the airline said following the MH370 and MH17 incidents there was a spike in crew resignations but the number has now ‘decreased to acceptable and routinely expected levels’.
The airline said many of those who resigned blamed ‘family pressure’ for their decision.
Reports in the British tabloids yesterday showed photographs of almost empty cabins on Malaysia Airlines flights, but the airline’s supporters quickly responded by posting pictures of full planes on Twitter.
