Carney: Plane search may expand to Indian Ocean

The White House said Thursday that investigators searching for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane could broaden their search to include an area in the Indian Ocean.

“It’s my understanding that based on some new information that’s not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean, and we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

{mosads}Earlier Thursday, ABC News reported that Pentagon officials believed the missing airliner may have flown for four or five hours after disappearing off radar.
The network reported that the USS Kidd is being moved into the area where the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea meet, at the request of Malaysian officials. The naval destroyer has helicopters aboard that can survey the area for evidence of the missing plane or its 239 passengers.

Malaysia is also expected to ask neighboring countries to examine their radar data from the relevant period.

Carney said he did not have information about possible maneuvering by American ships, and cautioned that the investigation has “not produced a conclusive result.”

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