Elusive pings keep search in limbo

SHIPS listening for undersea signals from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have failed to detect any more “pings” and will spend several more days trying to pinpoint a crash site before a minisub is launched to scour the seabed.

Exactly one month since the Boeing 777 vanished with 239 people on board, optimism over the earlier signals in the Indian Ocean dimmed, with time running out as the batteries in the beacons on the black box data recorders reach their expiry date.

“We need to continue [listening] for several days to the point at which there is absolutely no doubt that the pinger batteries will have expired,” search chief Angus Houston said.

A day earlier, Houston had labelled as “very encouraging” the signals picked up by a specialised US Navy device towed deep underwater. – AFP