Malaysian authorities said on 17th March 2014, Tuesday that they were ceding a bit of ground to other countries in the massive search for a missing airliner.
Eleven days after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand, the search area spans about 3 million square miles, roughly the area of Australia. Malaysian officials said Tuesday they’ve chopped up that space into 14 sections, and negotiated for Indonesia, Australia, China, and Kazakhstan to lead the efforts in some of those areas.
“ It’s an enormous search area, and something Malaysia cannot search on its own,” Malaysian defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.
Malaysia has come under fire for its handling of the search, most notably from China, which has criticized the country’s contradictory and sometimes delayed release of information. Other countries in Asia say there’s no way the missing jet could have crossed their airspace — even though Malaysia says satellite analysis indicates it is possible. Several other countries involved in the search — including India and Japan — have been waiting for several days to receive marching orders from Kuala Lumpur.
By reducing its role slightly, Malaysia has opened a new stage in the search, one in which the other 25 countries involved have more autonomy and coordinate in small groups. Australia and Indonesia are leading work in a southern area — one potential endpoint for the missing jet. China and Kazakhstan are taking the lead in the north.
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