Search operations for MH370 to continue today

CANBERRA (Xinhua) - The search activities for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will continue on Sunday in an area about 1,850 km east of Perth, if weather permitting, Australian authorities announced.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement that the search continues to focus on an area of about 319,000 square km based on refined analysis by international air crash investigators.

Ten planes are planned to be involved in Sunday's search.

They include three Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orions, a Japanese P3 Orion, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Ilyushin IL-76, a South Korean P3 Orion, a US Navy P8 Poseidon, two Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules and one civil jet acting as a communications relay, said AMSA.

The first aircraft, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Ilyushin IL-76, is due to depart for the search area at 0900 a.m. (AEDT). Further details on flight times will be released later Sunday morning.

The Australian navy vessel HMAS Success, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration ship Haixun 01, China Rescue and Salvage Bureau ship Nan Hai Jiu, and the Chinese Navy vessel Jinggang Shan arrived in the search area on Saturday. A further six ships should arrive in the area Sunday, according to AMSA.

 The ANZAC class frigate HMAS Toowoomba left Perth Satruday evening and is due to arrive in the search area in about three days. The ADV Ocean Shield is scheduled to depart from Perth later Sunday after being fitted with a black box detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle.

All ships in the search area are being tasked to locate and identify the objects sighted by aircraft over the past two days.

Weather in the search area is forecast to worsen Sunday with light showers and low cloud, though search operations are expected to continue.