The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will be entering a new phase that will use private contractors and may cost about $60 million, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday.
“I regret to say that thus far none of our efforts in the air, on the surface or under sea, have found any wreckage,” he said.
The new phase will focus on searching the ocean floor over a much larger area — 60,000 square kilometers, a process that will take about six to eight months.
“We do not want this crippling cloud of uncertainty to hang over this family and the wider traveling public,” he said.
It is “highly unlikely” that any debris will be found on the ocean surface, Abbott said. By this time, most of the debris will have become waterlogged and will have submerged, he said. As such, authorities will be suspending aerial searches, CNN informs.
