Flight MH370: Bad weather again halts plane search

An air and sea search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has again been suspended because of bad weather in the southern Indian Ocean.

Australian officials said all aircraft were returning to base and ships were leaving the search area.

On Wednesday Malaysian officials revealed fresh satellite images from the area that showed a possible debris field from the missing plane.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

It had been en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared from air traffic controllers’ screens over the South China Sea.

So far, not a single item of debris linked to the missing plane has been recovered.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said that aircraft had spotted three objects on Wednesday but despite several passes had not been able to relocate them.

As dawn broke on Thursday, Amsa said six military aircraft, five civilian aircraft and five ships would be taking part in the day’s search operations.

However, it later announced that the search was being suspended because of bad weather. It is the second time this week the operation has been called off because of conditions in the area.

The Australian Navy ship HMAS Success has been in the search area about 2,500km (1,500 miles) south-west of Perth and has been joined by four Chinese ships – Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon and Qiandaohu.