China's People's Liberation Army said that Xian Satellite Monitor and Control Center had launched an emergency response using high-resolution satellites to assist the search on Monday evening.
The rare move resulted in the Xian Center purging the original commands of several satellites, which are meant for full services in weather monitoring and communication and replacing them with commands on different aspects of the search, it said.
A report from Kuala Lumpur said Malaysian authorities are awaiting the latest satellite imagery for any signs of wreckage from the air plane, wich is believed to have vanished in the South China Sea. It did not name the country, which had engaged the services of its satellites but indicated that the focus of satellite search was to look for debris as hopes of finding the plane intact had evapourated.
The Chinese move came after intense efforts by ships and airplanes deployed by nine countries failed to throw up any clue about what happened to the 11-year old Boeing, which was last cited on a radar at the Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control area in Vietnam at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday.
Malaysia's director-general of civil aviation Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said it had concentrated its efforts on the South China Sea but would now extend its search to the west coast of the peninsula.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
11/3/14
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