Search area for Flight 370 to be doubled if plane not found

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia— Malaysia says the search area for the missing Flight 370 will be expanded by another 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles) in the Indian Ocean if the jetliner is not found by May.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai says that Malaysia, Australia and China, which are leading the search for the Boeing 777 that went missing on March 8 last year, are “committed to the search.”

He told reporters Thursday after meeting with his counterparts from the other two countries that so far 61 percent of the search area has been scoured off Australia’s west coast. The remaining area would have been searched by the end of May, he said.