(April 16): The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will likely be expanded to cover another 60,000 square kilometres in the event that the current search zone does not produce any result.

This was the message from the three governments - Malaysia, Australia and China -  involved in the search operations, in an email sent to the next-of-kin of those on board the aircraft, which disappeared on March 8 last year.

According to regional broadcaster Channel News Asia, this additional 60,000sq km would complete the 120,000sq km search area identified by experts as the potential location of the missing plane.

Family members have also welcomed the news as it had been previously feared that the search operations will be called off after efforts to look for the plane in the current zone were completed.

Ministers from Malaysia, China and Australia are holding a tripartite meeting in Kuala Lumpur today to discuss the next phase of the search.

Bernama reported yesterday that the current underwater search area for the missing aircraft in the remote area of the Indian Ocean may be largely be completed in May.

The Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), which oversees the search operation, in a statement, indicated that more than 60% of the area had been covered so far.

But it said the target was made assuming that there would be no significant delays involving the vessels, equipment and the weather.

MAS flight MH370 is now the greatest mystery in the history of the aviation industry after it dropped off radar on March 8 last year as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board.

The Boeing 777 aircraft has yet to be found, even after an exhaustive search in the southern Indian Ocean, about 2,000km off the coast of Western Australia. The aircraft had veered off course and satellite pings had indicated its final location  as being where the current search is taking place.

On January 29 this year, the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation announced that the misfortune was an accident based on international aviation rules and that all 239 people on board were deemed to have lost their lives. – The Malaysian Insider