US Navy Ships Join Search for Malaysian Jet

The focus of search efforts shifted on Thursday from the South China Sea after the White House said "new information" indicated that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 on board, may have gone down to the west in the Indian Ocean.

Malaysian authorities expanded their search for the plane westward towards India, based on reports that it could have flown for hours after it last made contact.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian transport minister, said his government was asking for radar data from India and other neighbouring countries.

For its part, India plans to deploy aircraft and ships in the southern section of the sea, a senior Indian official told AP.

In Washington DC, Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said: "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean.

"We are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy."

Separately, a US navy official, referring to a guided-missile destroyer initially deployed to the Gulf of Thailand. said: "The USS Kidd is transiting the Strait of Malacca en route to the Indian Ocean."

An additional US aircraft, a P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane, also was headed to the area, where a P-3 Orion was already aiding the search effort, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

A second American destroyer, the USS Pinckney, remains in the Gulf of Thailand, and it was unclear if it would remain in the international search effort after this week, officials said.

The moves followed reports that the Boeing 777 airliner's communication system continued to "ping" a satellite for a number of hours after the plane disappeared off radar.