PERTH, Australia — Australian officials moved the search area for the lost Malaysian jetliner 1,100 kms (680 miles) to the northeast Friday following a new analysis of radar data, and planes quickly found multiple objects in the new zone. Five out of 10 aircraft hunting for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 found objects of various colors Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. It said it was not clear whether the objects were from the plane, and photos of them would be analyzed overnight. AMSA said the items included two rectangular objects that were blue and grey — among the colors of the missing plane. A Chinese patrol ship in the area will attempt to locate the objects on Saturday, it said. The three-week hunt for the jet has been filled with possible sightings, with hundreds of objects identified by satellite and others by plane, but so far not a single piece of debris has been confirmed. Australian officials said they turned away from the old search area, which they had combed for a week, because a new analysis of radar data suggests the plane had flown faster and therefore ran out of fuel more quickly than previously estimated. The new area is closer to land and has calmer weather than the old one, which will make searching easier. “We have moved on” from the old search area, said John Young, manager of AMSA's emergency response division. The radar data that was re-analyzed was received soon after Flight 370 lost communications and veered from its scheduled path March 8. The Beijing-bound flight carrying 239 people turned around soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, flew west toward the Strait of Malacca and disappeared from radar. The search area has changed several times since the plane vanished as experts analyzed a frustratingly small amount of data from the aircraft, including the radar signals and “pings” that a satellite picked up for several hours after radar and voice contact was lost. The latest analysis indicated the aircraft was traveling faster than previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel use and reducing the possible distance it could have flown before going down in the Indian Ocean. Just as a car loses gas efficiency when driving at high speeds, a plane will get less out of a tank of fuel when it flies faster. Malaysia's civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that personnel at Boeing Co. in Seattle had helped with the analysis of the flight. Planes and ships had spent a week searching about 2,500 kms (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia, the base for the search. Now they are searching about 1,850 kms (1,150 miles) west of the city. — AP
