A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion and an MH-60R helicopter launched from USS Pinckney (DDG 91) are searching over the last known communication and radar positions of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370, March 9, 2014.
There has been no report of debris sighted at this time.
Nine countries are contributing to the search 24/7 across the South China Sea for the Malaysia Airlines flight, that went missing in the early hours of Saturday.
The P-3 took off from Okinawa and arrived on station early afternoon March 9, with approximately three hours of fuel remaining for searching the site.
Pinckney was diverted from a training mission in the South China Sea to search for signs of the missing aircraft. Its MH-60R Seahawk helicopters are designed search and rescue, as well as anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, surveillance, communications relay, naval gunfire support and logistics support. It can fly a maximum of 180 knots with a ceiling of13,000 ft. and maximum range of 245 Nautical Miles.
USNS John Ericsson (T-AO-194) is en route to the scene to provide underway fuel and logistics replenishment, ensuring Pinckney and its helicopters can maximize their time on station.
[mappress] Press Release, March 10, 2014, Image: US Navy