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MH370 investigators issue 'catastrophic' warning as latest search begins

Experts warn that the slightest mistake could cost investigators everything in the new search for missing Flight MH370 with the region the new search will be in focusing on dangerous waters

[The search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight will use will use more advanced technology to map a full picture of the ocean floor]

The search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight will use will use more advanced technology to map a full picture of the ocean floor(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Experts have issued a stern warning after a new search for missing Flight MH370 has launched after more than a decade, amid claims that the slightest mistake could be "catastrophic."

The search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight will use more advanced technology to map a full picture of the ocean floor. However, experts warn that one false move could destroy efforts in what is likely to be the final search for the doomed aircraft, due to the ocean's vast, isolated and treacherous area.

MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. The flight took off at 12.41am local time, reaching a cruising altitude of 35,000 ft at 1.01am.

[plane]

Families still cling onto hope(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The plane's transponder, which communicated with air traffic control, was switched off at 1.21am as the plane entered Vietnamese airspace over the South China Sea. Malaysian military and civilian radars began tracking the flight at 1.30am as it turned around and flew southwest over the Malay Peninsular and then northwest over the Strait of Malacca.

Less than an hour later, at 2.22am, Malaysian military lost contact with the plane over the Andaman Sea. A satellite over the Indian Ocean continued to receive hourly signals from the aircraft until 8.11am, when it simply vanished, according to the Daily Mirror.

The first search spanned three million square kilometres above the water and more than 120,000 square kilometres under the sea, Last week, Malaysia's Transport Minister confirmed on Tuesday that a private British firm was again searching for MH370, with the new search area about 1500 kilometres west of Perth.

[The flight is still missing]

The flight is still missing(Image: Google Maps )

Craig Wallace, an electrical engineer from Deep Sea Vision said: Make no mistakes, the Indian Ocean that theyre working in is among the worst in the world. Theyve recorded wave heights of 20 meters, so 60 feet. Its extreme conditions and there will be a lot of times where they simply cannot launch or recover the vehicle.

In another warning, former Australian naval officer Peter Waring - who took part in the initial search for MH370 - told Australian programme 60 Minutes on Sunday night: Theres absolutely no shelter out there, and theres nowhere to hide. Youre six or seven days away from the nearest port, which is Perth. These are dangerous conditions. If something goes wrong, it will turn catastrophic very, very quickly."

Over the past decade, there has been endless speculation about what happened to the doomed flight. Pieces of the plane have been located near Tanzania and Mozambique. Australian authorities searched for almost three years for the missing airliner.

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