Hunt for missing plane extended to land: airline

BEIJING - The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has extended to land, and latest maintenance checks showed the aircraft had no safety concerns, said the airline on Tuesday.   

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The search and rescue teams have expanded their scope beyond the flight path with the focus now on western peninsular Malaysia at the Strait of Malacca, the company said in a statement.

The authorities are looking at the possibility of an attempt made by MH370 to turn back to Subang International Airport, and all angles are being looked at, it said.

The search and rescue teams have analyzed debris and oil slicks found in the waters, and it has been confirmed that they do not belong to MH370.

The B777-200 aircraft underwent maintenance 12 days before the March 8 flight, and its next check is due on June 19, 2014, the statement said.

The maintenance showed "there were no issues on the health of the aircraft," it said.

The aircraft was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 2002 and has since recorded 53,465.21 hours with a total of 7,525 flights.

According to the company, all Malaysia Airlines aircraft are equipped with a continuous data monitoring system called Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which transmits data automatically.

However, there were no distress calls and no information was relayed.

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