BANGKOK, March 16 – Malaysia has asked the naval forces of 13 countries who joined the search for Malaysian jetliner flight MH370 to cease search operations, pending further investigation on the missing plane.
Admiral Thaweewut Pongpipat, the Thai navy chief of staff, said the request by Malaysian authorities is just to temporarily suspend operations, as it wants to verify information before laying out the new searching plan.
Malaysia said it will ask for help again once they have gathered more clear information on the missing aircraft.
ADM Thaweewut however said the Thai navy has not yet cancelled its search mission for the Boeing 777-200 aircraft that went missing since last Saturday. But the Thai Navy Region 2 and 3 have been instructed to be on standby with its ships, Dornier DO 228 aircraft and Super Lynx helicopters for immediate resumption of operations once asked by Malaysia.
