![Australia Says Planes Now Searching In New Area For Signs Of Malaysian Airliner](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/03/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Australia Says Planes Now Searching In New Area For Signs Of Malaysian Airliner
PERTH, Australia (AP) — Officials overseeing the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 say the effort to date has not been a waste of time, but they are shifting the focus nearly 700 miles to the northeast.
The decision is based on a new analysis of radar data that suggests the plane flew faster than thought and used up more fuel, which would have cut the distance it could have traveled before going down in the Indian Ocean.
The search area remains large: about 123,000 square miles. It's also closer to western Australia — and therefore easier for search crews to reach — and does not have the same harsh weather conditions as the old search location.
Satellite images had given searchers hope — now apparently false — that a debris field from the plane was in the earlier search area. But experts say there's a lot of debris in the ocean, and it's possible that the satellites detected real objects that were simply unrelated to the plane.
More From News Talk 96.5 KPEL
![Confusion Over Whether Malaysia Black Boxes Found](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2012/09/Airplane-Photo-by-Don-Arnold-Getty-Images.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Searchers Say ‘Ping’ Area Is Out](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Chinese Ship To Map Seabed In Search For MH370](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Malaysia PM Calls For Real-Time Tracking Of Planes](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Malaysia Plane’s Likely Flight Path Gets 2nd Look](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Missing Plane’s Search Area To Be Expanded](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Search For Malaysia Plane Continues](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Air Search For Malaysian Plane Grounded](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/03/flight-370-search-locations.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Another Sub Mission To Search For Malaysian Plane](http://townsquare.media/site/36/files/2014/04/search-for-Malaysian-airliner-Getty.jpg?w=980&q=75)