--- description: The chances of finding missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 flight are dwindling, the head of the Australian search team has said title: Chances of Finding MH 370 'Decreasing,' Search Chief Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad63e464074624f4/6988936be20a8782f6a90db5/gettyimages-484611649.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Aviation](/tag/aviation/) ## Aviation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Chances of Finding MH 370 Are Decreasing, Say Australian Authorities by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2016 4:26 AM CUT  Flight Lieutenant Timothy McAlevey of the Royal New Zealand Airforce helps look for objects during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 off the coast of Perth, Australia on April 13, 2014. Flight Lieutenant Timothy McAlevey of the Royal New Zealand Airforce helps look for objects during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 off the coast of Perth, Australia on April 13, 2014.Pool—Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 17, 2016 4:26 AM CUT The chances of finding missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 are [dwindling](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/mh370-search-decreasing-possibility-plane-will-be-found-say-authorities "undefined"), the leader of the Australian search team said. Martin Dolan, head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), said the operation had already scoured 105,000 of the 120,000-sq-km search area. The _Guardian_ reports that there is no plan to expand the area of the original [operation](https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/updates/operational-update/ "undefined"), which was agreed upon by the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China. Earlier this month, the ATSB [said](http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5770425/debris-examination-mh370%5F12may2016no2.pdf "undefined") two pieces of wreckage found on the coasts of South Africa and Mauritius were “almost certainly” from MH 370, which disappeared from skies in March 2014 en route to Beijing with 239 people on board. \[[_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/mh370-search-decreasing-possibility-plane-will-be-found-say-authorities "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4338168/mh370-flight-search-mas-malaysia-airlines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4338168/mh370-flight-search-mas-malaysia-airlines/"},"headline":"The Chances of Finding MH 370 Are Decreasing, Say Australian Authorities","datePublished":"2016-05-17T04:26:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:35:24.578Z","description":"There is no plan to expand the operation","url":"https://time.com/4338168/mh370-flight-search-mas-malaysia-airlines/","keywords":["Aviation","flight","Missing","Malaysia Airlines","MH370","Search"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad63e464074624f4/6988936be20a8782f6a90db5/gettyimages-484611649.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad63e464074624f4/6988936be20a8782f6a90db5/gettyimages-484611649.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MH370 Search Area Narrows As More Signals Identified","caption":"MH370 Search Area Narrows As More Signals Identified","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4338168/mh370-flight-search-mas-malaysia-airlines/","name":"The Chances of Finding MH 370 Are Decreasing, Say Australian Authorities"}}]}] ```