Chinese Kung Fu charms Silicon Valley
Tranquil Yankou ancient town
Lake Geneva: A show of swans
Beautiful sunset over the Irtysh River
Qingjing Mosque: Witness of the ancient Maritime Silk Road
Neiliansheng – more than 100 years of fashion
Golden retriever feeds baby African lions
Strange rocks in Lama Mountain
First overseas "China-standard" electric railway laid
College graduate launches organic agricultural cooperative in hometownCANBERRA, May 29 -- The Joint Agency of Coordination Center (JACC) for the search of the missing Malaysian airline flight MH370 announced on Thursday that about 850 square kilometers of ocean floor searched by the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 can now be discounted as the final resting place of the ill-fated aircraft.
JACC said in a press release on Thursday that Bluefin-21 completed its last mission on Wednesday afternoon. The autonomous vehicle has been searching areas defined by four acoustic signals detected in early April by the Towed Pinger Locator deployed from Australian naval ship Ocean Shield.
Those four pings were thought to come from the "black box" of the Malaysian aircraft.
The data collected by Bluefin-21 on its mission on Wednesday has been analyzed and no signs of aircraft debris have been found by the autonomous underwater vehicle since it joined the search effort in mid April.
So far, Bluefin-21 has searched over 850 square kilometers of the ocean floor. Ocean Shield departed the search area Wednesday night and is expected to arrive at Fleet Base West on Saturday.
"The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370," the JACC statement said.
Earlier, U.S. broadcaster CNN quoted U.S. Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering Michael Dean as saying that there was now broad agreement that the signals came from some other man- made source unrelated to the jet that disappeared on March 8 carrying 239 people.
The U.S. Navy has since issued a statement calling Dean's comments "speculative and premature". JACC was reached by Xinhua but offered no comment on Dean's remarks.
Opening ceremony of 67th Cannes Film Festival
Pulse of Xiamen - Int'l Yoga art festival in May
Photo story: Life of a scrap metal recycle worker
Training of the PLA's first female honor guard
China's 10 must-see animations
Female bodybuilders show their beauty of fitness
A taste of Harbin cuisine
A bite of Jiang Nan
Who is China's campus beauty queen?
8 great movies to watch with your mom
China's most luminous celebrities
Newly recruited police in Hetian hold drill
Bird-men compete flying in Hong Kong
The 'Chinese Dad'
Shanghai locals bid farewell to childhood memoriesDay|Week|Month