Says New Underwater Search Has A 'Reasonable Chance' Of Success

A renewed effort to locate Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is being prepared, and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Wednesday that he feels it has a "reasonable chance" of success.

The Boeing 777 disappeared from radar March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and there has been no sign of the airplane or any of the 239 people on board since.

The French news service AFP reports that a team has used the latest technical data to come up with an area they say is the most likely place to find the airplane ... but it's a large area. Abbott told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the searchers will focus on a probable impact zone encompassing some 23,000 square miles.

Abbott told the ABC that a Dutch firm has been contracted to conduct the latest underwater search. He said the effort could get underway in about month, and take as much as a year to complete. The company will use sonar and video equipment to scan the ocean floor in an effort to identify any debris from the airplane.

FMI: www.pm.gov.au