Search for missing Malaysia Airlines jet expanded to Indian Ocean

The White House announced on Thursday that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet is being expanded to the Indian Ocean.

The shift to search the area is based upon "new information," White House spokesman Jay Carney said, reports Reuters. He didn't explain what the information was, but noted that it's "not necessarily conclusive."

To help search the new area, several Navy vessels have been dispatched, including the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd. The destroyer is headed to the Strait of Malacca from the Gulf of Thailand where it was previously sent to help look for the plane.

The new information could be related to the "pinging" that officials have spoken with ABC News about.

Every hour the airplane is supposed to "ping" a satellite and it is known that even after contact was lost with the flight, it continued to ping the satellite.

The pinging continued for about four to five hours according to the official, but it isn't known if the pinging also includes information on where the plane is at the time. A senior official simply said, "We have an indication the plane went down in the Indian Ocean."

The latest theory surrounding Flight 370 is that it Wikimedia Commons

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