Air force reconnaissance planes to use heat-seeking devices over hundreds of islands in hunt for flight MH370

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Indian officials have begun searching hundreds of uninhabited islands in the Andaman Sea using heat-seeking devices in the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared six days ago.

Two Indian air force reconnaissance planes began flying over the islands on Friday as a precaution, after they and two naval ships scoured the seas surrounding the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to Colonel Harmit Singh of India's tri-services command in the territory.

The archipelago, which stretches south of Burma, contains 572 islands across an area of 52 x 720km. Only 37 are inhabited, with the rest covered in dense forests.

The Indian navy was considering expanding its search west into the Bay of Bengal.

Singh declined to give details about the rest of the search operation, including the use of the heat sensors on the Dornier planes.

Coastguard official VSR Murthy said India would turn its focus toward western waters between the islands and the Indian coast. On Friday, two navy ships were still sailing east of Great Nicobar Island.