http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/03/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Perth, Australia (CNN) -- Nearly two dozen ships and aircraft are picking up the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in fair weather Friday, seeking a breakthrough in the seas far off Australia.
The day's search area has been refined to about 217,000 square kilometers (83,800 square miles) of a remote part of the Indian Ocean northwest of Perth, Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre reported.
A total of 14 aircraft and nine ships will scan the area, and two ships seen as central to the hunt were expected to reach the zone soon.
But officials have warned of a potentially long search for the missing passenger jet, which vanished nearly four weeks ago with 239 people on board. Long days spent combing vast tracts of ocean have so far turned up no trace of the plane.
The Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo will be conducting a specific search on Friday, a spokesperson for the Australian Defence Force told CNN. And the Australian naval supply ship Ocean Shield, which is equipped with U.S. technology designed to detect the pings from the flight recorders, was due to arrive in the search area overnight.
The spokesperson, who is not authorized to speak to the media, told CNN there would be a news conference on Friday led by retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of the joint coordination center. It wasn't clear what the news conference will cover.
HMS Echo has already been searching for sonic transmissions from the flight data recorder in part of the search area. Authorities have said that one alert was experienced but discounted and that false alerts can be obtained from shipping noises or whales.
The Ocean Shield is equipped with the TPL-25, a giant underwater microphone that will listen for the pings from the flight data recorders and the Bluefin-21, an underwater robot that can scour the ocean bed, looking for signs of wreckage.
But until searchers can find a confirmed piece of debris from the plane, which would give them an idea of where the wreckage might be located, the sophisticated listening technology is of little use.
"Really the best we can do right now is put these assets in the best location -- the best guess we have -- and kind of let them go," U.S. Navy Cmdr. William Marks told CNN. "Until we get conclusive evidence of debris, it is just a guess."
'We cannot be certain of success'
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier Thursday described the search as "the most difficult in human history" and warned there was no guarantee the missing plane would be found.
"We cannot be certain of ultimate success in the search for MH370," he said at a news briefing in Perth, the western city that is serving as the hub for search operations. "But we can be certain that we will spare no effort -- that we will not rest -- until we have done everything we humanly can."
Abbott was speaking during a visit to Perth by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who met with members of the search teams who have been scouring a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean for traces of the jetliner.
"They told me of the difficulties of a search like this, of distance and weather and of maintaining morale over a long period," Najib said.
His visit came on the 27th day of the hunt for the passenger jet, which disappeared March 8 over Southeast Asia.
Investigators are yet to provide an explanation of why the plane flew way off course or pinpoint exactly where it ended up. Officials say that an analysis of the available data suggests the jet's journey finished in the southern Indian Ocean.
6 missteps in the investigation
'Till hell freezes over'
Weeks of combing vast areas of ocean have turned up plenty of floating junk, like old bits of fishing gear, but so far no sign of the plane.
The search efforts Thursday involved as many as eight planes and nine ships over about 223,000 square kilometers (86,000 square miles).
Authorities say they will persevere despite the challenges.
"We'll keep going till hell freezes over," Kim Beazley, Australia's former defense minister and current ambassador to the United States, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It could take months, it could take years."
While officials are refusing to give a timeframe, the clock is ticking for one part of the search. The batteries powering the beacons attached to the plane's flight recorders are expected to run out in the coming days.
Malaysian officials held a briefing for Malaysian relatives of those aboard MH370 Thursday evening at a Kuala Lumpur hotel, but those present told CNN nothing new had emerged.
Mohammad Sahril Shaari, whose cousin Mohammad Razahan Zamani was a honeymooning groom on the plane, said the three-hour session had felt like a "waste of time."
He added, "I was hoping for some news that they had tracked the plane or some parts of it, but nothing like that happened."
Selamat Bin Omar, the father of another passenger, Malaysian civil flight engineer Mohammed Khairul Amri Selamat, said officials explained in detail the satellite data that has led investigators to the search area in the southern Indian Ocean.
But, he said, "They could not tell us if the plane crashed. They said they were still looking into it."
Ocean Shield: A mission of hope in search for Flight 370
Police investigation continues
With the hunt at sea so far proving fruitless, there are no signs of a breakthrough in the investigation into those on board the plane.
All 227 passengers have been cleared of any role in hijacking or sabotage or having psychological or personal issues that might have played a role in the plane's disappearance, the inspector general of Malaysian police, Khalid Abu Bakar, told reporters Wednesday.
Police said a review of a flight simulator found in a pilot's house proved inconclusive. And senior Malaysian government officials told CNN last week that authorities have found nothing about either of the two pilots to suggest a motive. There have been no such public comments about the other 10 crew members, however.
Investigators are still questioning relatives of all of those on the plane -- having already interviewed about 170 people -- as well as those who may have had access to it.
That includes scrutinizing those who prepared food for the flight, those who packed the cargo, and those who were to receive the cargo in China.
"Everything from beginning to end," said Khalid, stressing that getting answers won't be easy or quick.
"We have to clear every little thing," he said. "You cannot hurry us in whatever we are doing."
His comments were echoed by K.S. Narendran, who spoke to CNN's Erin Burnett from India. His wife, Chandrika Sharma, was on the flight.
"This is an event that is so unprecedented and I think that is so significant that it can never be allowed to get off the screens, get off the radar," he said.
"My concern is that if we don't really get to the bottom of it, we cannot really be certain that we are safe and that we are secure every time we board a flight."
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