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Undersea drone hunt for Malaysian plane may take two months, drone returned to surface after getting to 4.5km depth

US Navy’s Bluefin-21 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) seen here being deployed to help in the Malaysian jet search Monday. [PHOTO: XINHUA]

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: A US Navy underwater drone sent to search for a missing Malaysian jetliner on the floor of the Indian Ocean could take up to two months to scour a 600 sq km area where the plane is believed to have sunk, U.S. search authorities said on Tuesday.

The prediction coincided with the end to the abbreviated first mission by the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle six hours into what was meant to be a 16-hour operation on Monday after it exceeded its 4.5 km (14,750 feet) depth limit and was automatically returned to the surface.

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