Malaysia jet most likely on autopilot when it crashed, Australia says

Credit: Reuters/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Blair/Handout via Reuters

Crew aboard the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield move the U.S. Navy's Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle into position for deployment in the southern Indian Ocean to look for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, April 14, 2014 in this handout picture released by the U.S. Navy.

'The new priority area is still focused on the seventh arc, where the aircraft last communicated with satellite. We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along the arc based on these calculations,' Warren Truss said.

The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared on March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

Investigators say what little evidence they have to work with suggests the aeroplane was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometers from its scheduled route before eventually crashing into the Indian Ocean.

(Reporting by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Nick Macfie)