Missing Malaysian plane: search cut short; new satellite spots objects

“This is a really rough piece of ocean, which is going to be a terrific issue,” said Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore. “I worry that people carrying out the rescue mission are going to get into trouble.”

Malaysia has been criticized over its handling of one of the most perplexing mysteries in aviation history.

Much of the most strident criticism has come from relatives of the Chinese passengers, some of whom expressed outrage that Malaysia essentially declared their loved ones dead without recovering a single piece of wreckage.

China dispatched a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, to deal with the crisis.

Zhang met with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on Wednesday and received a briefing on the satellite data that “led to the conclusion that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” Malaysia's Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

On Thursday, Malaysian officials met with China's ambassador to Malaysia, Huang Huikang, “to request the government of China to engage and clarify the actual situation to the affected families in particular and the Chinese public in general,” the statement said.

Though officials say Flight 370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean, they don't know why it disappeared shortly after takeoff.

Investigators have ruled out nothing—including mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board.

On Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey told members of Congress that his investigators should finish in a day or two their analysis of electronics owned by the pilot and co-pilot, work that includes trying to recover files deleted from a home flight simulator used by Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah.