MH370: Obama offers support as search enters 50th day

A robotic mini-submarine scouring the seabed for wreckage of the plane has failed to yield results after 13 missions and searching nearly 95 per cent of the focused underwater search area.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21, a US Navy probe equipped with side-scan sonar, is currently completing mission 14, Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) leading the search said.

If no contacts of interest are made, the Bluefin will continue to examine the areas adjacent to the 10km radius, the JACC said in a statement.

The Bluefin had to abort its 13th mission yesterday and resurface due to a software issue that required resetting. The AUV has technically sophisticated equipment and a reset is not uncommon. Overnight Phoenix technicians resolved the issue and mission 14 is now underway, it said.

Up to 8 military aircraft and 11 ships were assisting in today's search for missing airliner.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority planned a visual search area totalling approximately 57,311 sq kms for today.  The centre of the search area lies approximately 1,584 kms north west of Perth.