Developments over Malaysian jet search: As it happened

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha 03:20 am: China defends Malaysian PM`s choice of words over MH370 tragedy Defending Malaysian probe into the missing jet, China`s ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang has rubbished the scathing criticism by Chinese relatives of passengers on board MH370, terming it as irresponsible. According to South China Morning Post, the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia said, "These radical and irresponsible opinions do not represent the views of Chinese people and the Chinese government". He further defended Malaysian PM`s use of word "ended" in reference to the plane`s disappearance into the Indian Ocean by saying, "Razak chose the word `ended` instead of `crashed` or `lost`. I fully understood why, because the purpose was to avoid harmful meaning". 01:40 am: Nothing suspicious found with pilot`s flight simulator` The ABC news reports that the FBI is done with the examination of the missing plane`s pilot Captain Zaharie Shah`s flight simulator and nothing suspicious has been found with it. The FBI experts were probing the flight simulator after it was found that some data was said to have been deleted. 10:40 am: Most difficult in human history, says Aus PM on MH370 search The search for MH370 has already been touted as the most complex and difficult search mission ever by the experts and investigators alike. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, too, on Thursday reiterated that the search for the plane is "the most difficult in human history". Standing with Malaysian PM Najib Razak at an RAAF base in Perth, he said, "We cannot be certain of ultimate success in the search for MH370...." 9:50 am: Won`t rest till answers are found, says Malaysian PM Pledging to put the best efforts in the search mission, PM Najib Razak said that Malaysia won`t rest till the answers were found. "We want to find answers. We want to provide comfort to the families and we will not rest until answers are indeed found," he said. "We owe it to the grieving families to ... give them comfort and closure to this rather tragic event and the world expects us to do our level best," he added. 9:00 am: Malaysian PM thanks search team members, says MH370 mission a Herculean task

Vowing to continue the search for the missing jet, Malaysian PM Najib Razak met Australian PM Tony Abbot and thanked all team members involved in the mission. At RAAF base in Perth, he met the commanders of all seven nations and thanked them for their efforts. "Faced with so little evidence, and such a Herculean task, investigators from Malaysia, the US, the UK, China, Australia and France have worked without pause to reveal the aircraft`s movements." 8:30 am: JACC says eight planes, nine ships searching the waters today The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said that eight planes and nine ships will take part in Thursday`s search which will scour over 223,000 square kilometres (86,000 square miles) of Indian ocean, 1680 kilometres northwest of Perth. 8:00 am: Malaysian PM tours RAAF base in Perth Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday arrived at the Australian air force base from where the search operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane are being managed. There, Najib discussed the MH370 search mission with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot. Both the PMs were then briefed by the head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, Angus Houston, who is leading the co-ordination of search operations.