France scales back MH370 search

The French air and sea search was to be reduced, officials said on Monday, after a 10-day search of beaches and coastal waters around Reunion yielded no results.

In that time, teams have scoured some 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers) of ocean by plane, helicopter and boat. However, local authorities said in a statement that they had found "nothing suspected of having any connection to a plane."

"In the absence of any new discovery of an object that could interest the ongoing investigation, it seems that the statistical chance of finding any debris from MH370 is extremely weak," the statement said.

Although most of the search activity is to come to an end, authorities said a "watchful vigilance posture" would be adopted.

In addition to the search at sea, almost 200 police officers deployed on foot patrols have searched the east coast of the island for signs of the missing Boeing 777.

Uncertainty over wing part

The hunt for debris was sparked when a wing fragment believed to have come from the plane washed up on the island in late July. Malaysian officials say they are sure the piece is part of the plane, but French, US and Australian authorities are not so certain. Other items that may have come from a plane have been found but have yet to be officially linked.

The aircraft with 239 people on board had been traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared without trace on March 8, 2014. It changed course and is believed to have headed out across the Indian Ocean, before losing all contact.

According to experts, the plane went down off the western coast of Australia, although debris could have spread far away from the crash site because of tidal currents.

Satellite and other data indicate that the plane came down in the southern Indian Ocean, with ships having scoured more than 50,000 square kilometers of deep ocean floor as part of an Australian-led effort.

Australia has said it is confident it is looking in the right area, with drift modeling showing debris could have been washed from there to Reunion.

rc/cmk (AFP, AP, dpa)