U.S. to study satellite data pointing to conclusion about Flight MH370's crash

The United States was approaching a British company for satellite data to conduct its own analysis in order to corroborate the company's conclusion that the missing Malaysian jetliner had "ended" or crashed in the Indian Ocean, the State Department said Tuesday.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf, who said a day earlier the U.S. had no "independent corroboration" about the crash of Flight MH370 as announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak based on an analysis of satellite data by the Inmarsat company, told reporters that Washington was "in touch" with the two sides.

"We are in touch with both the Malaysian government about their calculations and the British company about their images to see if we can independently confirm their data analysis through our own data analysis," Harf said at a regular news briefing.

"So basically, we're going back and looking at how they got to what they got to, and seeing if our ... experts and folks can get to the same place as well," she added. "That's what we're doing right now. That process isn't done yet."

Najib said Flight MH370's last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.

The Chinese government has demanded "full information and the evidence" that supports the conclusion.

There were 239 people aboard the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 aircraft, which mysteriously disappeared from radar within less an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on March 8. They included three Americans and 154 Chinese nationals.

A massive and multinational search is underway. The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending a towed pinger locator, an autonomous underwater vehicle and trained personnel to Australia to join the searching efforts.