Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 turned south earlier than previously thought, Australian authorities said Thursday, providing a new clue to the Boeing 777’s possible location in the southern Indian Ocean. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the new information was based on an attempted satellite phone call to the plane by Malaysia Airlines ground staff.
However, the broad search area for MH370 remains unchanged, Truss told reporters at a news conference in Canberra, Australia. "Over the last few weeks and months, continuing work is being done on refining the information that we have in relation to the most likely resting place for this aircraft,” Truss said. “The search area remains the same but some of the areas, some of the information we now have suggests to us that areas a little further to the south ... within the search area, but a little further to the south may be of particular interest and priority." Truss also announced that Malaysia and Australia are to share the costs of the latest phase of the search for the plane, which disappeared while flying to Beijing on March 8.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.