WH: ‘Excellent cooperation’ from Malaysia on plane search

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday that the U.S. is receiving “excellent cooperation” from the Malaysian government in the search for the jetliner that has been missing for two weeks.

Republicans in Congress have sharply criticized Malaysia’s handling of the search for the plane, arguing that the country has issued conflicting reports about the potential whereabouts of the jet and been slow to look into the backgrounds of its pilots.

Carney said Friday that the White House had no objections, however.

{mosads}“We, the United States are providing assistance through the FAA and the NTSB, and through the FBI,” Carney said. “We are receiving excellent cooperation from the Malaysian government, which has the lead obviously in both the search and in the investigation.”

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was last detected by air traffic controllers on March 7, when the plane was about an hour into its scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Malaysian officials said Friday the search was focused on an area in the Indian Ocean where Australian leaders said they captured satellite images of debris that could be from the jet.

Carney said he had “no new information or conclusions to provide about what happened to the plane.

“We’re obviously assisting in the search in the Indian Ocean in the areas that the Prime Minister outlined over the weekend,” he said. “And in case you were going to ask me about the reports of the debris, I just have no updates on that except that we’re participating in the search as a general matter.”

The jetliner was carrying 239 passengers at the time of its disappearance. The plane was a Boeing 777 that Malaysia Airlines officials said was properly maintained before its flight.

The State Department has confirmed that at least three American citizens were passengers on board the plane.