Malaysia jet mystery prompts trial of better plane tracking

Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial to enhance the tracking of aircraft over oceans, allowing planes to be more easily found should they vanish like Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Australia's transport minister said on Sunday.

The announcement comes one week ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of Flight MH370, which vanished last year on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. No trace of the plane has been found.

Airservices Australia, a government-owned agency that manages the country's airspace, will work with its Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts to test the new method, which would enable planes to be tracked every 15 minutes, rather than the previous every 30 to 40 minutes, Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss said.