MH370 Search Continues

© Mark Schiefelbein, AP

Official: MH370 'very likely' will be found soon - The Australian official spearheading the two-year search for the Malaysia Airlines jet that vanished over the Indian Ocean two years ago says it is "very likely" the plane will be found within four months.

But Martin Dolan, head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, also says the official search for Flight MH370 will end this summer if it isn't found.

Searchers have scanned more than 30,000 square miles of the primary search zone with no sighting of the Boeing 777's fuselage. Dolan says searchers expect to complete the remaining zone, more than 10,000 square miles or an area about the size of Maryland, in a few months.

"We’ve covered nearly three-quarters of the search area, and since we haven’t found the aircraft in those areas, that increases the likelihood that it’s in the areas we haven’t looked at yet," Dolan told The Guardian.

Tuesday will mark the second anniversary of the day the Beijing-bound jet disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All 239 people aboard, most of them Chinese, are presumed dead.

On Monday, families of a dozen Chinese victims filed suit in Beijing against a list of defendants that includes the airline, Boeing and engine-maker Rolls Royce. The suit was filed a day before the two-year deadline to begin litigation under international law. Dozens of families already had filed, and it's possible that settlements will be reached with some or all of them.

Also Monday, Malaysian Transportation Minister Liow Tiong Lai said a small piece of debris from the plane may have been found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where a piece of the plane's wing was found last year.

"We are awaiting verification" on that debris and another piece of debris found recently in Mozambique, he said.

Liow said the Malaysian Parliament will mark the tragic anniversary with a moment of silence Tuesday. Other events are schedule in China and elsewhere.

"We remain steadfast in our commitment to complete the highest probability search area and to find the answers that we all seek," LIow said on Twitter. "Our thoughts & prayers will always be with the families and loved ones of those on board flight #mh370."