Searchers consider undersea robot in hunt for MH370

Pilot and captain Flight Lieutenant Timothy McAlevey (R), and flight engineer Chris Poole look from the cockpit of a Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) P-3K2 Orion aircraft, as they fly over the southern Indian Ocean to continue the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 April 13, 2014. REUTERS/Greg Wood/Pool

SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Australian officials leading the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean are weighing when to deploy an underwater robot to aid in the hunt, now in its sixth fruitless week.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared soon after taking off on March 8 from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, triggering a multinational search that is now focused on the Indian Ocean.