Missing Malaysian flight MH70.

All week the planes have been flying overhead. They're big - very big - and noisy. This is because we are on a flight path from RAAF Base Pearce where much of the search for Malaysian Airways Flight MH370, missing since March 8, is now based.

Since the change in direction of the search on March 18 and the discovery of floating debris by a satellite on March 22 everything has stepped up. The search is very difficult for a number of reasons. The area itself is enormous. Located thousands of kilometres out in the southern Indian Ocean it means it takes the planes around four hours to get to the area and another four to return which leaves only about two hours search time. Add in the vagaries of the ocean currents as well as forecast bad weather and it's a huge task.

Sadly it's unlikely that there will be any survivors but if the debris can be retrieved it will at least mean the families will have some closure and possibly answers about what happened. I can only imagine what pain they have been in and my heart goes out to them.