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SYDNEY (AP) — Investigators looking into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane are confident it was on autopilot when it crashed in a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean, Australian officials said Thursday as they announced the latest shift in the search for the jet.

After analyzing data exchanged between the plane and a satellite, officials believe Flight 370 was on autopilot the entire time it was flying across a vast expanse of the southern Indian Ocean, based on the straight path it took, Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan said.

"Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel," Dolan told reporters in Canberra, the nation's capital.

Asked whether the autopilot would have to be manually switched on, or whether it could have been activated automatically under a default setting, Dolan replied, "The basic assumption would be that if the autopilot is operational it's because it's been switched on."

But exactly why the autopilot would have been set on a flight path so far off course from the jet's destination of Beijing, and exactly when it was switched on remains unknown.

"We couldn't accurately, nor have we attempted to, fix the moment when it was put on autopilot," Transport Minister Warren Truss said. "It will be a matter for the Malaysian-based investigation to look at precisely when it may have been put on autopilot."

The latest nugget of information from the investigation into Flight 370 came as officials announced yet another change in the search area for the plane that vanished on March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers and crew on board.

The new search area is several hundred kilometers (miles) southwest of the most recent suspected crash site, about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) off Australia's west coast, Dolan said. Powerful sonar equipment will scour the seabed for wreckage in the new search zone, which officials calculated by reanalyzing the existing satellite data.

The shift was expected, with Dolan saying last week the new zone would be south of an area where a remote-controlled underwater drone spent weeks fruitlessly combing 850 square kilometers (330 square miles) of seabed. That search area was determined by a series of underwater sounds initially thought to have come from the plane's black boxes. But those signals are now widely believed to have come from some other source.

The new 60,000-square kilometer (23,000-square mile) search area falls within a vast expanse of ocean that air crews have already scoured for floating debris, to no avail. Officials have since called off the air search, since any debris would likely have sunk long ago.

The hunt is now focused underwater. Beginning in August, private contractors will use powerful side-scan sonar equipment capable of probing ocean depths of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) to comb the ocean floor in the new search zone. The job is expected to take 12 months to complete.

Two survey ships are mapping uncharted expanses of seabed in the search zone before the sonar scanning starts. Dolan said it was possible the mapping equipment could detect wreckage that may be lying on the seafloor, but that it was highly unlikely.

The search area has changed multiple times in the months since Flight 370 vanished, as officials struggled to make sense of the limited data the flight left in its wake after it dropped off radar. The plane's communications systems were disabled, giving investigators little to work with beyond data gleaned from hourly transmissions, or "handshakes," between the plane and a satellite.

University of New South Wales aviation expert Peter Marosszky said if the autopilot was still working when the plane crashed, it suggests the aircraft's communications systems were switched off rather than disabled by a major malfunction or catastrophe.

"It would appear very unlikely that power was removed from most of the essential systems, because you can't connect your autopilot if your flight management computers aren't operating," he said. "It would appear that it lost all communication and identification with air traffic control because those systems were turned off. You can't connect the autopilot if you've got systems that have been put out of action."

Truss said he was optimistic that the latest search zone is the most likely crash site. But he warned that finding the plane remains a huge task.

"The search will still be painstaking," he said. "Of course, we could be fortunate and find it in the first hour or the first day — but it could take another 12 months."

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

One reason for weakness: many young people, saddled with student loan debt, elevated unemployment and less-than-perfect credit scores, are staying out of the market.

The NFL agreed Wednesday to remove a $675 million cap on damages from thousands of concussion-related claims after a federal judge questioned whether there would be enough money to cover as many as 20,000 retired players.

A revised settlement agreement filed in federal court in Philadelphia also eliminates a provision that barred anyone who gets concussion damages from the NFL from suing the NCAA or other amateur football leagues.

In January, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody had denied preliminary approval of the deal because she worried the money could run out sooner than expected. The settlement, negotiated over several months, is designed to last at least 65 years and cover retired players who develop Lou Gehrig's disease, dementia or other neurological problems believed to be caused by concussions suffered during their pro careers.

"I think there was perception by players and the judge that needed to be addressed, and that is that everyone will need to get paid. Now you have a guarantee," said plaintiffs' lawyers Christopher Seeger.

"It was a fantastic deal when we presented it, and it's got to be considered new and improved now," he said.

More than 4,500 former players have filed suit, some accusing the league of fraud for its handling of concussions. They include former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, who suffers from dementia.

The original settlement included $675 million for compensatory claims for players with neurological symptoms, $75 million for baseline testing and $10 million for medical research and education. The NFL would also pay an additional $112 million to the players' lawyers, for a total payout of more than $870 million.

The revised settlement eliminates the cap on overall damage claims but retains a payout formula for individual retirees that considers their age and illness. A young retiree with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, would receive $5 million, a 50-year-old with Alzheimer's disease would get $1.6 million, and an 80-year-old with early dementia would get $25,000.

Even with the cap removed, both sides said they believe the NFL will spend no more than about $675 million on damage claims by ex-players.

Brody will decide later whether to accept the new settlement terms. She still has to rule on a petition by a group of seven players who say the settlement pays them nothing for symptoms ranging from headaches to personality changes.

Critics of the deal have also said the league, with annual revenues approaching $10 billion, was getting off lightly. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the settlement avoids the risk of a protracted legal battle.

The proposal does not include an admission from the NFL that it hid information from players about head injuries.

"Today's agreement reaffirms the NFL's commitment to provide help to those retired players and their families who are in need, and to do so without the delay, expense and emotional cost associated with protracted litigation," NFL Senior Vice President Anastasia Danias said in a statement.

The plaintiffs include Kevin Turner, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots and is now battling ALS.

"The compensation provided in this settlement will lift a heavy burden off of the men who are suffering," he said in a statement. "I am also personally comforted by the knowledge that this settlement is guaranteed to be there for any retired player who needs it."

It's not clear when the judge might rule, but Seeger, the plaintiffs' attorney, said he is hopeful that preliminary approval will come in the next few weeks.

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AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

BEIJING (AP) — Dazzling special effects, Optimus Prime ... and Beijing. The latest "Transformers" movie has all three, mixing Texas-based action with scenes in China's capital and a heavy dose of Hong Kong in an attempt to straddle the world's two biggest movie-going audiences.

The fourth installment of the Michael Bay-directed franchise has gone all-out to woo China's audience with Chinese locations, talent and even a reality TV show. "Transformers: Age of Extinction" illustrates the delicate balancing game of Hollywood studios trying to work out what the Chinese market wants while simultaneously catering to Americans.

If such films aren't handled properly, they risk alienating both audiences, said Michael Keane, an expert on China's creative industries at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. In China, the core movie-going group of 19-to-25-year-olds already like Western films, he said.

"They would like 'Transformers,' and as soon as you start stuffing in Chinese elements, they can see through it, and you may shoot yourself in the foot by doing it," Keane said.

Western studios are adding Chinese elements to increase their appeal in China, where films earned $3.6 billion in ticket sales last year. "Skyfall" was partly set in Shanghai and Macau. Chinese actress Fan Bingbing played one of the mutant superheroes in "X-Men: Day of Future Past," which has earned $114 million in China — almost a quarter of the movie's total international box office.

But the sprinkling of Chinese elements in "Transformers: Age of Extinction," opening in China and North America on Friday, has gone further than many recent Hollywood movies.

More than half an hour of its action takes place in Hong Kong and the crew filmed in three other Chinese cities. Chinese star Li Bingbing has a fairly major role and boy band singer-turned-actor Han Geng has a one-liner. A reality TV show was held a year before the movie's debut to choose four people to play roles.

In one scene a billboard stretches across most of the screen, advertising a Chinese liquor. In another product placement, Stanley Tucci's character takes a break on a roof and drinks from a carton of Chinese milk.

Online film critic Zheng Kunjie said the number of Chinese elements in the film was "unprecedented" in a Hollywood import. The familiar scenes and brands make the "Transformers" movie more realistic to a Chinese audience than one that employs a Western stereotype of "a classically beautiful China" like in "Skyfall," she said. While these will make Chinese moviegoers amused and interested in the film, the Chinese elements don't affect the development of the story, she said.

Florian Fettweis of Beijing-based media consultancy CMM-I said too many Chinese elements could dilute the appeal to U.S. movie-goers.

Western movies that have contained a more China-specific narrative have tended to fare badly at the box office, such as last year's directorial debut by Keanu Reeves, "Man of Tai Chi," set in Beijing and centering around Chinese martial arts.

Unlike the latest "Transformers" movie, "Man of Tai Chi" had official co-production status in China. To be classed as such by Chinese authorities, at least a third of their main creative talent must be Chinese, 30 percent of its film budget must come from China, some production must take place in China and the film must include a certain amount of undefined Chinese elements.

Officially designated co-productions benefit both sides. For Hollywood, they earn an automatic exemption from China's quota on foreign movies and allow a larger share of the country's box office. China's filmmaking industry, meanwhile, is keen to acquire more skills and technological know-how.

Last year, there were 49 official co-productions in China, the majority of which were with Hong Kong and Taiwanese companies, according to leading entertainment consultancy EntGroup. China counts productions in the self-governing island of Taiwan as being Chinese.

There were three China-U.S. co-productions, including "Cloud Atlas."

A flurry of recent cooperation agreements between Hollywood studios and Chinese players suggests more co-productions are on the way.

In April, Paramount and state-owned China Film Group signed a deal to co-produce fantasy-action movie "Marco Polo" based on the 14th century European explorer who traveled to China. He is a positive figure in Chinese history and workable fodder for a Chinese-inspired script.

He Xuefeng, a Film Bureau official, said it was too early to say whether "Marco Polo" would be given co-production status.

On Monday, Chinese private investor Fosun International Ltd. announced that it would invest in Studio 8 — a company founded by former Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov. Also this month, Hollywood film financier and Chinese producer Relativity Media and Jiangsu Broadcasting Corp. announced an agreement to co-produce, co-finance and distribute film and television content for both the international and Chinese markets.

"Transformers: Age of Extinction" is not an official co-production, but Hollywood-based Paramount worked with China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises to make the film. Paramount is not thought to have applied for the official co-production status, although it did not respond to requests for comment, and was likely assured of being chosen among this year's quota of imports because of its blockbuster brand and Chinese elements.

Hollywood coming to China isn't "necessarily a good thing for creative freedom" because screenwriters will avoid topics sensitive to Beijing such as the Dalai Lama or the Falun Gong spiritual group, said Keane, the expert at Queensland University of Technology.

"It's going to mean a kind of dumbing down in terms of people will self-censor," Keane said. "They're going to make stories that are neutral or even positive towards China in order to get into the marketplace."