* Planes and helicopter find no trace of missing flight yet

* Largely uninhabited islands known for dense forest

* Operation 'like finding a needle in a haystack' (Adds fire on North Sentinel island)

By Sanjib Kumar Roy

PORT BLAIR, India, March 14 (Reuters) - Indian aircraft on Friday combed Andaman and Nicobar, made up of more than 500 mostly uninhabited islands, for signs of a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner that evidence suggests was last headed towards the heavily forested archipelago.

Popular with tourists and anthropologists alike, the islands form India's most isolated state. They are best known for dense rainforests, coral reefs and hunter-gatherer tribes who have long resisted contact with outsiders.

The search for lost Flight MH370 has expanded dramatically in the past week but failed to locate the plane or any wreckage, making it one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history.

Initially focused northeast of Malaysia, search operations took a new turn after Malaysia's air force chief said military radar had spotted an unidentified aircraft, suspected to be the lost Boeing 777, to the west of Malaysia early on March 8.

On Thursday, two sources told Reuters the unidentified aircraft appeared to be following a commonly used navigational route that would take it over the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The Indian Navy has deployed two Dornier planes to fly across the island chain, a total area of 720 km (447 miles) by 52 km (32 miles), Indian military spokesman Harmeet Singh said in the state capital, Port Blair. So far the planes, and a helicopter searching the coast, had found nothing.

Continued here:

UPDATE 1-India scours jungle islands for lost Malaysian jetliner