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Robotic submarine Bluefin-21 will be deployed for the first time to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said the Bluefin-21 drone would be sent down as soon as possible to search for wreckage on the sea floor.
Teams have been using a towed pinger locator to listen for signals from the plane’s “black box” flight recorders.
But no new signals have been heard since April 8, amid concerns the flight recorders’ batteries have expired.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board. It was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers over the South China Sea.
Malaysian officials believe, based on satellite data, that it ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of kilometres off course.
Teams searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane are to deploy robotic submarine Bluefin-21 for the first time
An international search has focused on waters west of the Australian city of Perth, with teams racing against time to detect signals before the flight recorder batteries – which last about one month – run out.
ACM Angus Houston, who heads the joint agency coordinating the search effort, said that given no signals had been detected in six days, it was time to go underwater.
The Bluefin-21 – an almost 5m-long underwater autonomous vehicle that can create a sonar map of the sea floor – will search for wreckage in an area defined by four signals heard last week.
Officials believe those signals – picked up by the pinger locator towed by an Australian vessel – are consistent with flight recorders.
“Analysis of the four signals has allowed the provisional definition of a reduced and manageable search area on the ocean floor,” ACM Angus Houston said.
“The experts have therefore determined that the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield will cease searching with the towed pinger locator later today and deploy the… Bluefin-21 as soon as possible.”
Angus Houston warned that the submersible search would be a long, “painstaking” process that might, in the end, yield no results.
Each Bluefin-21 mission will last 24 hours, with 16 hours spent on the ocean floor, four hours’ diving and resurfacing time, and four hours to download data.
Australian vessel Ocean Shield had also spotted an oil slick in the same area where the signals had been heard, ACM Angus Houston said, and a sample was being sent for testing.
“I stress the source of the oil is yet to be determined but the oil slick is approximately 5,500m downwind… from the vicinity of the detections picked up by the towed pinger locator,” he said.
Australian officials have said previously that they are confident they are searching in the right area for the missing plane.
Officials have no idea yet why the plane diverted so far from its intended flight path. Investigators are looking at options including hijacking, mechanical failure, sabotage and pilot action.
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Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid tried to make a call with his cellphone after the plane was diverted from its scheduled route, Malaysia’s New Straits Times reported investigative sources as saying on Saturday.
The newspaper cited unidentified sources as saying the attempted call from Fariq Abdul Hamid’s phone was picked up by a cellphone tower as the plane was about 200 nautical miles northwest of the west coast state of Penang. That was around where military radar made its last sighting of the missing jet at 2:15 a.m. local time on March 8.
“The telco’s [telecommunications company’s] tower established the call that he was trying to make. On why the call was cut off, it was likely because the aircraft was fast moving away from the tower and had not come under the coverage of the next one,” the New Straits Times cited a source as saying.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid tried to make a call with his cellphone after the plane was diverted from its scheduled route
The publication quoted Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as saying that the report needed to be verified.
However, Hishammuddin Hussein appeared to cast doubt on the report by saying: “If this did happen, we would have known about it earlier.”
The New Straits Times cited separate investigative sources as saying that a signal had been picked up from Fariq Abdul Hamid’s cellphone, but that it could have resulted from the device being switched on rather than being used to make a call.
Malaysia is focusing its criminal investigation on the cabin crew and the pilots of the plane – 53-year-old captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and 27-year old co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid – after clearing all 227 passengers of any involvement, police have said.
Investigators believe that someone with detailed knowledge of both the Boeing 777-200ER and commercial aviation navigation switched off the plane’s communications systems before diverting it thousands of miles off its scheduled course.
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Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said signals in remote seas thought to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are “rapidly fading” and finding the jet will be a “massive, massive task”.
Tony Abbott said he was confident “pings” detected by search teams were from the aircraft’s black boxes.
But no new signals have been confirmed in the search area since Tuesday.
“No one should underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us,” Tony Abbott warned.
Correspondents say Tony Abbott appeared to be couching his comments from Friday, in which he said he was “very confident” that signals heard by an Australian search ship were from the missing Boeing 777.
Speaking during a visit to China, Tony Abbott said teams were hoping to track further signals in a section of the southern Indian Ocean before shifting the search operation to the seabed.
Australian PM Tony Abbott said he was confident pings detected by search teams were from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane’s black boxes
“Trying to locate anything 4,500 metres [15,000 feet] beneath the surface of the ocean, about a 1,000km [620 miles] from land is a massive, massive task,” Tony Abbott said.
“Given that the signal from the black box is rapidly fading, what we are now doing is trying to get as many detections as we can so that we can narrow the search area down to as small an area as possible.”
Tony Abbott said a submersible drone would be sent to conduct a sonar search of the seabed once search teams were confident with the area identified – but he refused to say when that might be.
After analyzing satellite data, officials believe Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people aboard flew off course for an unknown reason and went down in the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia.
Those leading the search fear that time is running out because the batteries that power the pings from the black box only last about a month, and that window has already passed.
Two sounds heard a week ago by the Australian ship Ocean Shield, towing the ping locator, were determined to be consistent with the signals emitted from the black boxes. Two more pings were detected in the same general area on Tuesday.
On Thursday, an Australian aircraft picked up an audio signal in the same area as the four previous detections but officials now believe it is unlikely to be related to the black boxes
The underwater search zone is currently a 500 miles patch of the seabed, about the size of Los Angeles.
The submersible drone, Bluefin 21, takes six times longer to cover the same area as the ping locator and it would take about six weeks to two months for it to search the current zone.
Complicating matters is the depth of the seabed in that area. The signals are emanating from 15,000 ft below the surface, which is the deepest the Bluefin can dive. The search coordination centre said it was considering options in case a deeper-diving sub was needed.
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An Australian P-3 Orion aircraft searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has detected a possible new signal in the southern Indian Ocean, Australian officials say.
The plane picked up the signal in the same area where an Australian vessel detected audio pings earlier this week, officials said.
The signal would require further analysis, but could have been from a “man-made source”, officials said.
Flight MH370 vanished on March 8, with 239 people on board.
The Australian plane picked up the signal in the same area where a vessel detected audio pings earlier this week
The search zone was tightened on Thursday after a US navy “towed pinger locator” picked up audio signals in the area, sparking hopes that the plane’s black box was in the area.
Australian vessel Ocean Shield picked up four acoustic signals in the area, twice over the weekend and twice on Tuesday.
Speaking after the latest possible signal was detected, retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading search efforts, said: “The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight but shows potential of being from a man-made source.”
Up to 14 planes and 13 ships are involved in Thursday’s search, scouring an area of 22 300 sq miles, around 1,400 miles north-west of Perth. It is the smallest designated area in the hunt to date.
Planes have dropped buoys equipped with hydrophone listening devices into the water to help pick up signals.
The batteries on the black box only last about a month, so teams need to work quickly to track the audio signals before they stop broadcasting.
Malaysia has come under criticism for its handling of the search, with families of the passengers on the plane accusing the authorities of a lack of transparency.
The investigation came under further scrutiny after it emerged that the final words from the plane were “good night Malaysian three seven zero”, and not “all right, good night”, as previously reported by the government.
Australian vessel Ocean Shield searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has reacquired signals that could be consistent with “black box” flight recorders.
The Ocean Shield heard the signals again on Tuesday afternoon and evening, the search chief said.
Signals heard earlier had also been further analyzed by experts who concluded they were from “specific electronic equipment”, Angus Houston said.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, carrying 239 people.
It was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers.
Malaysian officials say that based on satellite data, they believe it ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles from its intended flight path.
“I believe we are searching in the right area,” said Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the joint agency co-ordinating the search.
Australian vessel Ocean Shield searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has reacquired signals that could be consistent with “black box” flight recorders
“But we need to visually identify aircraft wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370.”
The Ocean Shield has been towing a US Navy pinger locator to listen for signals from the plane’s flight recorders in waters west of the Australian city of Perth.
It twice acquired signals over the weekend.
On Tuesday, it located the signals again, the first time for five minutes and 32 seconds, and the second time for around seven minutes, said ACM Angus Houston.
“Ocean Shield has now detected four transmissions in the same broad area,” he said.
“Yesterday’s signals will assist in better defining a reduced and much more manageable search area on the ocean floor.”
The signals have been heard in sea with a depth of 15,000 feet.
ACM Angus Houston said it was important to refine the search area as much as possible before sending down the Bluefin 21 underwater drone to search for wreckage.
“Now hopefully with lots of transmissions we’ll have a tight, small area and hopefully in a matter of days we will be able to find something on the bottom,” he said.
Experts at the Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre had also analyzed the first two signals heard over the weekend, he added.
Their analysis showed that a “stable, distinct and clear signal” was detected. Experts had therefore assessed that it was not of natural origin and was likely from specific electronic equipment.
“They believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder,” ACM Angus Houston said.
Search teams have been racing against time to locate signals from the flight recorders before their batteries expire after about one month.
Investigators still do not know why MH370 strayed so far off course, after disappearing over the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.
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According to experts, the Chinese ship that detected a sound in the southern Indian Ocean consistent with a black box “ping” while searching for missing Malaysia Airlines plane may have simply been listening to itself.
That possibility illustrates just how complicated the task is to locate the transmitters from the lost MH370 flight.
Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston warned Tuesday – 32 days since Flight 370 vanished after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur – that other ships are being kept away from the search area to prevent any further confusion about signal noise.
“We can’t have too many ships in the area, because when you are dealing with these transmissions, you need utter silence,” he said.
“It becomes a very noisy environment if you suddenly have several ships around there or ships dropping things in the water.”
Chinese ship Haixun 01 detected a sound in the southern Indian Ocean consistent with a black box ping while searching for missing Malaysia Airlines plane
The crew of Chinese ship Haixun 01 announced Saturday they had recorded fleeting pings off Australia’s west coast, but their discovery occurred more than 350 miles from where the Australians say sustained and repeated pings were found Sunday.
Video of the Chinese ship appeared to show an extra pinger on board. That pinger would just need to get wet for it to start transmitting – noise that could then get picked up by the ship’s search crews, said Anish Patel, president of pinger maker Dukane Seacom. The company supplies black-box beacons for Malaysia Airlines.
“It takes the slightest bit of moisture for that water-activated switch to automatically fire up,” Anish Patel said.
He added that it’s “not best practice” during a search to keep another pinging device where you’re listening.
Video on China’s CCTV shows the crew of the Haixun 01 boarding a small dinghy and using a handheld hydrophone, which was lowered into the water on a pole, to listen for the pings from the missing jet’s two black boxes.
Experts have said that while it’s possible that such a device could pick up pings from the ocean, it’s highly unlikely in this case. The maker of the hydrophone technology used by the Chinese said it’s intended for shallower waters and requires the user to be much closer to the transmitter. The depth of the ocean in the search area is as much as 3 miles.
The Chinese said they recorded the fleeting pings on Friday and Saturday off Australia’s west coast. The signal’s frequency was recorded at 37.5 kHz per second – the same that would be emitted by flight recorders and a noise that does not occur naturally in the ocean.
Australia also is dragging a ping locator in the search area, and officials said signals it picked up late Saturday and early Sunday were stronger and lasted longer than the ones detected by the Chinese.
Those noises haven’t been heard since. The signals would become fainter over time as the beacons’ battery life slowly dies out. That typically takes about a month.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing one month ago.
For 30 days, search and rescue teams have patrolled areas of the southern Indian ocean, thousands of miles apart.
Planes, ships and submarines have all been deployed.
China, Australia, Malaysia, the US, the UK New Zealand, Japan and South Korea have all contributed to the search.
The question is: How much is it costing, and who pays?
Malaysia has refused to be drawn. Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters that the cost of mounting the search was “immaterial” when set against the need to bring solace to the families of the missing.
Mounting a search operation on this scale, and for this length of time, does not come cheap.
For 30 days, search and rescue teams have patrolled areas of the southern Indian ocean, thousands of miles apart
The bill so far probably runs to $33-42 million, estimates Peter Roberts, senior research fellow in sea power and maritime studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
This includes the cost of fuel, spare parts, and transporting supplies, as well as the relocation of staff – even costs such as cancelled leave can push up the final bill.
Most of the financial burden will be borne by the countries who have contributed their forces.
For example, Australia deployed a navy replenishment vessel, HMAS Success, two weeks ago. It costs AU$550,000 a day to operate, says the Department of Defense, so that comes to AU$7.7 million ($7.2 million) already.
And that is just a single ship. HMAS Toowoomba, which has also been involved, costs AU$380,000.
The US Department of Defense set aside $4 million to help the search: between March 8 and 24, it spent $3.2 million, a spokesman told reporters in Washington.
In the end, the cost of sending HMS Echo to the waters off Australia will be met from Treasury contingency funds, says Peter Roberts. Governments will take the costs within their budget “and accept they have to do it”.
The ship will stay there as long as it has a role to play, he says: “Mariners have got a very strong sense of brotherhood: saving life at sea is the right thing to do.”
Once the search is completed, attention is likely to turn to improving the tracking technology.
“It is hard for anyone to imagine that we can’t continuously track aircraft anywhere in the world,” says Peter Roberts.
There, the most expensive part of the process will not be the development or fitting of any technology, but the cost of getting it accepted and standardized by aviation regulators around the world.
The most expensive salvage operation in aviation history came after an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic in 2009.
After multiple searches over three years, the final bill came to 32 million euros ($44 million).
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Teams searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will wait for further contact with signals picked up over the weekend before using a submersible down to search for debris.
Australian Ocean Shield vessel has heard signals that officials said could be consistent with “black box” flight recorders.
It has not been able to reacquire them since Sunday, however.
Australian officials said it was key to re-find the signals before using a submersible in a search for wreckage.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board. The Beijing-bound plane lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian officials say that – based on satellite data – they believe the plane crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, west of the Australian city of Perth, thousands of miles from its intended flight path.
Teams searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will wait for further contact with signals picked up over the weekend before using a submersible down to search for debris
In Beijing, relatives of missing passengers held a vigil to mark one month since the plane disappeared.
Speaking at Pearce Airbase in Perth, Australian Defense Minister David Johnston said that several days of “intense action” were ahead as search teams tackled “this difficult, complex task” while black box pingers were still believed to be active.
Australian vessel Ocean Shield has been using a towed pinger locator to listen for transmissions from the plane’s flight recorders. Over the weekend, it heard signals on two separate occasions, the first time for more than two hours.
On the second occasion two distinct pinger returns were audible, something said to be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.
Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, who heads the agency overseeing the search for the plane, said that Ocean Shield had had no further contact with any transmissions since then.
He said that work involving the towed pinger locator would continue for several days, adding that the Bluefin 21 underwater drone would not be deployed unless more transmissions were received.
“If we can get more transmissions we can get a better fix on the ocean floor, which will enable a much more narrowly focused visual search for wreckage,” he said.
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Australian defense vessel Ocean Shield searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected signals consistent with those from black box flight recorders.
The Ocean Shield acquired the signal twice, once for more than two hours, said Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the search.
He called it the “most promising lead” so far.
However, ACM Angus Houston said more information was needed: “We haven’t found the aircraft yet and we need further confirmation.”
Malaysia Airlines plane, carrying 239 people, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 when it disappeared. Malaysian officials say they believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
ACM Angus Houston said the signals were detected using the towed pinger locator deployed on the Ocean Shield.
Two separate detections occurred, he said. The first was held for two hours and 20 minutes before being lost.
The ship then turned around and on the return leg detected the signal again for 13 minutes.
Australian defense vessel Ocean Shield searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected signals consistent with those from black box flight recorders (photo AP)
“On this occasion two distinct pinger returns were audible. Significantly this would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder,” ACM Angus Houston said
“We are now in a very well defined search area, which hopefully will eventually yield the information that we need to say that [Malaysia Airlines flight] MH370 might have entered the water just here.”
The Ocean Shield was still in the area but had not been able to reacquire the signals since, he said.
The position of the signals needed to be fixed, ACM Angus Houston said. Once that happened, the Ocean Shield could lower the Bluefin 21 underwater autonomous vehicle to try to locate wreckage on the sea floor.
The signal had been heard in sea with a depth of 4,500m, he added, which was at the limit of the capability of the Bluefin 21.
ACM Angus Houston cautioned that the next steps would take time.
“It could take some days before the information is available to establish whether these detections can be confirmed as being from MH370,” he said.
“In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast.”
The search operation is in a race against time as the flight recorders’ batteries are due to run out, meaning a signal would no longer be emitted.
A Chinese search vessel, Haixun 01, also said it briefly heard signals over the weekend in a different search area.
Those signals are now being investigated with the help of a British naval vessel, HMS Echo, which is equipped with sophisticated sound-locating equipment.
Reports said the crew of the Chinese ship had been using a sonar device called a hydrophone to pick up sounds.
Experts said it was technically possible but unlikely that the sounds heard with this equipment related to the missing plane.
Chris Portale, a director of the US company Dukane which makes the device that emits signals from flight recorders, said looking for the Malaysian plane’s “black boxes” was like “looking for a suitcase on the side of a mountain” but under water.
So far, not a single piece of wreckage has been found from the missing plane, but officials have concluded – based on satellite data – that it ended its flight in the sea to the west of the Australian city of Perth.
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Australia’s Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston coordinating the search for missing Malaysian Airlines plane say a Chinese ship has detected a pulse signal for a second time, within hours of it being heard earlier on Saturday.
ACM Angus Houston called the discovery in the southern Indian Ocean an “important and encouraging lead”.
He warned that the data were still unverified.
British naval ship HMS Echo is sailing to the area to investigate further.
It is expected to arrive in the early hours of Monday.
Australian aircraft were also on their way, ACM Angus Houston told reporters. Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield would be heading to the latest search area once it had investigated a third acoustic detection elsewhere.
Both HMS Echo and ADV Ocean Shield have technology able to detect underwater signals emitted by data recorders.
A second pulse signal was detected less than 1.2 miles from the original
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board. Investigators believe it crashed in the Indian Ocean although no confirmed debris has been found. The battery-powered signal from the “black box” recorders fades after 30 days.
After confirming details of the first pulse detected on Saturday which had “characteristics consistent with” an aircraft’s flight recorder, Angus Houston told a news briefing at Pearce Air Base near Perth of a second signal.
“[Saturday] afternoon Perth time, there was another acoustic detection less than 2 km [1.2 miles] from the original.”
The second signal lasted about 90 seconds, he said.
The search coordinator insisted the latest developments should be treated as unverified “until such time as we can provide an unequivocal determination”.
“We are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area, and so far since the aircraft went missing we have had very few leads which allow us to narrow the search area,” he said.
“I assure you that we will follow up and exhaust every credible lead that we receive.”
A dozen military aircraft and 13 ships are already searching three areas about 1,240 miles north-west of the Australian city of Perth.
Australian PM Tony Abbott earlier said he was “hopeful but by no means certain” that the signal detected on Saturday was linked to missing flight MH370.
Haixun 01 picked up the first so-called “ping” signal at about 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The signal reportedly had a frequency of 37.5 kHz – the same as that emitted by the flight recorders.
Three people on board the boat were said to have heard the pings, which were not recorded as they came suddenly.
Xinhua also reported that a Chinese military plane had spotted a number of white floating objects about 60 miles away a few hours earlier.
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One of the Chinese ships searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean has picked up a pulse signal, Chinese media say.
They say the signal has a frequency of 37.5kHz – the same as those emitted by the flight recorders.
However, there is no evidence so far that it is linked to the missing flight MH370.
Dozens of ships and planes have joined the search, with the operation moving into its most intensive phase before batteries on the data recorders fade.
On Saturday the Haixun 01 – one of two Chinese ships in the area – picked up the signal at about 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
“It is yet to be established whether it is related to the missing jet,” it cautioned.
Dozens of ships and planes have joined the search for MH370, with the operation moving into its most intensive phase before batteries on the data recorders fade
China’s Liberation Daily reported that three people on board had heard the signals, which were not recorded as they came suddenly.
The head of the Australian agency co-ordinating the search said the reported signals “are consistent with the aircraft black box” but “there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft”.
The flight is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, although no confirmed debris has been found.
It is still not known why the plane diverted from its planned flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing four weeks ago with 239 people on board.
Two of the ships searching an area of about 84,000 sq miles have underwater locator capabilities.
Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield is using a “towed pinger locator” from the US Navy, while HMS Echo, which has similar capabilities, is also searching.
They are trying to detect an underwater signal emitted by the data recorders.
The battery-powered signal fades after 30 days.
The area – about 1,000 miles north-west of Perth – has been picked on the basis of analysis of the satellite data.
On Saturday, Malaysia announced it had set up three ministerial committees to help co-ordinate the search, and a new investigation team which would include members from Australia, China, the US, the UK and France.
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A towed pinger locator is now being used to hunt for the black box of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Two ships with locator capabilities are searching a 150 mile underwater path, in the hope of recovering the plane’s data recorder.
Up to 14 planes and nine ships were due to take part in Friday’s search.
Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.
It is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, although no confirmed debris has been found from the plane.
The search is being co-ordinated from the city of Perth in Western Australia.
The battery-powered pingers on the plane’s black box stop transmitting about 30 days after a crash, giving the searchers now perhaps only a few days to locate it.
Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agencies Coordination Centre (JACC) leading the search, said that two ships had “commenced the sub-surface search for emissions from [the] black box pinger”.
Search teams have begun using a towed pinger locator to hunt for the black box of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
Australia naval vessel Ocean Shield was using a towed pinger locator from the US Navy, while HMS Echo, which had similar capabilities, was also searching.
“The two ships will search a single 240km track converging on each other,” Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is retired, said.
ACM Angus Houston said that the area had been picked on the basis of analysis of the satellite data.
It was based on work regarding “how the aircraft might have performed and how it might have been flown”, to choose the “area of highest probability as to where it might have entered the water”.
He pointed out that this data was continuing to be refined, but the current search was based on the “best data that is available”.
Given the progress in data evaluation and calculation, “there is some hope we will find the aircraft in the area we are searching”, Angus Houston added.
The two ships will be moving at reduced speeds, of around three knots, in their attempt to detect any signal from the pinger.
Commodore Peter Leavy, Commander of Joint Task Force 658, said that search operations generally preferred to use “physical evidence” and “drift modeling” to locate a plane.
However, “no hard evidence has been found to date so we have made the decision to search a sub-surface area on which the analysis has predicted MH370 is likely to have flown,” he said.
In a statement, JACC said up to 10 military planes, four civilian planes and nine ships would be deployed in Friday’s search efforts.
The focus is on a search area of about 84,000 sq miles, 1,000 miles north west of Perth.
Fair weather was forecast for Friday, with visibility of around 6 miles, JACC said.
Malaysia Airlines ex-steward Patrick Chow says the cabin crew he knew could not be responsible for the plane’s disappearance
Meeting staff involved in the search on Friday, Australian PM Tony Abbott said: “It is probably the most difficult search that’s ever been mounted.”
“A large aircraft seems like something that would be easy enough to locate – but a large aircraft that all but disappeared and disappeared into inaccessible oceans is an extraordinary, extraordinary challenge that you’re faced with.”
ACM Angus Houston said there was still a “great possibility of finding something on the surface [of the ocean]”.
“There’s lots of things in aircraft that float,” he said, citing previous searches where life jackets from planes were found.
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Malaysia PM Najib Razak said his country will not give up on the search for missing flight MH370, as he visited the search hub in Perth, Australia.
Najib Razak’s comments came at a joint news conference with Australia’s PM Tony Abbott.
The Malaysian prime minister praised the search effort, saying the co-operation amid “great tragedy” had “given us all heart”.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane was carrying 239 people.
Planes and ships have been scouring the southern Indian Ocean, where the jet is believed to have crashed.
The focus of the search is an 85,000 sq mile area 932 miles west of Perth.
But so far not a single piece of debris from the Boeing 777 has been found.
Malaysia PM Najib Razak visits missing flight MH370 search hub in Perth (photo Getty Images)
Najib Razak met search crews at Pearce RAAF base near Perth on Thursday morning, before their planes left for the day, and then later held talks with Tony Abbott.
“The disappearance of MH370 has tested our collective resolve,” he told a news conference.
“Faced with so little evidence, and such a Herculean task, investigators from Malaysia, the US, the UK, China, Australia and France have worked without pause to reveal the aircraft’s movements.”
He thanked both search teams and the Australian government for their efforts in recent weeks, and said the search would go on.
“I know that until we find the plane, many families cannot start to grieve. I cannot imagine what they must be going through. But I can promise them that we will not give up,” he said.
Malaysian authorities have come in for heavy criticism over their management of the search, especially from relatives of the plane’s 153 Chinese passengers.
On Thursday, eight military planes and nine ships were due to take part in the search.
Weather conditions were fair, with visibility of approximately 6 miles, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) – which is overseeing the search – said.
The British submarine HMS Tireless is also in the southern Indian Ocean and is due to be joined by Royal Navy ship HMS Echo.
The Australian Navy ship Ocean Shield is heading to the region and has equipment for detecting the plane’s “black-box” flight recorder.
Experts say timing is critical as the flight recorder may only have enough battery power to send out a signal until April 7.
Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, head of the JACC, warned that the search operation faced multiple difficulties.
“This is one of the most demanding and challenging search and rescue operations, or search and recovery operations, that I have ever seen and I think probably one of the most complex operations of this nature that the world has ever seen,” he told Najib Razak and Tony Abbott.
On Wednesday Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said investigators had “cleared” all passengers of possible involvement in hijacking, sabotage or having personal or psychological problems that could have been connected to the disappearance.
But he said that the criminal investigation could “go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing”.
“At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident,” he added.
The police chief said that more than 170 interviews had been conducted with family members of the pilots and crew members, and that even cargo and food served on the plane were being investigated in case of sabotage.
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Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur’s air traffic control (ATC).
They said there was no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript, although the last words received by ground controllers are different from those previously stated.
Malaysian officials say that based on satellite data they have concluded that flight MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, but many relatives of those on board have demanded proof and expressed anger at what they perceive as a lack of information.
Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur’s air traffic control (photo RT)
A closed-door briefing is being held in Kuala Lumpur for families of those on the flight.
Full transcript (pilots in italics)
MAS 370 (Kuala Lumpur to Beijing)
PILOT-ATC RADIOTELEPHONY TRANSCRIPT
Departure from KLIA: March 8, 2014
ATC DELIVERY
12:25:53 MAS 370 Delivery MAS 370 Good Morning
12:26:02 ATC MAS 370 Standby and Malaysia Six is cleared to Frankfurt via AGOSA Alpha Departure six thousand feet squawk two one zero six
12:26:19 ATC … MAS 370 request level
12:26:21 MAS 370 MAS 370 we are ready requesting flight level three five zero to Beijing
12:26:39 ATC MAS 370 is cleared to Beijing via PIBOS A Departure Six Thousand Feet squawk two one five seven
12:26:45 MAS 370 Beijing PIBOS A Six Thousand Squawk two one five seven, MAS 370 Thank You
12:26:53 ATC MAS 370 Welcome over to ground
12:26:55 MAS 370 Good Day
LUMPUR GROUND
12:27:27 MAS 370 Ground MAS370 Good morning Charlie One Requesting push and start
12:27:34 ATC MAS370 Lumpur Ground Morning Push back and start approved Runway 32 Right Exit via Sierra 4.
12:27:40 MAS 370 Push back and start approved 32 Right Exit via Sierra 4 POB 239 Mike Romeo Oscar
12:27:45 ATC Copied
12:32:13 MAS 370 MAS377 request taxi.
12:32:26 ATC MAS37….. (garbled) … standard route. Hold short Bravo
12:32:30 MAS 370 Ground, MAS370. You are unreadable. Say again.
12:32:38 ATC MAS370 taxi to holding point Alfa 11 Runway 32 Right via standard route. Hold short of Bravo.
12:32:42 MAS 370 Alfa 11 Standard route Hold short Bravo MAS370.
12:35:53 ATC MAS 370 Tower
12:36:19 ATC (garbled) … Tower … (garbled)
MAS 370 1188 MAS370 Thank you
LUMPUR TOWER
12:36:30 MAS 370 Tower MAS370 Morning
12:36:38 ATC MAS370 good morning. Lumpur Tower. Holding point..[garbled]..10 32 Right
12:36:50 MAS 370 Alfa 10 MAS370
12:38:43 ATC 370 line up 32 Right Alfa 10. MAS 370 Line up 32 Right Alfa 10 MAS370.
12:40:38 ATC 370 32 Right Cleared for take-off. Good night.
MAS 370 32 Right Cleared for take-off MAS370. Thank you Bye.
LUMPUR APPROACH
12:42:05 MAS 370 Departure Malaysian Three Seven Zero
12:42:10 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero selamat pagi identified. Climb flight level one eight zero cancel SID turn right direct to IGARI
12:42:48 MAS 370 Okay level one eight zero direct IGARI Malaysian one err Three Seven Zero
12:42:52 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero contact Lumpur Radar One Three Two Six good night MAS 370 Night One Three Two Six Malaysian Three Seven Zero
LUMPUR RADAR (AREA)
12:46:51 MAS 370 Lumpur Control Malaysian Three Seven Zero
12:46:51 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero Lumpur radar Good Morning climb flight level two five zero
12:46:54 MAS370 Morning level two five zero Malaysian Three Seven Zero
12:50:06 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero climb flight level three five zero
12:50:09 MAS370 Flight level three five zero Malaysian Three Seven Zero
01:01:14 MAS370 Malaysian Three Seven Zero maintaining level three five zero
01:01:19 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero
01:07:55 MAS370 Malaysian…Three Seven Zero maintaining level three five zero
01:08:00 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero
01:19:24 ATC Malaysian Three Seven Zero contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9 Good Night
01:19:29 MAS370 Good Night Malaysian Three Seven Zero
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The reasons for the Malaysia Airlines plane’s disappearance may never be known, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has warned as PM Najib Razak heads to Australia for talks on the search.
Malaysia’s police chief said that their investigation could “go on and on”.
Ten planes and nine ships will search the southern Indian Ocean on Tuesday.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.
The reasons for the Malaysia Airlines plane’s disappearance may never be known
Razak Najib will arrive in Perth, western Australia, on Wednesday evening. He will visit the new Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), where the southern Indian Ocean search is being led.
He will meet Australian PM Tony Abbott, and retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the JACC.
Meanwhile, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the criminal investigation could “go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing”.
“At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident,” he said.
He added that police had “cleared” all the passengers of the four key areas being investigated: hijacking, sabotage, and psychological and personal problems, Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported.
Khalid Abu Bakar added that more than 170 interviews had been conducted with family members of the pilots and crew members, and that even cargo and food served on the plane were being investigated in case of sabotage.
Wednesday’s search area is around 85,300 sq miles, but cloudy conditions, “sea fog and isolated thunderstorms” will reduce visibility for search planes, JACC said in a statement.
The private jet of film director Peter Jackson has also joined the search.
On Tuesday, ACM Houston said it was the most challenging operation he had ever seen, and warned that search efforts “could drag on for a long time”.
Several floating objects have been found in recent days, but none is believed to belong to the missing plane.
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Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston – the man responsible for co-ordinating the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Australia – says the search is the “most challenging” ever seen.
ACM Angus Houston also said that the search for the plane could take weeks.
Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared on March 8 as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.
Search teams are scouring the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the plane.
On Tuesday, the Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur’s air traffic control. They said there was no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript.
Speaking on Tuesday, ACM Houston, who is heading a new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) managing the search, said the task was “very complex” because the teams had no hard information to work from.
Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane could take weeks
Search efforts would take time, he said.
“It’s not something that will necessarily be resolved in the next two weeks, for example.”
Ten military aircraft and nine ships were scheduled to examine Tuesday’s search zone, while an Australia defense vessel with a towed pinger was en route to the area, he added.
ACM Angus Houston explained that they had no information on how high the plane had flown once it disappeared off radar.
A relatively small change in altitude could affect both the plane’s speed and fuel consumption – and over the course of seven hours dramatically alter the location of any crash site.
It is now more than three weeks since flight MH370 disappeared. Malaysian authorities say that based on satellite data they have concluded that it crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
However, many relatives of the passengers on board have demanded proof that the plane has crashed, and expressed anger at what they perceive as a lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.
Dozens of relatives of some of the 153 missing Chinese passengers have travelled to Kuala Lumpur in their search for answers.
Late on Monday, Malaysian officials issued a new version of the last communication between air traffic control and the plane’s cockpit.
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A new version of the last communication between air traffic control and the cockpit of the missing flight MH370 has been issued by Malaysian authorities.
The last words spoken were: “Good night Malaysian three seven zero” – and not “All right, good night” as reported.
Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said forensic investigations would determine whether the pilot or co-pilot spoke the words.
Malaysia Airlines plane, carrying 239 people, was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared on March 8.
The plane’s last contact took place at 01:19 Malaysian time.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared on March 8
The new version of the last words is more formal and more in keeping with the way a pilot might usually speak to air traffic control than the wording previously reported.
It is not clear why it has changed or why it has taken the authorities this long to determine this.
Earlier, Australian PM Tony Abbott said rescue crews had put no time limit on the hunt for the missing jet.
Aircraft and ships are scouring the Indian Ocean west of Perth looking for any trace of the flight.
Evidence from satellite “pings” received from the plane after its last contact with air traffic control and radar has been used to delineate a search area.
While floating objects have been spotted by search teams, none has been identified as coming from the Boeing 777.
The search teams are deploying a device known as a “towed pinger locator” (TPL) to listen for ultrasonic signals from the plane’s “black box” flight-data recorders.
The signals from the flight recorders last about 30 days.
Dozens of relatives of some of the 153 missing Chinese passengers have travelled to Kuala Lumpur in their search for answers.
They have become increasingly angry with what they perceive as a lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.
Hishammuddin Hussein said the Malaysian government would soon hold a briefing for those families to update them on the search, which would include international experts to explain the research, data and methodology used in the operation.
The briefing would also be broadcast live to other families in Beijing, he said.
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Australian PM Tony Abbott has announced that rescue crews have put no time limit on the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Tony Abbott told reporters near Perth, where the operation is being co-ordinated, that the hunt for flight MH370 was still being stepped up.
Ten aircraft and 10 ships are scouring the sea south-west of Perth for debris from the airliner.
Tony Abbott told reporters near Perth that the hunt for flight MH370 was still being stepped up
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
The signal from its flight-data recorder lasts about 30 days.
The search teams are deploying a special tool known as a “towed ping locator” to find the recorder, which will be used once debris from the plane has been found.
Several floating objects have been found during the search in recent days, but none is believed to belong to the missing plane.
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Families of Chinese passengers from the missing flight MH370 have vented their anger at Malaysian government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur.
Chanting “Tell us the truth”, they said they wanted the Malaysian prime minister to apologize for what they regard as misleading statements.
Eight ships and nine planes searched around 97,000 sq miles of Indian Ocean for debris on Sunday.
The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
International investigators have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.
Families of Chinese passengers from the missing flight MH370 have vented their anger at Malaysian government officials
The search zone shifted on Friday after further analysis. But while aircraft continue to spot debris in the water, nothing recovered by ships has so far been verified as being from the plane.
Some relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and blame the authorities.
On Sunday, several dozen family members travelled from Beijing.
After landing in Kuala Lumpur they held a news conference at a hotel holding up banners that read “We want evidence, truth, dignity” in Chinese, and “Hand us the murderer. Give us our relatives,” in English.
Their designated representative, Jiang Hui, said they wanted the Malaysian government to apologize for the initial handling of the disaster, as well as for PM Najib Razak’s earlier statement that indicated the plane had crashed with no survivors.
Jiang Hui said the conclusion had been announced “without direct evidence or a sense of responsibility”.
He said the group wanted to meet airline and government officials face to face – although he stopped short of saying that these included Najib Razak, as some relatives had earlier suggested.
Before the relatives travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the search for survivors would continue.
On Sunday, Malaysian officials cancelled their daily update on the search for a second day.
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Chinese families of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane passengers have flown to Kuala Lumpur to seek answers from the Malaysian authorities.
The relatives say they have not been given enough information, and want to meet Malaysia’s prime minister and transport minister face to face.
Ten planes and eight ships are looking for remains of the airliner in a vast area of the Indian Ocean.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Some relatives of the flight’s 153 Chinese passengers have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and have accused the authorities of withholding information.
After landing at Kuala Lumpur they vented their frustration at a news conference chanting “We want proof”, and holding banners reading “Hand over the murderer” and “You must return the relatives”.
They have vented their anger at officials during regular briefings by Malaysian officials at a hotel in Beijing.
Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Saturday that the search for survivors would continue.
Chinese families of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane passengers have flown to Kuala Lumpur to seek answers from the Malaysian authorities (photo AP)
Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing plane flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.
A Chinese and an Australian ship failed to identify debris from the missing flight after their first day in a new search area, about 1,150 miles west of Perth, on Saturday.
Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 and Australia’s HMAS Success both retrieved objects but none was confirmed to be from flight MH370, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said in a statement.
Some of the objects have been very small, and officials have cautioned that they may be sea junk.
Aircraft involved in the search have so far reported seeing a number of objects of various colors floating in the sea in the new area since Friday.
Poor conditions have hampered recent search efforts.
An Australian vessel carrying a US device known as a “towed pinger locator” is due to join the search in the coming days.
The device is designed to detect any ultrasonic signals – “pings” – from flight recorders and can operate up to a depth of about 6,000 m.
But the search area is huge – covering some 123,000 sq miles – and time is running short. The flight recorders’ batteries are expected to run out in about a week’s time.
The current search area is about 700 miles north-east of the previous zone.
Officials said the focus changed after radar data showed the plane had been travelling faster than previously thought, thus burning more fuel.
This would reduce the possible distance the aircraft travelled south.
Various theories about what went wrong have been suggested – including the captain hijacking his own plane.
The speculation was fuelled by reports that files had been deleted on the pilot’s home flight simulator.
However, on Saturday, Malaysia’s transport minister said investigators had found “nothing sinister” from the simulator.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.
The airliner diverted off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers between Malaysian and Vietnamese air-traffic control areas.
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Chinese and Australian ships have failed to identify objects from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 after their first day in a new search area.
The two ships retrieved objects from the Indian Ocean but none was confirmed to be from missing flight MH370, Australia’s maritime authority said.
Chinese aircraft also flew over the area, north-east of the previous zone, and have spotted more objects.
Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 and Australia’s HMAS Success “reported they have retrieved a number of objects from the ocean but so far no objects confirmed to be related to MH370 have been recovered”, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said late on Saturday.
Eight aircraft also took part in the operation. One Chinese plane reported spotting spotted three orange, white and red objects floating in the sea.
Chinese and Australian ships have failed to identify objects from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
Some of the objects seen in the area have been very small, and officials cautioned that they may be sea junk.
AMSA said that “at least one distinctive fishing object has been identified”.
On Friday five search planes spotted multiple objects of various colors in the same area – about 700 miles north-east of the previous search zone.
Bad weather has hampered the search efforts in recent days.
Meanwhile Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says he has reassured the families of the missing passengers that the search for any survivors will continue.
Some relatives of the flight’s 153 Chinese passengers have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and have accused officials of withholding information.
Acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein: “If there is any lead or information that involves survivors, that has been our priority.”
“No matter how remote the search, I am always hoping against hope that we will find survivors,” Hishammuddin Hussein told the latest news conference following a meeting with the families on Saturday.
The Australian and Malaysian governments said on Friday the search area had been changed following further analysis of radar data that showed the plane had been travelling faster, thus burning more fuel.
This would reduce the possible distance the aircraft travelled south into the Indian Ocean, officials said.
Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 1,550 miles to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.
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A new search area of the Indian Ocean is being scoured by Chinese ships in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.
The two vessels are trying to find and retrieve a number of items spotted by planes on Friday.
Chinese aircraft are also flying over the area, north-east of the previous zone, and have spotted more objects, China’s Xinhua news agency says.
Chinese ships are scouring a new search area of the Indian Ocean in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet
The Beijing-bound airliner disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01, and a navy vessel, Jinggangshan, which carries two helicopters, reached the new search area in the past few hours.
Xinhua said the Jinggangshan was expected to focus on searching for debris, oil slicks and life jackets.
Eight aircraft are also taking part in the operation, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), the authority confirmed in a statement.
Later on Saturday one of them, a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft, spotted three orange, white and red objects floating in the ocean. Some were very small, and officials have cautioned that they may be sea junk.
On Friday five search planes spotted multiple objects of various colors in the same area – about 700 miles north-east of the previous search zone.
Investigators will not know whether the objects are connected to the missing plane until they have been recovered by ships.
Bad weather has hampered the search efforts in recent days.
Saturday’s conditions are expected to be favorable initially but to deteriorate later in the day.
Meanwhile Malaysia’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says he has reassured the families of the missing passengers that the search for any survivors will continue.
Some relatives of the flight’s 153 Chinese passengers have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and have accused officials of withholding information.
Hishammuddin Hussein: “If there is any lead or information that involves survivors, that has been our priority.”
“No matter how remote the search, I am always hoping against hope that we will find survivors,” Hishammuddin Hussein told the latest news conference following a meeting with the families on Saturday.
The Australian and Malaysian governments said on Friday the search area had been changed following further analysis of radar data that showed the plane had been travelling faster, thus burning more fuel.
This would reduce the possible distance the aircraft travelled south into the Indian Ocean, officials said.
Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 1,550 miles to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.
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A New Zealand plane has identified “objects” in the new area of the Indian Ocean being searched for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian officials say.
The sightings would need confirmation by ship, which is not expected until tomorrow, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.
Earlier it was announced the search would now focus on an area 700 miles north-east of the previous zone.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
A New Zealand plane has identified “objects” in the new area of the Indian Ocean being searched for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 (photo Reuters)
The identity of the objects – spotted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion – were “to be established”, AMSA said.
The crew said they had spotted 11 unidentified objects.
The images hold out the prospect of up-to-date information, as opposed to satellite images which are invariably days out of date by the time they are seen by investigators.
Earlier, the Australian and Malaysian governments said the focus on the new search area was based on further analysis of radar data that showed the plane had been travelling faster, thus burning more fuel.
Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 1,550 miles to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.
Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing plane flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.
Using satellite images, several nations have identified objects floating in the sea in that search area, but these have not been located and there is no evidence that they are related to the plane.
Acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the fact that the search area had moved did not discount the earlier satellite images of possible debris further south.
“Because of ocean drift, this new search area could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images over the past week,” Hishammuddin Hussein said.
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A Thai satellite has identified about 300 floating objects close to the spot where investigators believe Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crashed.
The objects were spotted by the Thaichote – or Thailand Earth Observation Satellite – a representative at the Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) told NBC News.
About 300 floating objects close to the spot where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crashed have been spotted by a Thai satellite (photo GISTDA)
GISTDA posted the images on its website, saying they had been taken on Monday – the day after a French satellite saw 122 potential objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
The images put the objects about 125 miles southwest of the suspected crash site, GISTDA’s executive director Anond Snidvongs told reporters in Bangkok, according to the Straits Times.
Anond Snidvongs said the images were being passed to ministers in Thailand’s interim government, who would in turn submit them to Malaysia.
GISTDA is a state-owned company that reports to Thailand’s defense ministry, its company representative told NBC News.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the international air and sea search of the southern Indian Ocean, referred queries about the images to Thailand.
There was no immediate word from Malaysian investigators, who earlier cancelled their daily news briefing in Kuala Lumpur.
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A satellite has identified further 122 objects potentially from the missing flight MH370, Malaysia’s acting transport minister has said.
The images, taken on March 23, showed objects up to 75ft in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
All aircraft taking part in Wednesday’s search have now left the area without identifying debris from the plane.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
The objects were found in satellite images from a 250 sq miles area around 1588 miles from Perth in Western Australia, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
He said that it was not possible to tell whether the potential objects were from the missing aircraft, but called them “another new lead that will help direct the search operation”.
The images were supplied by French-based Airbus Defense and Space and were given to the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency on 25 March, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
The images were passed on to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on Tuesday, he added.
Further 122 objects potentially from the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been identified by satellite
The latest images are the fourth known collection of satellite pictures showing possible debris in the southern Indian Ocean. No pieces have yet been recovered in the search area, which has now been split into an east and west section.
The transport minister said Malaysia Airlines was “now taking a lead in communicating with the families” and would be conducting its own press conferences.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), co-ordinating the search, said that all aircraft involved had left the area without finding objects from the plane.
It said seven military and five civilian planes had taken part and a total of six countries were now involved – Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.
The commander of the Chinese search operation, Dong Yan, said his ships were still looking for an object spotted by a plane earlier on Wednesday.
“The focus is on searching for floating objects, oil slicks, floating parts of the external layer of the plane and people that may have fallen into the water,” he told Chinese television.
Australian authorities said on Wednesday that three more objects had earlier been spotted by a civilian aircraft involved in the search.
However, it could not be confirmed whether they were related to the missing aircraft.
The search for debris from the missing plane is taking place in one of the world’s remotest regions.
If debris confirmed to be from the plane is found, the search area will narrow further.
However, experts say the aircraft’s locator beacons, which will help guide ships to the wreckage, now have less than two weeks of battery life remaining.
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