As more planes depart from Australia, heading to the southern Indian Ocean as the search for missing Malaysian jet continues, French satellite image could show possible plane debris, Malaysia says. Gavino Garay reports.
Searching ... Sgt. Matthew Falanga on board a RAAF AP-3C Orion on the lookout for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in southern Indian Ocean. Pic: Rob Griffith. Source: AP
CHINESE aircrew have spotted "suspicious objects" in the southern Indian Ocean in the search for vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
The the official Xinhua news agency said today that "white and square" objects were spotted by searchers onboard a Chinese Ilyushin-76 plane.
At the request of the Australian air force, one Australian pilot was on board the Chinese plane to join the search.
A correspondent on the aircraft over the Indian Ocean said searchers saw two "relatively big floating objects" with many white smaller ones, ABC America reports.
"The crew has reported the coordinates - 95.1113 degrees east and 42.5453 south - to the Australian command centre as well as Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, which is en route to the sea area," Xinhua said.
The new sighting is 2174km from Perth.
Chinese icebreaker Xuelong has now changed its course and is heading towards the area where the latest onbjects were spotted.
The news agency gave no immediate further details, but an earlier Xinhua report said a Chinese military plane set off early Monday from Perth to seek "suspicious debris" floating in the remote waters captured by satellite imagery.
The development comes as multiple countries are now helping in the search with new satellite images pushing the Australian-led operation towards further areas of potential debris.
Civil and military aircraft from Australia, New Zealand, the US, China and Japan are all taking part in the massive hunt for the Malaysia Airlines plane, which disappeared more than 16 days ago with 239 people on board.
Poor weather is expected to hamper the search, which is taking place in isolated waters about 2,500km south-west of Perth and in a new area about 850km north of this, where a French satellite at the weekend detected images of possible debris.
A new sighting ... by a Chinese aircrew today. Source: Supplied
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"That's not in the area that had been identified as the most likely place where the aircraft may have entered the sea,'' Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told ABC radio.
"But having said all that we've got to check out all the options.
"We're just, I guess, clutching at whatever little piece of information comes along to try and find a place where we might be able to concentrate the efforts.''
The US Pacific command is sending a black box locator to the region in case a debris field is located. The Towed Pinger Locator can hear a plane's black box pinger down to a depth of about 6,100 metres (20,000 feet).
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After a fruitless day of searching yesterday, the latest satellite images have provided some fresh impetus. They were reportedly taken on Friday although few details have been released.
"Malaysia received new satellite images from the French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor. Malaysia immediately relayed these images to the Australian rescue co-ordination centre," the transport ministry said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur.
While the statement from Malaysia called the information "new satellite images'', France's Foreign Ministry said they were "radar echoes". It is thought the radar echoes — electronic signals — had been converted into fuzzy images.
Three different satellites have now picked up what appears to be debris in the water in the area of the southern corridor search zone.
GRAVE CONCERNS
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has expanded the search region from 59,000 to 68,500 square kilometres, including the new separate area to the north.
The authority reiterated this morning just how challenging the operation was proving.
"The flight has been missing since March 8 and AMSA continues to hold the gravest of concerns for the passengers and crew on board the missing flight," it said in a statement.
The massive search now involves ten aircraft, both civilian and military:
— Two Chinese military aircraft departed about 8.45am and 9.20am respectively.
— A RAAF P3 Orion departed for the search area just after 9am.
— Two ultra-long range civil jets departed about 10.10am and 10.30am respectively.
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— A second RAAF P3 Orion departed about 11am.
— A third ultra-long range jet is scheduled to depart about midday.
— A US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft is scheduled to depart about 1pm.
— The two Japanese P3 Orion aircraft are scheduled to depart after 4pm.
— The Australian Defence Vessel 'Ocean Shield', which has a sub-sea remotely operated vehicle, and is currently en route to the southern corridor;
Authorities said a number of other sorties, planned from Subang airport to the southern corridor were cancelled due to the bad weather associated with Cyclone Gillian.
Dawn to dusk ... a P-3C Orion aircraft sits on the tarmac in Perth. Pic: Rob Griffith. Source: AP
This morning, Mr Truss warned of deteriorating weather in the search zone but downplayed the likely impact of Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is expected to track at least 1000km north of the search area.
"Clearly it won't be cyclonic when it gets down into the freezing waters that we're dealing with with this search," he said.
"But certainly it could stir up less favourable weather."
'PALLET' MYSTERY
So far there has been nothing concrete found, only the grainy satellite images and a visual sighting of what appeared to be a wooden pallet which has yet to be located.
Objects ... satellite imagery from AMSA. Source: Supplied
It was seen Saturday by spotters on a search plane, but no images were captured of it and a military PC Orion military plane dispatched to locate it could not find it.
"That's the nature of it,'' AMSA aircraft operations coordinator Mike Barton said. "You only have to be off by a few hundred metres in a fast-travelling aircraft.''
AMSA said the aircraft that spotted the pallet was unable to take photos of it.
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"We went to some of the expert airlines and the use of wooden pallets is quite common in the industry,'' Mr Barton said. "They're usually packed into another container, which is loaded in the belly of the aircraft ... It's a possible lead, but we will need to be very certain that this is a pallet because pallets are used in the shipping industry as well."
More data ... the Chinese satellite image. Source: Supplied
During a visit to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters the satellite images were good leads but it was "still too early to be definite".
"But obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope — no more than hope, no more than hope — that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft," he said.
LARGE FLOATING OBJECTS
On Saturday it was revealed that a Chinese satellite had picked up what appeared to be a floating object, about 22.5 metres by 13 metres. It was seen about 120km from the position where an Australian satellite image showed what also appeared to be debris of about 24 metres in length.
On the lookout ... Japan's P-3C Orion arrives to help in the search. Pic: Jason Reed. Source: AP
One of the objects located by the French satellite on Friday was estimated to be about the same size as the object captured by the Chinese satellite (22 metres by 13 metres), according to a Malaysian official, who declined to be identified because he isn't authorised to speak to the media.
It was not possible to determine precise dimensions from the French data, the official said.
The Australian image was taken on March 16 and the Chinese image was taken on March 18.
Authorities have not yet officially revealed what date the French image was taken or what it showed.
First light ... a Japanese P-3C Orion readies to join the search. Source: AP
The southern Indian Ocean is thought to be a potential area to find the jet because Malaysian authorities have said pings sent by the Boeing 777-200 for several hours after it disappeared indicated that the plane ended up in one of two huge arcs: a northern corridor stretching from Malaysia to Central Asia, or a southern corridor that stretches toward Antarctica.
Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation for what happened to the jet, but have said the evidence so far suggests it was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled.
They are unsure what happened next.
Prayers ... an electronic billboard in Kuala Lumpur shows a message for MH370. Source: Getty Images
'MYSTERY CALL' DENIED
Malaysian police have denied that a mystery phone call was made to Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the missing plane.
It was reported earlier that a mystery woman called the captain before takeoff, raising fears about his motives.
The Mail Online reported that the captain's phone records revealed he took a two-minute phone call from a woman using a mobile phone number obtained under a false identity.
But Assistant Commissioner Datin Asmawati Ahmad dismissed the report as "mere speculations".
Family man ... Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah with his family. Pic: YouTube. Source: Supplied
"Please be advised that the Royal Malaysia Police take no responsibility over the dissemination of such information which originates from unnamed and unverified sources. The news in the tabloid are mere speculations," Asst Comm Ahmad said in a statement.
"We would like to draw your kind attention to the fact that the news was picked up from a foreign tabloid which has no exclusive rights to the details of our investigations.
"Secondly the IGP has never issued any public statement that categorically places the MH370 investigation under an act of terrorism."
In the spotlight ... acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. Pic: Joshua Paul. Source: AP
RELATIVES STILL FURIOUS
In Beijing, a Malaysian Government team spent a marathon six hours briefing relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers who were on the plane. It was the third meeting and comes after criticism by Chinese relatives that they were being kept in the dark about the search.
"The government wishes to reiterate its commitment and continued engagement with the relatives of those on board MH370," the Transport Ministry said.
Some relatives were still dissatisfied, however.
"I'm so furious,'' said one woman after the meeting in Beijing. "I watch the television every day. Very often I feel like I'm about to go insane. My emotions are all over the place. I asked the Malaysians to give the answers and they said they couldn't."
This weekend's Formula One grand prix in Malaysia is also causing problems, with relatives of passengers on the missing flight forced to move hotels.
Prayers ... messages of support in Kuala Lumpur. Source: Getty Images
The Italian Ferrari team has had a long-held booking at the Cyberview Resort and Spa in Kuala Lumpur.
Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone told NBC: "I feel terribly, terribly sorry for these people. But it is up to the hotel. What would happen if you told somebody that they no longer had a booking? You would get sued, I'd imagine."
The relatives will be put up at a new hotel as the search continues. Several foreign officials, investigators and journalists are also being forced to move.
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