CHINA’S state news agency says a Chinese aircraft has spotted three suspicious objects floating in a search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.
Xinhua News Agency said today that the Chinese military plane Ilyushin IL-76 sighted the three floating objects of white, red and orange colours respectively, from an altitude of 300 metres.
The Australian Navy’s HMAS Toowoomba left Fleet Base West near Perth tonight to join the search. It will be carrying a Seahawk helicopter. The 1800km trip will take about three days, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority says.
RAN Frigate HMAS Toowoomba to join #MH370 search. Has cabability to embark a Seahawk helicopter (RAN photo)#military pic.twitter.com/5Ed0X8WQpv
— Flying Kangaroo (@FlynKangaroo) March 29, 2014
It comes as the Ocean Shield, an Australian Navy Ship that has been fitted with US black box recovery equipment, is set to head to the search area tomorrow.
The black box emits a ping that can be picked up from an ocean depth of just over 4km, but the batteries powering the signal last just 30 days and are set to run out on April 7.
The search area west of Perth shifted north on Friday after the likely path of MH370 was updated.
Five aircraft also spotted debris in the ocean on Friday.
But AMSA warns the objects cannot be verified as linked to the Malaysia Airlines flight until they are picked up by ships.
Authorities say weather conditions for today’s search are favourable but expected to deteriorate in the afternoon.
Eight aircraft and six ships are involved in the search.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters this morning black box recovery equipment was about to be put on a navy ship in Perth.
“It will be taken to the most prospective search area and if there is good reason to deploy it, it will be deployed,’’ he said in Sydney.
He said no debris had been recovered despite the number of vessels in the updated search area.
“We should not underestimate the difficulty of this work,’’ he said.
“These are inhospitable seas. We are trying to find small bits of wreckage in a vast ocean.’’
New Zealand Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Short told media today a cluster of 11 white rectangular objects was sitting just below the surface about 1600km west of Perth.
“It’s hard to identify because all you’re seeing is this one-metre rectangular piece of material.’’
The plane carrying 239 people, including six Australians and two New Zealanders, disappeared on March 8.
MALAYSIAN MP: MIRACLES DO HAPPEN
MALAYSIA’s defence and acting transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says “miracles do happen” in relation to remote chances of any survivors from MH370.
The Minister was speaking after meeting family members of passengers on board MH370 today for more than two hours.
He said the hardest part of the meeting with the husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and relatives of the passengers on board MH370 was seeing the hope in their eyes.
But asked if it was unrealistic to believe that anyone may have survived the jet’s plunge into the icy waters of the southern Indian Ocean 22 days ago, Mr Hussein said: “Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise.”
He said the families had wanted an assurance that the search to find the plane would continue.
“I gave them that assurance,” he said.
“Secondly they said that no matter how remote, hope against hope, please continue looking for survivors. I have said that from the beginning, no matter how remote, I am hoping against hope and I totally appreciate and understand their feelings. If there is any lead or information that involves survivors that has always been our priority.”
Mr Hussein said he had told families the best they could do was pray and hope.
“I have told the families I cannot give them false hope. The best we can do is pray ... as long as there is even a remote chance that there is a survivor we will pray and do whatever it takes,” he said.
Mr Hussein said that so far authorities had six sightings of possible debris on satellite images and he understood there had been visual sightings today but so far no efforts to retrieve debris had been undertaken.
“Putting aside all the speculation, putting aside all the stories about sightings, putting aside all the conspiracy theories, they (families) only want to know where their loved ones are. This is one question that I don’t have the answer to,” Mr Hussein said.
“They wanted an assurance on our part to continue the search and that I have given, not only on behalf of the Malaysian Government but of so many nations that are involved in this search and rescue operations.”
Mr Hussein attended the meeting at the Everly Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where Malaysian families of passengers are staying with relatives, including the crew’s families and some Chinese families.
Afterwards, Selamat Omar, whose flight engineer son Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat was on the plane, said he was heartened by the Minister’s visit and would not believe, until it was certain, that all the passengers had perished.
Mohamad Sahril, whose cousin was on the plane echoed the sentiments, saying many families still harboured hope that there could be survivors.
CHINESE LEAD MH370 DEBRIS SEARCH
A Chinese patrol ship is leading the hunt to locate multipe objects of various colours spotted in a search for the missing jet, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said today.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said this morning that today’s weather is expected initially to be suitable for searching but conditions are expected to deteriorate later in the day.
“The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration ship Haixun 01 has been on scene for relocating objects from first light,” AMSA said in a statement.
A total of eight planes will be part of today’s search, including three Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orions, a Japanese Coast Guard jet, a Japanese P3 Orion, a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force Ilyushin IL-76, and one civil jet acting as a communications relay.
Still looking ... a marker flare is fired into the southern Indian Ocean from a Royal New Zealand Air Force plane searching for debris from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Source: AP
“The objects cannot be verified or discounted as being from MH370 until they are relocated and recovered by ships,’’ AMSA said in a statement.
“It is not known how much flotsam, such as from fishing activities, is ordinarily there. At least one distinctive fishing object has been identified.’’
The first aircraft to depart from Perth was the Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 at 9.05am. The first RAAF P3 Orion departed at 9.50am, with two others scheduled to depart about 12pm and 2pm.
The civil jet is scheduled to depart about 1pm.
The Japan Coast Guard jet is scheduled to depart about 2pm, the Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion about 3pm and the Japanese P3 Orion is scheduled to depart about 4pm
Six ships are expected to reach the search area today, tasked with relocating the objects sighted, but will arrive late in the day or after dark, AMSA said in a statement.
A RNZAF Orion first spotted the objects, which were white or light in colour, and a RAAF Orion then also found the two objects, reporting they were blue or grey rectangular shapes.
A second RAAF Orion also spotted more objects on a separate search at a different site roughly 546km away, AMSA said.
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