Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has found objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean that could possibly be parts of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The objects have reportedly been spotted via satellite images and Australian P-3 Orion aircraft are on their way to the site now. The Australian Navy is also on their way to the site.
The objects are said to be around 2500 kilometres south west of Perth.
“The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received the information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search. Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified,” Mr Abbott told parliament today.
“A Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been diverted in an attempt to locate the objects. This Orion is expected to arrive in the area about this time.”
“The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult … and it may be they do not relate to the aircraft.”
This is a statement from the ASMA:
Speaking to the media, AMSA spokesperson John Young confirmed that Australian ships and aircraft were making their way to the area.
Young described the objects as “relatively indistinct” but he said they were of a “reasonable size” and confirmed the largest object was approximately 24 metres long.
Authorities are now working on getting additional – clearer – imagery from satellites.
Here’s an image of the first object:
And the second object, which is approximately 5 metres long:
Mr Young stressed that the objects might not be related to the missing plane. According to authorities, we should know whether the objects in the ocean are plane debris in “two to three days”.
The first plane to return to Perth in the evening confirmed that it was not able to spot the debris. Visibility during the search for MH370 was limited during the search this evening.
The Malaysian Prime Minister has also tweeted:
Meeting my Chief of Defence Force. After call from @TonyAbbottMHR, awaiting confirmation from Australia on the objects found. #PrayForMH370
— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) March 20, 2014
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. It was carrying 239 passengers and crew.
Since then, many theories about what happened to the flight have emerged. You can read those here and here.
More to come.
Top Comments
I feel for the relatives of those on board. A new theory or no news is released every few minutes. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in hope, have it dashed and then live in hope again.
Re MH370, who pays for these searches??
I don't actually care. There are some situations in which I think it is appropriate to put such selfish considerations aside. This is not the case of a lone yachtsman sailing off on an adventure, experiencing problems and expecting Australian text payers to rescue him. It is an international tragedy and an uncontrollable accident. There were Australians on board too you know. Goodness, have a little compassion can't you?
I thought the same thing!
I'm just curious as to who pays, I wasn't suggesting that we don't help in the search. I'm very interested in finding the plane and learning what happened. I'm just wondering if each country funds their own search or if Malaysia or the airline or the airlines insurance employs the help of other nations??