Missing Malaysia Airlines Jetliner
Two objects spotted by satellite in the southern Indian Ocean over the weekend may be debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian authorities said Thursday.
The objects were picked up by commercial satellite on Sunday. Search planes were dispatched on Thursday but found nothing. Ships are there or on the way, and aircraft from Australia, New Zealand and the United States resumed the search Friday, officials said.
Authorities cautioned the
objects could be something else -- shipping containers that fell off a
vessel, for instance. But they said they represent the best lead so far
in the search for the missing airliner, which vanished 13 days ago with
239 passengers and crew aboard on March 8 while en route from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Read below for the latest, and check out our full story.
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A merchant ship, the Höegh St. Petersburg, has reached the search area, a spokesman for Norweigian shipping company Höegh Autoliners told CNN.
This comes after officials said a merchant ship, and Australian naval ship and three planes were headed to the area. Earlier Thursday, a Royal Australian Air Force search plane was unable to find the objects seen in the satellite image. -
Malaysian news channel Astro Awani has this from Malaysia's interim Transportation Secretary Hishammuddin Hussein:Australian satellite images 'slightly different' from previous leads, says Hishammuddin - ow.ly/uMz5QMar. 20, 2014
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The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has called of the search for Thursday and will resume Friday, the agency said.Australia's search done for the day
It's 9:16 p.m. in Perth, the western Australia city from which search planes took off earlier today.
Four search planes -- two Royal Australia Air Force AP-3C Orions, a U.S. Navy P8 Poseidon, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion -- were used, covering an area of 23,000 square kilometers, the authority said.AMSA search operations for #MH370 have been completed for today, the search will continue in the morning. More here bit.ly/1eVisPeMar. 20, 2014- Reply
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CNN's Andrew Stevens reported from Perth that the search is quite an undertaking for the planes' crews -- it takes about four hours to fly to the search area from Perth, and a four-hour flight back. -
More reaction from passenger's partner
We noted an hour ago that Sarah Bajc, the partner of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passenger and American Philip Wood, told CNN that she hopes the debris spotted in the southern Indian Ocean is not from the plane. Here's the whole interview: -
China still looking north
When Malaysia's acting transportation minister was discussing the radar images in the southern hemisphere today, he said a number of countries still were searching in the north. China and India are affirming that.
Earlier Thursday, the Indian government said its navy deployed four warships in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea for the search.
Even though China is sending vessels to the southern Indian Ocean, it also is looking at the "northern corridor" -- a northern route where officials say the plane could have flown, stretching to northern Thailand, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
It's widely believed that the plane is less likely to have taken the northern route. Still, China is "stepping up efforts to verify and analyze satellite and radar data concerning the vast Chinese territory covered by the northern corridor," China's Foreign Ministry said on its website Thursday, quoting spokesman Hong Lei at a press briefing in Beijing.
And, two formations of Chinese vessels have sailed to the Bay of Bengal "and the waters to the west of Indonesia," due to arrive Friday, Hong said. -
Passenger's father: I believe they will survive
While searchers scan the southern Indian Ocean for the debris, a father of one of the Flight 370 passengers tells CNN's David McKenzie that he believes his son is alive.
"I can’t sleep each night, because all I think about is my son," Wen Wencheng told McKenzie in Beijing. "Up until now, what else can we do? His is about his flight. There is nothing you can do to help. We can only wait for further updates."
As for the outcome, he said: "I firmly believe that my son, together with everyone on board, will all survive." -
Could this unmanned sub find #MH370? Find out on #AC360 live at 11p E.T. on @CNN. @randikayeCNN pic.twitter.com/tqwqzesvqq
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 21, 2014 -
"Every piece could hold important information" @MarySchiavo on finding clues in debris. #MH370 #AC360by Anderson Cooper 360° via twitter 3/21/2014 3:46:15 AM -
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