Plane search signal 'important lead'

Source: BBC

Australian search co-ordinators say a Chinese ship's detection of a pulse signal an "important and encouraging lead".

More to follow.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26908884#TWEET1092378

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Australia PM hopeful, cautious on possible Malaysia jet breakthrough

(Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday searchers were "hopeful but by no means certain" that a pulse signal reportedly detected by a Chinese ship in the Indian Ocean was related to a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for four weeks.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that a patrol vessel hunting for Flight MH370 had picked up a "ping" on Saturday, raising hopes that it could be from the underwater beacon of the plane's "black box" voice and data recorders.

Australian search authorities said such a signal would be consistent with a black box, but both they and Xinhua stressed there was no conclusive evidence linking it to the Boeing 777 that went missing on March 8 with 239 people aboard shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

"This is the most difficult search in human history. We are searching for an aircraft which is at the bottom of a very deep ocean and it is a very, very wide search area," Abbott told reporters in Tokyo, where he is on a visit.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/06/us-malaysia-airlines-idUSBREA3308J20140406?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637


Searchers hoping pings come from lost Malaysian airliner

CNN) -- The reenergized search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will pick up again Sunday with Australian authorities urging people not to get their hopes up because a Chinese ship detected pings in the ocean.

"Reports overnight that the Chinese ship, Haixun 01, has detected electronic pulse signals in the Indian Ocean related to MH370 cannot be verified at this point in time," Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a prepared statement released Sunday.

Searchers are desperate for any clue about the airliner that disappeared nearly a month ago with 239 people on board.

Up to 10 military planes, two civil aircraft and 13 ships will assist in Sunday's search for the airline. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) plans to search three separate areas Sunday about 2,000 kilometers (about 1,240 miles) northwest of Perth. That area totals about 216,000 square kilometers (83,000 square miles).

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/05/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1


MH370: possible black box 'pings' spur on search for missing airliner

Australian and Chinese vessels have both picked up acoustic "pings" that could be from the black box of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, search officials have announced.

The hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 continued as Australian authorities responded to reports that a Chinese patrol ship had detected an ultrasonic “ping” matching the frequency put out by the beacon on a flight recorder. Angus Houston, the Australian retired air chief marshal in charge of the search, announced on Sunday that underwater detection gear towed behind an Australian navy ship, the Ocean Shield, had also detected a sound.

Up to 12 aircraft and 13 ships were sent out on Sunday, focused on three large stretches of ocean about 2,000km from Perth.

Houston earlier said reports that a Chinese patrol ship had detected an ultrasonic pulse in the area should be treated with caution. “The characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box … however there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals … are related to the missing aircraft,” Houston said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/06/mh370-search-continues-after-black-box-ping-claim?CMP=twt_fd


AUST.: 'PULSES' IN PLANE SEARCH REMAIN UNVERIFIED

PERTH, Australia (AP) — The head of the multinational search for the missing Malaysia airlines jet says that electronic pulses reportedly picked up by a Chinese ship are an encouraging sign but stresses they are not yet verified.

Retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told reporters in Perth that two naval ships with high-technology equipment are being sent to the area where the signals were reported to try to confirm or rule out whether they were from the missing plane's flight recorders.

He says, "This is an important and encouraging lead" but is urging caution in drawing any conclusions before the signals are verified.

He says that the Australian vessel Ocean Shield also is investigating a separate acoustic detection.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/deadline-looms-flight-370-black-box-search


Brit Ship 'Echo' Arrives to Hunt Missing Jet's Black Box

A British Navy survey ship arrived Sunday at the spot in the Indian Ocean where a Chinese vessel detected "pulse signals" Friday and Saturday that could be from the black box of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson told NBC News.

The sophisticated HMS Echo is "capable of collecting an array of military hydrographic and oceanographic data," according to Britain's Ministry of Defense.

The Australian Navy's Ocean Shield, which is carrying high-tech sound detectors from the U.S. Navy, will also deploy to the location where the crew of Haixun 01 heard pulses, but not before investigating other sounds it picked up 300 nautical miles away from the Chinese ship.

Australian military aircraft were also sent into the Haixun 01's area to investigate, said Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/missing-jet/brit-ship-echo-arrives-hunt-missing-jets-black-box-n73191