More planes have joined the search of a remote patch of Australian waters in the hopes of finding answers to the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.
MALAYSIA says it has received new satellite images from France showing potential debris from the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.
It is the third set of images in a week of possible debris in the area, about 2500 kilometres south of Perth, which is currently being searched in a mission co-ordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
Malaysia's Transport Ministry said the latest satellite information showed potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor and images had been passed on to AMSA.
"This morning, 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.
Racing against time ... Flight Lieutenant Jason Nichols, on board a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, takes notes during the search. Picture: Rob Griffith
The latest satellite image now means that three different satellites have picked up what appears to be debris in the water in the area of the southern corridor search zone.
It is not yet known when the French images were taken or what exactly they show.
Investigation ... Malaysian police have denied reports that a mystery call was made to Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: YouTube
The latest possible sighting of debris from MH370 comes as the search for the missing jetliner, with 239 passengers and crew on board, enters its third week.
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.
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 120 km from the position where an Australian satellite image showed what also appeared to be debris of about 24 metres in length.
PHONE RECORD PROBE OF CAPTAIN AND CO-PILOT
More data ... the Chinese satellite image of an object spotted in the Indian Ocean. Source: Supplied
The Australian image was taken on March 16 and the Chinese image was taken on March 18.
Authorities have not yet revealed what date the French image was taken or what it showed.
The search now involves:
-Two Chinese Ilyushin IL-76s have arrived in Perth, and will depart for the search and rescue operation at 05:00 and 06:00:
- Two Japanese P3 Orions left Subang airport, Malaysia, for Perth;
- The Australian Defence Vessel 'Ocean Shield', which has a sub-sea remotely operated vehicle, is currently en route to the southern corridor;
- One Indian Navy P8 Poseidon and one Indian Air Force C130 left Subang airport on Sunday to join the search and rescue operation in the northern part of the southern corridor, which is being led by Indonesia.
Search plan ... Mike Barton, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, briefs Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss. Source: News Corp Australia
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.
In Beijing, the 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 of Chinese relatives that they were being kept in the dark about the search for the Boeing 777.200.
"The Government wishes to reiterate its commitment and continued engagement with the relatives of those on board MH370," the Transport Ministry said.
Hunt for plane ... Flight Officer Jack Chen mans the navigation and comms station on board a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion. Picture: Rob Griffith Source: AFP
Mike Barton, from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said the hunt for the plane was "visual" search and would focus on a more defined area.
"China provided us with an image, we have incorporated that," he said.
AMSA said a wooden pallet was spotted by a search aircraft on Saturday, and that it was surrounded by several other objects, including what appeared to be strapping belts of different colours.
A New Zealand P3 Orion military plane was then sent to find it but failed, Mr Barton said.
"So, we've gone back to that area again today to try and re-find it,'' he said. An Australian navy ship is also involved in the search.
Family time ... Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah with his wife and children. Picture: YouTube Source: YouTube
Malaysian police 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 take-off, 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".
"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."
Charting the course ... AMSA specialists Ross Henderson, Christine MacMillion and Alan Lloyd get to work. Source: News Corp Australia
Four civilian jets and four military aircraft arrived at the search area, about 2,500 kilometres south of Perth, in the southern Indian Ocean late this afternoon.
Due to the time difference, the search is expected to continue late into the evening.
AMSA said the aircraft that spotted the pallet was unable to take photos of it.
"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.''
A number of Chinese warships are also on the way to assist with the search for the plane.
AMSA said China "is very focused on assisting with the search".
Deputy PM Warren Truss thanked AMSA for their time and effort.
"We hope that soon more information will be available to provide closure, especially for the families involved," he said
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was told late on Saturday night a civilian aircraft had sighted a number of objects within the search zone.
It is the first direct sighting of debris and follows two hits by satellite in the past week.
"Yesterday one of our civilian search aircraft got visuals on a number of objects in a fairly small area in the overall Australian search zone," Mr Abbott said on Sunday.
Changing tact ... the new search zone for missing Flight MH370. Picture: AMSA Source: Supplied
He said the debris was: "A number of small objects, fairly close together within the Australian search zone, including a wooden pallet."
"It's 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," Mr Abbott said.
Looking for clues ... Flight officer Rayan Gharazeddine on board a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, searches for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in southern Indian Ocean. Picture: Rob Griffith Source: AP
A Chinese satellite image also revealed a large floating object deep in the southern Indian Ocean.
The grainy photo, which was taken on March 18 - two days after the first images were captured by commercial satellites and released by the State Administration of Science Technology and Industry - shows an object 22.5 metres by 13 metres floating in the ocean.
Malaysia's Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein made the announcement as "breaking news" midway through a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night.
After being handed a note with the notes of a telephone conversation on it, Mr Hussein told the media that the Chinese had a "satellite image of floating objects in the southern corridor".
Ships were now on the way to the location, he said.
FINAL 54 MINUTES OF MISSING FLIGHT MH370
"New satellite imagery, the Chinese satellite imagery, does seem to suggest at least one large object down there, consistent with the object that earlier satellite imagery discovered," Mr Abbott said.
"Finally, the search has been joined today by four additional aircraft - two Chinese aircraft and two Japanese Orions.
New information...Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein shows a note from the Chinese ambassador informing him of satellite images of possible MH370 debris with first early estimates of its size. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
"I want to say that this is a really big international effort and it does show many countries are capable of pulling together in times of trouble."
Mr Abbott said the search was an important humanitarian exercise.
"We owe it to the almost 240 people on board the plane. We owe it to their grieving families. We owe it to the governments of the countries concerned to do everything we can to discover as much as we can about the fate of MH370," he said.
"Obviously the more aircraft we have, the more ships we have - and HMAS success is in the search area now - the more confident we are of recovering whatever material is down there "It's still too early to be definite by obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope - no more than hope - that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft."
Go on board a search plane as it tries to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Courtesy: Justin Benson-Cooper
COULD SATELLITE IMAGES BE POINTING TO MH370 WRECKAGE?
There is a "high likelihood" that the images are the wreckage of MH370, aviation expert Neil Hansford said.
The new find appeared to back up Australia's efforts to focus the search at the location of the previous sighting, 2300km south west of Perth, he said.
AVIATION EXPERT: 'HIGH LIKELIHOOD' IMAGES ARE MH370
"If that was taken later than the first images, it suggests it validates what they saw."
Other aviation experts concur, saying it is the best lead we have in the search for the missing aircraft.
Two objects spotted ... in satellite imagery from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The object here is 24 metres long. Picture: AMSA Source: AP
Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said the currents in the area typically move at about one metre per second but can sometimes move faster.
Based on the typical speed, a current could theoretically move a floating object about 173 kilometres in two days, making it harder for vessels to reach the objects detected via the satellites.The other piece of debris was 5 metres long.
The second object ... which is five metres long. Picture: Department of Defence Source: AP
TROPICAL CYCLONE COULD THREATEN SEARCH
Cyclone Gillian, which has set off a cyclone warning in the Southern Corridor area has yet to hamper search and rescue operations, but could interfere.
Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the cyclone was currently in the area around Christmas Island, and had yet to affect the Southern Corridor search area.
"It is not in the search and rescue area yet, but may approach it," he said, adding it could hamper efforts there.
Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said it was currently a category one cyclone, and "was not affecting the search area yet, but could grow".
"Some vessels may have to go through the cyclone to get to the search and rescue area," he said.
Families of some of the Chinese passengers vent their anger against Malaysian officials over missing plane as new satellite image emerges. Paul Chapman reports
SEARCH CONTINUES TO FIND PLANE DEBRIS
Sunday's search wasm split into two areas within the same proximity covering 59,000 square kilometres about 2500 kilometres south-west of Perth. These areas have been determined by drift modelling.
A total of eight aircraft have been tasked by AMSA's Rescue Coordination Centre to undertake today's search activities.
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MH370 dropped off civilian radar on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and two weeks later Malaysian investigators still believe it was "deliberately diverted" by someone on board.
Two-thirds of the 227 passengers on board the missing flight were Chinese and anger has been growing among family members over Malaysia's handling of the search operation.
Six Australians and two New Zealanders were also aboard the flight.
MICHELLE OBAMA: THE US IS HERE TO HELP
While on a tour of China, the First Lady Michelle Obama emphasised that the US will offer any support Malaysia needs in the search.
"As my husband has said, the United States is offering as many resources as possible to assist in the search ... please know that we are keeping all of the families and loved ones of those on this flight in our thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time."
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