Search for MH370 debris to resume

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says new data confirms that missing Malaysian Airline flight 370 ended journey in southern Indian Ocean. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

Sad end ... distraught relatives react to the news the plane went down. Picture: Goh Chai Hin/AFP Source: AFP

As it has unfolded, the mystery of missing flight MH370 and the incredible twists and turns in world news coverage.

THE search and recovery operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean will resume tomorrow.

"A visual search will resume tomorrow when the weather is expected to improve after gale force winds and heavy swells resulted in the suspension of the search operation on Tuesday," AMSA said tonight.

As many as 12 aircraft are expected to be involved in the search tomorrow, including seven military aircraft and five civil aircraft.

HMAS Success will return to the search area and conduct a surface sweep of an area identified on Monday afternoon by a Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion as the location for several objects of interest.

A total of six countries are now assisting in the search — Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea.

India has also offered to join the search and recovery operation.

China's polar supply ship Xue Long (Snow Dragon) and three other Chinese ships are expected to arrive in the search area on Wednesday.

Devastated ... Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, left, speaks during a press conference as Nor Yusof, chairman of Malaysia Airlines listens at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Picture: Vincent Thian Source: AP

Malaysian authorities say the search in the northern corridor has been called off.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Transport, said the new analysis by Inmarsat, AAIB and the international investigation team had convinced authorities that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth.

"As a result of this new data analysis the search and rescue operation in the northern corridor has been called off," he said.

"We've also stopped the search and rescue operation in the northern part of the southern corridor, close to Indonesia.

"All search efforts are now focused in the southern part of the southern corridor in an area covering some 469,407 square nautical miles and this is as against 2.24 million square nautical miles which was announced on March 18."

Mr Hussein said sometime between 0011 UTC and 0115 UTC the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station.

"0011 UTC last complete handshake too place. I must emphasise this is not the final position of the aircraft," he said.

"There is evidence of a partial handshake between the aircraft and the ground station at 0019 UTC. At this time this transmission is not understood and is subject to further ongoing work.

"No response was received from the aircraft t 0115 UTC when the ground station sent the next log on log off message. This indicated the aircraft was no longer logged on to the network.

"Therefore sometime between 0011UTC and 0115 UTC the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station. This is consistent with the max endurance of the aircraft."

Mr Hussein said he "presumes" any debris discovered in the Australian search area will be brought to Australian soil.

'WE'RE PRAYING FOR PASSENGERS AND CREW'

The CEO of Malaysia Airlines says the airline has extended its prayers to the families of the 239 passengers on board missing Flight MH370.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said he was devastated the passengers didn't make it to their destination alive.

"We do not know why, we do not know how this terrible tragedy happened. But as MAS family, we all praying for passengers & crew of MH370," he told a media conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The airline was criticised for informing relatives by text message that the plane had crashed, but the CEO said they did so as they wanted the families to hear the news before the rest of the world.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said all next-of-kin relatives had been paid $5000. He said the Australian Government would only grant visas to relatives once evidence of the plane had been found.

Asked if he would resign, he said it was a personal decision, and it would be taken later.

In Beijing, hundreds of angry protesters, many of them relatives of passengers, gathered at the Malaysian embassy to demonstrate against the Malaysia's handling of the disaster.

The search effort for wreckage from the lost airliner will be boosted with the arrival of a South Korean C-130 Hercules transport and P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft at the RAAF's Pearce base near Perth.

Furious ... Chinese relatives walk towards the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, China, where hundreds of protesters gathered to demand answers from Malaysian authorities about the fate of the flight. Picture: Lintao Zhang Source: Getty Images

The hunt for debris was suspended earlier due to bad weather as huge seas slammed the search area.

At midday today the sea state was estimated at between six and seven on the World Meteorological Organisation chart and that means waves of between four and nine metres.

Such conditions make finding or retrieving any debris virtually impossible and they increase the risk of wreckage sinking under the weight of the waves.

"Due to rough seas, HMAS Success departed the search area early this morning and is now in transit south of the search area until seas abate," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority advised this morning.

"The area is also forecast to experience strong gale force winds of up to 80km/h, periods of heavy rain, and low cloud with a ceiling between 200 and 500 feet."

AMSA said conducting the search in such conditions would be hazardous and pose a risk to crews.

This morning, AMSA stated that search operations were "expected to resume tomorrow, if weather conditions permit", but if conditions continue to deteriorate it could be several days before the search is resumed.

The suspension comes after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that a new analysis of satellite data showed that the missing plane plunged into the Indian Ocean, presumably killing all those on board.

The cause of the incident remains unknown, although there are increasing suggestions that pilot suicide may have been to blame.

Search suspended ... this satellite image shows severe tropical cyclone Gillian off the Western Australian coast. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology Source: Supplied

Mr Najib said the Inmarsat satellite company had taken advantage of a never-before used technology and found that MH370 flew along the southern corridor.

"Its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth," he said 17 days after MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Search mission ... the crew of an RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft during the search yesterday. Picture: Richard Wainwright Source: Getty Images

The United States Navy is also sending a deep-sea drone to help in the search for the emergency signals that should be being emitted by MH370's 'black boxes'. These signals are supposed to be automatically activated in the event of a crash.

The Bluefin 21 drone is designed to be flown to areas of need before being towed behind a ship at depths where it is still enough and quiet enough to hear the "pings".

The search for the missing Boeing 777 is taking place in a section of the southern Indian Ocean known as the "Roaring Forties" for the strong westerly winds that blow between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees.

University of New South Wales oceanographer Dr Erik van Sebille said the area was characterised by cold fronts that sweep east every four to five days, causing pounding 6m waves and churning up the icy seas.

"This is the beginning of the roaring 40s, where the influence of the Antarctic continent starts," he said.

"The winds become very strong, the water temperature is about 4 degrees and the waves are very high."

REACTION: Sadness touches all in Malaysia

GALLERY: The search for MH370

Satellite data has confirmed flight MH370 carrying 239 people crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

FORMULA ONE CONCERT CANCELLED 'AS A SIGN OF RESPECT'

A concert to mark Malaysia's Formula One Grand Prix weekend which was set to feature US star Christina Aguilera has been cancelled due to a passenger jet crash, its sponsor said.

State oil company Petronas, which sponsors the Mercedes F1 racing team and the annual concert, said it called off the show as "a sign of respect to the families and next-of-kin of the crew and passengers of flight MH370".

Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Malaysia Airlines flight, which went missing on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

The concert was to be held Friday and Saturday at the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and feature Aguilera, Korean star Rain and R & B musician Craig David.

"It is truly a tragedy and we are deeply saddened about the crew and passengers of flight MH370," said a statement by Petronas on the concert's Facebook page.

Formula One organisers were to meet later today to discuss a possible tribute to victims at this weekend's event.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who arrived in the Malaysian capital earlier, said on Twitter that "all my prayers go to friends & families of the passengers on # MH370".

Malaysia will also host a EurAsia Cup golf tournament and the prestigious Laureus sports awards this week.

Laureaus World Sports Academy, which will honour last year's top sports figures Wednesday, said it would have a reduced program because of the disaster.

Academy chairman Edwin Moses said a football friendly between past greats would be dedicated to those hit by the disaster

FAMILIES INFORMED BY TEXT MESSAGE

Malaysia Airlines informed the relatives of MH370 passengers of the news via SMS message.

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived ... we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean," the text stated.

At the press conference, Mr Najib confirmed the worst fears of passengers' families.

"This is a remote location far from any possible landing sites," he said.

Informed by text message ... grieving relatives after being told the news. Picture: Goh Chai Hin Source: AFP

"It is therefore with deep sadness that I regret that I must inform you that according to this new data that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

"The past few weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news must be harder still."

The announcement was greeted with an outpouring of grief by the relatives of passengers.

The loved-ones of Chinese passengers, who made up the majority of travellers on the flight, were called to a hotel near the airport in Beijing to hear the announcement. Afterwards, they filed out of a conference room grief-stricken.

One woman collapsed and fell on her knees, crying "My son! My son!"

Heartbreak ... a relative of a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries after hearing the news that the plane plunged into the Indian Ocean. Picture: Goh Chai Hin/AFP Source: AFP

MH370: Copilot's first 777 flight without a minder

ANALYSIS: Recovery operation will stretch Australia's capabilities

ANGER FROM FAMILIES

A statement purporting to be from families of the passengers denounced the airline, the Malaysian government and the military as "the real executioners".

"From March 8 when they announced that MH370 lost contact to today, 18 days have passed during which the Malaysian government and the military constantly tried to delay, deceive the passengers' families and cheat the whole world," the statement read in part.

"We will take every possible means to pursue the unforgivable crimes and responsibility of all three (the airline, government and military)."

The veracity of the statement has not yet been verified.

It refers to 154 passengers who died, suggesting that the statement has been made on behalf of the victims of the families of the Chinese passengers only.

Most of the relatives refused to speak to gathered reporters and some lashed out in anger, urging journalists not to film the scene. Security guards restrained a man with close-cropped hair as he kicked a TV cameraman and shouted, "Don't film. I'll beat you to death!"

The daughter of MH370's chief steward Andrew Nari sent Twitter messages after the news broke. Maira Elizabeth Nari said: "I just don't know what to say about it. :')

In another message, she wrote: "I don't know what to say to all of you, but thank you so much for the support. To my closest friends, thank you. God bless all of you! :') x"

The airline said it would transport families to Perth if parts of the plane are found. It said the "ongoing multinational search operation will continue as we seek answers to the questions which remain''.

Bearer of bad news ... Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during his press conference. Picture: Joshua Paul/AP Source: AP

THEORY: Was MH370 on a suicide mission?

TOURISM: Has MH370 changed perceptions about Malaysia?

HAND OVER DATA, CHINA TELLS MALAYSIA

China has demanded that Malaysia hand over the satellite data which led to its judgment that missing flight MH370 crashed at sea and that none on board survived.

In a meeting late Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng asked Malaysia's Ambassador to China, Iskandar Bin Sarudin, to provide the "detailed evidence'' that led to the conclusion, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"We demand the Malaysian side to state the detailed evidence that leads them to this judgment as well as supply all the relevant information and evidence about the satellite data analysis,'' Xie said, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

"The search and rescue work cannot stop now, we demand the Malaysian side to continue to finish all the work including search and rescue,'' Xie said.

Grief and anger ... a relative of one of the Chinese passengers reacts after being told of the latest news. Picture: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan Source: AP

END OF UNCERTAINTY

The news ends weeks of uncertainty over the fate of the passenger jet, although there is still no clear answer as to how or why the plane went down.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the announcement by the Malaysian PM moved the search to a "new phase".

"It moves it to a stage where we are now investigating an accident," he told reporters in Parliament House.

Mr Truss said "new decisions" will have to be made about the future of operations now and that Malaysia needs to take control of investigations under the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.

He admitted "not a lot of progress" was made overnight and given the weather, there will be further setbacks in the search today.

Radar watch ... crew on board an RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft search for signs. Picture: Richard Wainwright Source: AP

MASTHEADS REMEMBER VICTIMS

Malaysian newspapers ran striking black front pages on Tuesday in tribute to the victims.

Malaysia's biggest English-language daily, The Star, ran a stark wraparound cover emblazoned with the words "MH370 R.I.P.'' The names of the victims, rendered in small print, made up the letters of the headline.

The New Straits Times' darkened front page showed an aircraft above the words "Goodnight, MH370'' - a reference to the last message from the cockpit, "All right, good night'', before the Malaysia Airlines jet lost contact on March 8.

Malay and Chinese-language papers also ran front pages with black backgrounds, while The Sun, an English-language daily, changed its masthead to black.

The Star said in an editorial that the relatives' "long wait for some form of closure has finally arrived''.

But it called for unsparing efforts to establish the reasons for the crash.

On social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, many Malaysians turned their profile backgrounds black or displayed a plane icon in tribute to the victims.

Waiting out the storm ... the HMAS Success, pictured from an RAAF AP-3C Orion on Monday. Picture: Department of Defence / Leading Seaman Justin Brown Source: AFP

'WE WILL WELCOME FAMILIES': ABBOTT

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said family members of those on board will be embraced if they want to travel to Australia during the search effort.

"This has been a desperately difficult time for thousands and thousands of people right around the globe, particularly in China as well as in Malaysia," the Prime Minister told reporters in Canberra.

"I understand that the loved ones of those on that plane may well wish to come to Australia in coming days and weeks; they will find a welcoming country that is more than willing to embrace them in this very difficult time," he said.

Australia played a key role in identifying the southern Indian Ocean as the most likely crash site.

On March 16, an Australian satellite image picked up what appeared to be debris of about 24 metres in length in the area. A Chinese satellite spotted further debris 120km away two days later.

The confirmation the plane went down came after Prime Minster Tony Abbott announced that two "objects" were located by an RAAF spotter plane. Mr Abbott told Parliament the first object was grey or green and circular and the second was orange and rectangular. Experts believe the orange items could possibly be life rafts.

TIMING: Disaster film shelved

Tough assignment ... a crewmen of an RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft looks out from an observation window. Picture: Richard Wainwright/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

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Why everyone will be talking about Resurrection

In a small town, those long thought dead begin to mysteriously return. Courtesy: Channel Seven

Landon Gimenez and Frances Fisher in Resurrection, the show which has everyone talking. Picture: Channel Seven Source: Supplied

THIS show had people talking before it even went to air and, after tonight's premiere of Resurrection, viewers will be in meltdown.

The much-hyped Channel 7 show, which starts with a twist and ends with even more questions than it answers, has already got viewers hooked after airing on US channel ABC two weeks ago.

And lead actor Omar Epps, who plays immigration agent J Martin Bellamy, has promised more twists and turns are yet to come.

Co-produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B, Resurrection sees the residents of small-town Arcadia Missouri, shocked and mystified after their loved ones start returning from the dead.

Tonight's episode opens with Jacob Langston (played by Landon Gimenez) waking up in a rice field in rural China after drowning 32 years earlier.

Bellamy is tasked with returning the at-first silent boy to his parents and is soon caught up in the continuing mystery as more of the town's once-dead residents come back to life.

The eight-year-old recognises his parents, Henry (Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille Langston (Frances Fisher), even though they look different and older and only begins to talk once he sees his father and asks him a joke.

His mother can't contain her excitement as the son she thought was dead returns, while his father is unable to come to terms with the miracle.

Resurrection, starring Landon Gimenez as Jacob Langston, Omar Epps as J. Martin Bellamy and Devin Kelley as Maggie Langston is a hit with US viewers. Picture: ABC/Bob D'Amico Source: Supplied

These were the show's best moments

1. When Henry Langston realises the boy, who is hiding behind the veranda and asks the frog-in-a-blender joke, is his long-dead son Jacob.

2. When the town doctor Maggie (Devin Kelley) goes to check Jacob's heartbeat but can't hear one.

3. When Jacob asks Pastor Tom Hale (Mark Hildreth) who he is and doesn't believe him since that's his best friend's name and he is only nine and the man before him is a stranger.

4. The mystery man in the hoodie jumps into a hitchhiker's car and says he's heading to Arcadia to see his kid.

5. The moment Maggie realises Jacob went to save her mother's life and he is her cousin.

6. Sheriff Fred Langston (Matt Craven) learns his dead wife — Maggie's mum — cheated on him 32 years ago.

7. When the mystery man's identity is revealed as Caleb Richards who had died years earlier. He was returning to Arcadia to see his now grown up daughter and Maggie's best friend Elaine.

Jacob's return after being dead for 32 years has the whole town mystified. Picture: ABC/Bob D'Amico Source: Supplied

Epps, best known as Dr Eric Foreman starring alongside Hugh Laurie on medical drama House, told KISS FM listeners this morning that he could not wait to see how everyone reacts as the show unfolds.

When asked if Resurrection had the potential to be another Lost, Epps promised this show would give answers but admitted keeping viewers hooked was a challenge for any TV show.

Lost had a massive first season but soon attracted viewer anger when it failed to provide enough quick answers to its central mystery of people stranded on a remote tropical island.

And so far the response from the US has been promising with fans taking to Twitter over the eight-part series.

Variety reported that ratings were massive for the first show which aired in the US on March 9, but it remains a series with "promise" after a large drop in viewers the second week.

According to Variety, ratings for the second week's show fell 18 per cent to 9.2 million viewers compared to the premiere.

Resurrection is on Tuesday nights at 8.30pm on Channel 7.

Was the hype around Resurrection justified? Let us know below in the comments or join the debate on Twitter @newscomauHQ

Resurrection star Omar Epps speaks to Kyle and Jackie O ahead of show premiere. Courtesy: Kiis FM

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Real Housewives, episode 5: what you missed

The ladies at this week's ASTRA Awards. Lydia: "Hands up if you don't own a jet!" Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

DRAG queens, psychic painting and expletive-filled meetings in the ladies room: we're halfway through the first season of The Real Housewives of Melbourne, and things are only getting crazier.

This week's episode opens rather sedately, with a rare night out together for Chyka and husband Bruce. The pair go out to dinner in St Kilda and gossip about their single friends, both laughing about how appalling it must be to be single. This is just Great. Couple. Behaviour.

Real Housewives, episode 4: One-night stands and drunk ski trips

Real Housewives, episode 3: Girls gone wild

Real Housewives, episode 2: Angels and demons

Real Housewives, episode 1: In their own (ridiculous) words

After dinner, Bruce has a surprise for Chyka: he's booked out Luna Park for the evening. Because there's nothing more romantic than wandering through an abandoned amusement park at night. Wait, did we say romantic? We meant TERRIFYING.

"Darling, the only thing that could make this evening more unsettling is a bouquet of severed dolls' heads." Source: Foxtel

Next, we check in with Jackie, who's off to meet rocker hubby Ben at an art studio. He's there to greet her, and insists she wear a blindfold as he leads her to the big surprise.

"But the only time we do this is in private times," she says of the blindfold, obviously referring to their long nights spent playing pin the tail on the donkey while listening to Frogstomp.

Ben's big surprise for Jackie? Artist Aaron Kinnane has designed the label artwork for their line of ready-to-serve cocktails, La Mascara.

Artist Aaron Kinnane's about-to-be-destroyed-artwork. Source: Foxtel

But Ben has another surprise. It's about to get ALL Pro Hart in here, because he wants Jackie to 'improve' the painting. This means smearing flowers, paint, glitter and other items over the canvas until it looks like this:

Jackie Gillies, AND WE QUOTE: "The is gonna make me cry. The colours, the design — this is a f***en' masterpiece." Source: Foxtel

As she sets about ruining another person's carefully crafted artwork, Jackie experiences a deep spiritual awakening. We'll let her take over here:

"When I was throwing those flowers and paint down, it was almost like a miracle has happened. On a human level, it's hard to explain it. I could feel the support of the angels and all my loved ones who've passed away, and the universe was saying 'Here you go, you've done it.' It was very overwhelming — it makes me a bit teary."

Look, we're not sure if angels exist, but if they do, obviously their biggest concern would be supervising the label design of Jackie Gillies' line of pre-mixed cocktails.

While we're on Jackie, can we talk about her, ahem, unique method of drinking champagne? Dead-eyed, tongue out — it's like watching a particularly glamorous gecko.

MMMMM Jackie that looks lovely. Source: Foxtel

In tonight's episode Jackie's swilling champagne because a) it's a day of the week ending in 'y', and b) it's Janet's birthday. The girls (sans Lydia; she decided to go to the snow at Thredbo, y'know) descend on South Yarra's Botanical Hotel for cake and champers — but there's tension in the air.

Andrea decides to confront Gina about an incident from a few episodes back, when Gina fought with Jackie at her housewarming. It's inappropriate to start a fight at a friend's party, Andrea reasons, glossing over the fact she herself is starting a fight at a friend's party.

The outburst rattles the girls. Chyka describes it as "a shock" that Andrea would "bring up something from the past," which suggests that Chyka has never before seen an episode of Real Housewives and perhaps thinks she's appearing in a nature documentary. No matter, we're just happy to see Chyka made it out of that haunted theme park alive.

Gina storms off to the bathroom with Janet, and for some reason starts bitching about Lydia, who isn't even there. We can only assume that, like us, Gina can't quite remember which of the other women is which.

Your mic's still on, doll xxx Source: Foxtel

The party never really starts until someone drops the C-bomb. The ladies jump in a limo and head to the next part of Janet's birthday celebration: gay night at Love Machine. As they enter the nightclub, Jackie screams out "SHINE SHINE SHINE!" to no-one in particular.

Inside, there are drag queens. Gina is visibly excited.

"I love drag shows. The feathers, the rhinestones, the hair — I'm at home," Gina says in a piece to camera, then pulls this adorably contented face:

Gina blisses out while thinking about drag queens. Source: Foxtel

The following day, Andrea holds a focus group with a bunch of working mums, where she gauges interest in her soon-to-be-released parenting manual.

"The working title is The Working Mum's Revenge, because I don't want to be judged by women at all for anything, I'm sick of it," she says, rather defensively, to a group of women who haven't yet learned why they should judge her.

Andrea then starts to boast about her own, 12 Years A Slave-esque working relationship with her children's nanny. The women in the focus group respond with faces like this:

Thought bubble: "Gurl no." Source: Foxtel

Andrea remains unfazed. "There was a group of working women sitting there, and it struck me that they just weren't organised. The resounding message is — read my book, see how I do it," she says, before leaving the women with her most important child-rearing tip:

"I've got a rule where I don't let my nannies kiss my kids on the lips, because I don't want my kids to get coldsores."

Who are these coldsore-riddled childcare professionals and which bus terminal is Andrea finding them at?

Janet and Gina discuss which Muppet they should skin next. Source: Foxtel

Later, Janet and Gina — perhaps the only two women in the show who are believable as real-life friends — meet up for a drink, resplendent in matching fur (faux, we hope). They get gossiping about the other ladies, and Janet reveals her true feelings about Lydia:

"Everybody knows what I think about Lydia. She's friggin' brainless."

Umm, would a BRAINLESS woman spend $287 on cheese?

Speaking of cheese, across town Jackie drops in on Andrea for some sort of fromage fan club meeting.

"Try this amazing cheese that I got. I got this vibe that you'd love cheese," Andrea says to Jackie, adding quietly:

"I love cheese."

At episode's end, Lydia finally returns from Thredbo (sans cheese) and goes art shopping. She and a friend head to a gallery and check out some pretty, shiny sculptures.

"Look at the texture, this is that diamond dust, y'know, glitter," Lydia says of one piece, revealing an innate understanding of contemporary art practices.

You can just tell that bear is thinking, 'Please don't buy me'. Source: Foxtel

Lydia's drawn to one particularly striking sculpture: a large glittery puma, reclining under a black moon. Her friend asks what she thinks the piece might represent.

"Well, the moon, and the cat comes out at night," she explains.

LYDIA GETS MODERN ART, GUYS.

Lydia then asks the gallery attendant how much her favourite two pieces cost. One is $55,000, while the other is $75,000.

"Wow, that's actually quite reasonable," she muses.

There's only one appropriate response to that:

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New images of possible debris

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

More planes joined the search of a remote patch of Australian waters this afternoon in the hopes of finding answers to the fate of Flight MH370.

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

DEBRIS SPOTTED AS CHINESE SATELLITE IMAGES OFFER HOPE

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.

.

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."

04.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The most amazing try you’ll see all season

St George's Brett Morris puts in an early contender for try of the year with this stunner against the Sharks

Dragons Brett Morris flys through the air to score a try at the end of the first half. Source: News Corp Australia

ST George Illawarra have held off a valiant Cronulla side at Remondis Stadium on Saturday night.

Beating the Sharks 14-12 in the local derby, it was a freakish display from winger Brett Morris who stole the show on the stroke of half-time.

Having crossed for his 100th career try earlier in the match, it was a magical catch which has Morris as front runner to claim the award for try of the year.

More to come ...

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 14 (B Morris 2 J Nightingale tries G Widdop goal) bt CRONULLA 12 (J Morris 2 tries M Gordon 2 goals) at Remondis Stadium. Referee: Adam Devcich, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 14,821.

Re-live all the action in our live blog below:

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White object in new satellite shot

Go on board a search plane as it tries to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Courtesy: Justin Benson-Cooper

could this be part of Flight MH370 ... The new satellite image of an object in the southern Indian Ocean. Source: Twitter

The Malaysia Transport Minister says the China ambassador has received satellite photos of an object in the Southern Corridor.

MALAYSIAN Authorities have announced that Chinese satellites have captured floating debris in the southern Indian Ocean near where the search is being made for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370..

The debris is about 22.5m by 13 metres wide, Malaysia's Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

He made the announcement as "breaking news" midway through a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night.

RAAF SEARCHES: Finding MH370 is the "defining" mission

Could this be Flight MH370 ... A new image capturesd by a Chinese satellite in the southern Indian Ocean. Source: Twitter

"The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received a satellite image of a floating object in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify," he said

After being handed a piece of paper, 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 the news had just been given to him as he spoke and had no more details.

Attached coordinates suggested that the image was in roughly the same area of remote ocean as two possible objects spotted on satellite images taken March 16 and released by the Australian government on Thursday.

China's Xinhua news agency said the object was spotted 120 kilometres from those spotted by the Australian satellite.

MISSING FLIGHT MH370: Relatives angry as the search goes on

Determined to find the object ... Royal Australian Airforce Flying Officer Peter Moore (centre) after returning his RAAF Orion plane to Pearce Air Force base in Bullsbrook, 35 kms north of Perth. Source: AFP

Australian and US spotter planes have been scouring the area for the past three days, but without finding any sign of the suspected wreckage.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority was tonight trying to verify reports of the discovery.

It is not known whether the satellite imagery is in the same area as ones released by AMSA on Thursday, 2300km south west of Perth.

The Chinese Government was expected to release more details late tonight.

The shock announcement came as frustration grew over the lack of progress tracking down the two objects spotted by satellite, with a Malaysian official expressing worry that the search area will have to be widened if no trace of the plane was found.

For three three days search crews have been scouring the area where the satellite took images of objects, about 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth..

Two military planes from China arrived in Perth to join Australian, New Zealand and US aircraft in the search. Japanese planes will arrive tomorrow and ships were in the area or on their way.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, on an official visit to Papua New Guinea, said weather hampered the search earlier but conditions were improving.

"There are aircraft and vessels from other nations that are joining this particular search because tenuous though it inevitably is, this is nevertheless the first credible evidence of anything that has happened to Flight MH370," Mr Abbott said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters that if the search is unsuccessful, the focus will have to return to two broad arcs where pings from the aircraft, detected by another satellite, may have originated.

Though direct contact with the aircraft was lost early on Saturday, March 8 over the Gulf of Thailand, the pings continued for several hours after that. One arc stretches into central Asia; the other deep in the Indian Ocean.

"My biggest concern is that if we are not able to identify the debris, having to go back to the two corridors is a huge and massive area,'' Hishammuddin said.

The Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people on board less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

04.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Searchers vow to find missing plane

The crew from the RAAF P3 Orion have returned today with no positive sighting of anything significant. Courtesy: Sky News

Retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Christensen says the possible wreckage of MH370 can definitely be recovered if it is located off the coast of Australia. Courtesy Fox News

Satellite images of objects in the Indian Ocean which may be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared en route to Beijing early on March 8. Source: AFP

THE first plane sent today to fly over one of the remotest places on earth returned empty-handed from its hunt through rough seas for objects that may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, Australian officials said.

The RAAF P3 Orion landed in Perth shortly before 7.30pm (AEDT).

The aircraft's pilot Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams remained upbeat about finding the potential MH370 debris, saying "really good weather" has provided "good opportunities".

"We have lots of hope," he said.

"Hopefully we will find something."

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Transport Hishammuddin Hussein said they had enlisted help from the man who led the investigation into the Air France Flight 447 crash.

"He has agreed to assist us with his considerable experience and expertise,'' he said at tonight's regular public briefing.

"I will also be speaking to US Secretary of Defence at 21:15 tonight to request several specialist assets to help with the search and rescue effort including remotely operated vehicles for deep ocean salvage."

He also confirmed Kazakhstan authorities found no trace of MH370 there.

"The Kazakhstan authorities have assured us they have not found any trace of MH370 and we are awaiting permission for Kazakhstan to be used as a staging point for search operations,'' Mr Hussein said.

WHAT MISSING FLIGHT MH370 HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD

Mr Hussein tonight said Malaysia was still awaiting information from the Australian search and rescue operation as to whether the objects shown in the satellite images released by Australia yesterday were indeed related to MH370.

In the meantime, he said Malaysua would continue its search and rescue operations in the rest of the southern and northern corridors.

"Search efforts southwest of Perth continue, and the Australian authorities are intensifying their efforts in the area. HMAS Success is due to reach the vicinity of the objects tomorrow," he said.

"China has deployed five ships and three ship-borne helicopters, which are currently heading toward the southern corridor. Three Chinese aircraft (2 Ilyushin IL-76s and 1 Shaanxi Y-8) arrived in Malaysia at 11am this morning. They will also be searching in the southern corridor.

"Japan is deploying its assets to Perth, including 2 P-3 Orions, to assist with the Australian search efforts."

Hishammuddin said that the British HMS Echo was already heading towards the southern Indian Ocean to support the search effort.

On the police investigation, Hishammuddin said the Ukraine police had confirmed that the background checks on the Ukrainian passenger had come back clear.

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss confirmed late today that two Chinese aircraft were due to arrive in Perth tomorrow and two Japanese aircraft will join the search on Sunday.

Mr Truss, who will tomorrow visit the RAAF Pearce air base where the search is being co-ordinated, said the worldwide effort to find the plane would widen over the weekend.

He voiced a warning that given the satellite images were now five days old, there was some possibility whatever had been there had sunk or moved.

However, he added: "This is the only lead in the world right now — and there is a real prospect the aircraft was in this area, so we must take this search seriously.''

A briefing for the relatives of those on board MH370 was held in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night.

"We had a very constructive and frank discussion. Although we answered most of the questions they raised, we could not answer them all. These briefings will continue — at the families' convenience — for as long as the families want them,'' Mr Hussein said.

"The briefing brought the families and the Malaysian authorities closer together, not just in terms of sharing information, but also in terms of listening to the voice of the family members. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China will be co-ordinating the briefings in Kuala Lumpur from now on.

"The high-level team I announced yesterday arrived in Beijing last night. Today they met with family members for three and half hours."

THE SEARCH CONTINUES

Another three RAAF planes — two more Orions and an ultra-long-range Bombardier Global Express — were still scouring the area 2300 kilometres from Western Australia trying to solve the nearly two-week-old mystery, of flight MH370 and another was on the way to look for two large objects a satellite detected floating off the southwest coast of Australia about halfway to the desolate islands of the Antarctic.

The area in the southern Indian Ocean is so remote is takes the RAAF P3 Orion four hours to fly there and four hours back, and leaves them only about two hours to search.

The satellite discovery raised new hope of finding the vanished jet and sent another emotional jolt to the families of the 239 people aboard.

The United States Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft has departed for the search area and China is sending three warships and an icebreaker to join the search, the government said today.

The National Maritime Search and Rescue Centre said three warships were en route to the area west of Australia.

It gave no indication when they might arrive at the remote site, but earlier reports said the ships — the Kunlunshan, the Haikou and the Qiandaohu — were searching this week off the southwest coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.

INSIDE THE SEARCH FOR MISSING FLIGHT MH370

The Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon was preparing to leave Perth in Western Australia for the search site, state television reported. The ship was in Perth following a voyage to Antarctica in January.

As it has unfolded, the mystery of missing flight MH370 and the incredible twists and turns in world news coverage so far

Also today, three Chinese military planes left the southern city of Sanya for Malaysia to join the search, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

One merchant vessel is currently in the search area. A second merchant vessel is due to arrive tonight.

The satellite images — deemed the "best lead" in the mystery which has gripped the world for the past 14 days — have given fresh impetus to the search efforts.

Lisa Martin, spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said weather conditions were getting better as the day wore on, with moderate seas and some cloud cover, and improving visibility.

"We will find it — I'm sure about that piece of it. The only reason we wouldn't find it was that it has sunk,'' said Mike Yardley, an Air Commodore with New Zealand's air force, of the large unidentified object spotted by the satellite.

"I've been on these missions before when it's taken a few days to come across it.''

Speaking at a news conference in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, "We've been throwing everything we've got at that area to try to learn more about what this debris might be.

"It's about the most inaccessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the earth, but if there is anything down there we will find it. We owe it to the families of those people to do no less.".

FLIGHT MH370 PILOT'S MYSTERY PHONE CALL

China's President Xi Jinping is "devastated'' by the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370, Mr Abbott said today after a phone call between the two.

"As you can understand he is devastated, as are so many people in China, as is (Malaysian) Prime Minister Najib (Razak) by all of this," Mr Abbott said following the call last night, which came after Australia detected possible debris from the plane.

Search for lost plane ... Royal Australian Air Force loadmasters, Sergeant Adam Roberts (left) and Flight Sergeant John Mancey, launch a Self Locating Data Marker Buoy from a C-130J Hercules aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean. Source: Supplied

If the debris spotted in the southern Indian Ocean is found to be from the missing plane, it could have drifted more than 500 kilometres from the crash site, a Perth oceanographer said.

Professor Chari Pattiaratchi, of the University of Western Australia, said the searchers face the world's most treacherous seas, and a wreckage recovery operation would be extremely challenging.

The 23,000-square-kilometre search area is in a body of water known as the Roaring Forties, where strong circumpolar westerly winds blow.

Waves of four metres to five metres are constant, but can swell to more than 10 metres during a storm.

"It is as hostile as it can get,'" Prof Pattiaratchi told ABC radio.

"Because of the strong winds, the waves are always breaking, so it's white-capping all the time, so to distinguish between whether it's part of the debris or a wave breaking ... it is quite a challenging system.

"Water depths are up to five kilometres deep, so even if you find something, it's a big challenge to recover it."

He said there were only five or so vessels in the world - remotely operated vehicles or submersibles usually tethered to a ship - that could reach such depths.

If the debris captured in images taken on March 16 and publicly revealed yesterday were found to be part of the missing aircraft, the pieces could have drifted more than 500km to the east of the crash site, Prof Pattiaratchi said.

"We actually have computer models that we can try to run backwards in time to be able to find out where the debris may have come from."

Helping in search for missing plane ... Crew members load supplies onto Chinese Antarctic research icebreaker Xue Long as it prepares to depart Fremantle Habour. Source: AFP

Of the 239 passengers and crew on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight, 153 were Chinese citizens.

THH SEARCH

"Tomorrow's plan is actually to do the same thing again,'' said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's John Young this afternoon.

"We will move the search area to where the water has moved overnight."

They will be also looking to see if they can get more satellite imagery to refine the search.

"But the plan is we want to find these objects because they are the best lead where we might find people to be rescued ... we are still focused on that task," he said.

One advantage of the RAAF P-3 Orion is that it can fly at low altitudes for long periods. Yardley said the Orion flew at just 60 meters above the water to stay below thick clouds and fog - which requires intense concentration by the two pilots.

The Orion has a crew of 13, some of whom are stationed on an observation deck to search. As well as using their eyesight, Yardley said they also use a state-of-the-art radar system and three cameras - one infrared, one long-range, and one high resolution.

The combination of systems helps them detect almost anything that's on the surface, he said. The crew also films everything so they can review what they've seen after they return to base.

The Orion comes equipped with a sonar system for searching below sea level, although it's not being used in this search, Yardley said.

"We owe it to the families of those people" ... Prime Minister Tony Abbott's message to relatives of passengers from the missing flight as they wait for new information at a hotel in Beijing. Source: AFP

Other planes used in the search today include a US Navy P-8 Poseidon, which has been designed for anti-submarine warfare, and a civilian Bombardier Global Express, a long-range corporate jet with state emergency service observers on board.

The Norwegian cargo vessel Hoegh St. Petersburg arrived in the area late yesterday and used lights to search overnight. The Filipino crew of 20 was planning to use binoculars and their eyesight to scour the water today. The ship had been carrying a load of cars from South Africa to Australia before being asked to join in the search.

Another commercial ship was due to arrive today.

Any plane debris that is found will be transported back by the Australian navy ship the HMAS Success, which is due to arrive at the search site tomorrow.

A New Zealand Orion plane dropped two buoys yesterday that will help searchers figure out where any debris might drift. Searchers were also planning to drop more buoys from a C-130 Hercules military transport plane.

The buoys resemble a poster tube, each about 1 meter long, with an antenna that transmits a GPS signal that can be tracked by searchers.

The idea is that the buoys drift in a manner similar to any debris, giving searchers clues as to where debris might move over time. The system isn't perfect - the wind can move the buoys at a different rate than larger objects - but is designed to factor in some of those variables.

Is this it? ... The satellite images of objects in the Indian Ocean which may be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Picture: Australian Government's Department of Defence / Australian Maritime Safety Authority Source: AFP

WHAT THE IMAGES SHOW

The satellite data imagery showed two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The images were captured on March 16 but due to the volume of imagery being searched, and the detailed process of analysis that followed, the information was brought to the attention of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday morning.

One of the objects was 24 metres in length and the other was 5 metres.

The images have been assessed as being credible but it is possible they do not relate to the search.

John Young, manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's emergency response division, said "it's probably the best lead we have right now.''

"The search will continue (today),'' the Authority said after it had to be called off due to low visibility caused by clouds and rain.

New impetus in search effort ... an AP-3C Orion aircraft at RAAF Base Pearce in Bullsbrook, northeast of Perth. Picture: Leading Seaman Justin Brown / Department of Defence Source: AFP

DIFFICULTIES IN SEARCH

Ocean expert Dr Robin Beaman from James Cook University said debris could have been carried hundreds of kilometres since the satellite images were captured on March 16.

"The currents are drifting at one or two nautical miles per hour so it certainly makes sense that it could have drifted several hundred miles by now," he said.

"There'd be parts of the plane that could float for some time but certainly not indefinitely. "Eventually parts like that will become waterlogged and sink to the sea floor so it's time critical," he said.

Aviation expert Neil Hansford says he is convinced that crew on board MH370 are responsible for its disappearance. Courtesy Wake Up/Network Ten

DID PILOTS FLY TO REMOTE SPOT ON PURPOSE?

Aviation industry expert Neil Hansford has proposed the controversial theory that either one or both of the pilots of MH370 flew the plane to an area where it would not be found.

Speaking on Channel Ten's Wake Up program this morning, Mr Hansford said he believed the flight had not been subject to a mechanical problem but a "crew-related incident".

"It wasn't a catastrophic explosion, it wasn't hit by military ordinance, this aircraft has been positioned to where it is ... it could just as easily, or more frighteningly, have been positioned at the centre of Australia," he said.

Asked to clarify his remarks, Mr Hansford said: "If I was trying to lose an aircraft and make sure there was no evidence and the black boxes and everything were hard to find, you'd certainly be looking to put the aircraft into very, very deep water a long way from land."

Search areas ... A map of the areas searched between March 18-20 for Flight MH370. Picture: AMSA/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

COULD OBJECT BE A SHIPPING CONTAINER?

Dr John Blaxland from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU told Melbourne's 3AW this morning that he was "not optimistic" that the items in the water were plane debris.

"It may well be an ISO (shipping) container," he said. "ISO containers come in roughly that length ... and unfortunately the image is not very clear.

"The imagery specialists have gone and zoomed in on this photo ... you see something that's just below the surface, and the waves are just detracting from the clarity of the picture. It is not really clear exactly what it is. Now, some people have said it might be part of a wing, it could be part of the fuselage, probably not. On the balance of probabilities it may well be a submerged, semi-submerged ISO container. So I think we need to be very circumspect about how we view this and how optimistic we are about what we might find if and or when we find it."

Speaking today in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said since receiving the satellite images "we've been throwing everything we've got at that area to try to learn more about what this debris might be".

"Now it could just be a container that's fallen off a ship. We just don't know but we owe it to the families, friends, the loved ones of the almost 240 people on flight MH 370 to do everything we can to try to resolve what is as yet an extraordinary riddle," he said.

Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull speaks on the TODAY Show, saying the possible discovery of debris from MH370 off the West Coast of Australia is a 'positive lead' but still no sure thing. Courtesy Channel Nine.

OPINION: Did Tony Abbott speak too soon?

'WE'RE PUTTING IN MAXIMUM EFFORT': TRUSS

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss has described the search as "very difficult and challenging", given the objects would have moved because of the tides and wind.

"Clearly they will have moved since the 16th of March when those images were originally captured," Mr Truss told ABC Radio.

"The search area is quite broad."

"There have been some marker buoys dropped in the location to help get a better understanding of what drift if likely to have occurred in the area and that can also help to pinpoint the search area."

He said the search can only be conducted in daylight hours and "it is a very long journey to the site".

"Unfortunately aircraft can only have one or two hours over the search area before they need to return to the mainland for fuel," Mr Truss added.

The Acting PM said there is a risk the weather conditions may deteriorate but the "maximum effort is being put in".

He said Australia has discussed with other countries getting more resources, but it will take "a very long time" for those to be deployed.

"We need to use the resources we have in that intervening period," he argued.

Roller-coaster ride ... A relative of a passenger aboard Flight MH370 is assisted by volunteers as she leaves a room where families were briefed on rescue and searching efforts in Beijing. Picture: AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan Source: AFP

FAMILIES: Clinging to hope

EMOTIONAL MOMENT FOR FAMILIES

The sighting of the possible debris was another emotional moment for the families of those missing.

In Beijing, relatives met today with Malaysian officials at the Lido Hotel, where most have been staying awaiting the latest news. Those who spoke said they had a two-hour briefing about the search but that nothing new was said.

Wang Zhen, son of artist Wang Linshi, said the meeting went smoothly but that there were questions on why Malaysian authorities had provided so much seemingly contradictory information.

Wang said he has hopes his father can be found alive and was praying that the Australian reports turn out to be false. He said he and other relatives are suspicious about what they were being told by the Malaysian side, but are at a loss as to what to do next.

``We feel they're hiding something from us,'' said Wang, who was filling his days attending briefings and watching the news for updates.

Another relative, Nan Jinyan, sister-in-law of passenger Yan Ling, said hope was slipping away.

``I'm psychologically prepared for the worst and I know the chances of them coming back alive are extremely small,'' she said.

Selamat Bin Omar, the father of a Malaysian passenger on the flight, said: "If it turns out that it is truly MH370 then we will accept that fate.''

But he cautioned that relatives still "do not yet know for sure whether this is indeed MH370 or something else. Therefore we are still waiting for further notice from the Australian government.''

Malaysian officials met with the relatives last night in a hotel near Kuala Lumpur, but journalists were kept away. After the meeting, groups of people left looking distraught.

Hamid Amran, who had a child on Flight 370, said questions asked at the meeting made it "apparent that Malaysia's military is incapable of protecting its own airspace.''

He said he "believes that my child and all the other passengers are still alive. I will not give up hope.''

A man who would only give his surname, Lau, said he was there to support a Chinese couple who had lost their only son.

"It appears some families are slowly accepting the worst outcome,'' he said.

Helping out ... Hoegh St. Petersburg is the first ship to reach an area south west of Australia where possible debris of missing airliner MH370 has been spotted. Picture: AP Photo/hoegh.com/ NTB scanpix Source: AP

SEARCH: Hoegh St Petersburg arrives at debris spot

CAR CARRIER ON SCENE

Hoegh Autolines spokesman Ben Stack said the car carrier Hoegh St. Petersburg arrived at the search area at 8pm AEST.

The Norwegian cargo vessel used searchlights after dark to look for debris. It will continue the search today.

Mr Stack said he could not confirm whether those on board the ship had sighted the objects depicted in the satellite imagery.

"They want to help in any way they can and they're going to do as the Australian authorities ask them to," he said.

Höegh St. Petersburg was on its way from South Africa to Australia and was the ship closest to the search area.

Maintenance personnel conduct post-flight checks on one of the AP-3C Orions involved in the search at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce in Bullsbrook, Western Australia. Picture: Leading Seaman Justin Brown / Department of Defence Source: AFP

BACKGROUND: Inside the search for MH370

'NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK'

RAAF Hercules pilot Flight Lieutenant Conan Brett conceded the area aircraft had covered so far was vast and finding a missing plane in a huge section of Indian Ocean was like looking for a "needle in a haystack''.

The pilot, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said his crew were doing everything possible to assist AMSA and find either survivors or wreckage.

"This is a big deal. We are out there looking. If we can help, even in a small way, to find answers, that would be exceptional,'' Flt. Lt. Brett said.

The captain of the first Orion plane to return from the search area yesterday cautioned that the weather conditions were "extremely bad" with rough seas and high winds.

Not great weather for flying ... a large thunderstorm moves through the north of Perth in the early hours of Friday, March 21. Picture: Mark Finley / Perth Weather Live Source: Supplied

SEARCH CONDITIONS IMPROVING TODAY

Conditions may have looked bad this morning for the pilots, with a thunderstorm over Air Force Base Pearce in Bullsbrook, north east of Perth.

But conditions are improving, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology told AFP.

"Showers associated with the passage of a cold front on Thursday, which saw low cloud and drizzle affect visibility, are easing,'' the bureau said.

"Winds are currently 15-20 knots, with swell 2 to 2.5 metres, and also easing. Overall conditions are expected to slowly improve today for the search operations in the area.''

The first planes took off from Bullsbrook at 6.15am this morning (9.15am AEDT).

The flying time to the designated search area is expected to take about four hours.

With the journey there and back, it only leaves one or two hours flying time for the planes to sweep the area for additional signs of wreckage.

On the search ... Royal Australian Air Force pilot Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams from 10 Squadron, flying his AP-3C Orion over the southern Indian Ocean during the search for flight MH370. Picture: Sgt Hamish Paterson / Department of Defence Source: AFP

LIMITS OF SATELLITE IMAGES

Experts have warned of the limitations of the satellite images.

"You know how they say a picture is worth 1,000 words? Well, in satellite imagery, the picture's only worth 500. The rest has to come from analysis,'' said Sean O'Connor, an imagery analyst.

"It would be very nice if you could see a whole wing floating there, then you could say, 'OK that's an aeroplane,''' O'Connor said. "When you're looking at something like this, you can't tell what it is.''

Search expert David Gallo discusses the difficulty of finding wreckages at the bottom of the ocean. Courtesy Fox News

The images came from a DigitalGlobe commercial satellite that scans the Earth from the north to south, said Tim Brown, a satellite imagery expert at GlobalSecurity.org.

These kinds of satellites can look left to right, but the further they look to the side, the lower quality the images will be. There are other limitations. Because of their orbits, they can only scan a specific section of the Earth at certain times each day, much like the sun is only overhead part of the day.

Awaiting news ... Malaysia's Minister of Defence and Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. Source: AFP

MYSTERY: Who did MH370 pilot call before flight?

TOURISM: Asian travel boom set to continue

MALAYSIA INFORMED OF DEVELOPMENTS

Malaysia's Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the Malaysian Prime Minister had taken a call from his Australian counterpart.

He said Mr Abbott had informed him that "two possible objects related to the search" for MH370 and been identified.

The Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia has briefed the minister on the latest developments.

"At this stage, Australian officials have yet to establish whether these objects are indeed related to the search for MH370," Mr Hussein said.

Second piece of wreckage ... the second satellite image, showing an item possibly 5 metres in length. Picture: Department of Defence Source: AFP

Mr Hussein said the information from Australia was "corroborated to a certain extent from other satellites".

He said the search for MH370 would continue in both the northern and southern corridors but most assets have now been deployed in the south.

Asked what he would tell the families, Mr Hussein said: "`I will tell them, whatever we find, my sympathies, my heart is with them all the time … I do feel for them and I say that on record and I say that to the world. We do care for them and we can understand, we can try to understand what they are going through."

Mr Hussein admitted regret at an incident at the media centre on Wednesday when an anguished Chinese mother was dragged away screaming from the media.

'The best lead we have' ... Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) General Manager John Young updates the media with new information about Flight MH370. Source: News Corp Australia

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Bus driver dragged, punched

Surfside bus driver left bloodied and bruised after being dragged from seat and attacked by passenger. Courtesy: Nine News

UPDATED: POLICE are searching for a man who viciously assaulted a bus driver in Southport this morning ... and it was all over a fare.

The man, described as wearing no shirt, grey board shorts and carrying a black backpack was captured on camera dragging the 63-year-old driver out of the bus on to the ground and

CCTV footage of a man who attacked a bus driver at Southport Source: Supplied

punching him in a vicious attack at a bus stop at the corner of Nerang and Pohlman Streets.

Detective Acting Inspector Paul Austin says the attack occurred about 8.30am when the passenger boarded the bus and tried to pay with a pre-paid travel card, or GoCard, which didn't have any money on it.

The culprit then tried to pay with a $50 note, but the 63-year-old driver did not have sufficient change.

TEENAGE GIRLS ATTACK ELDERLY MAN ON BUS

"There was an attempt at payment, however we do believe there was an escalation of his language, of his demeanour, which then became violent," Insp Austin told reporters.

The driver was taken to hospital with bruising and cuts to his face.

Police question a Surfside buslines driver who was assaulted by a passenger at a bus stop at the corner of Nerang and Pohlman streets, Southport today. Source: GoldCoastBulletin

Insp Austin commended the driver for getting up once he was being assaulted and moving towards the door so other passengers on the bus were not in the firing line.

"However, that did mean that the assault continued ... and he received further assault on the footpath," he said.

Video of the incident shows the driver being dragged on the ground outside the bus while being kicked by his attacker.

The culprit is thought to be in his late teens or

Police speak to the injured driver at the scene. Source: GoldCoastBulletin

early 20s, has a dark complexion, a medium build, tattoos and sports a mohawk hairstyle.

The attack comes a month after two women - Lana Watmough, 21, and Layni Cameron, 17 - sparked outrage after the were recorded allegedly assaulting an elderly man on a Gold Coast bus.

Insp Austin said he expected a similar public outcry.

"In the social media, we'll get a lot of response as to what people think," he said.

"We'll do our job and follow this investigation out to the nth degree."

A bus driver was assaulted by a passenger at Southport. Another passenger captured this dramatic photo. Source: Supplied

A nearby business owner said the man involved is a known local in the area and was seen arguing with the bus driver.

"I think he tried to pay his fare with a $50 or $100 note and the bus driver might have said no," the witness said.

"Next thing he was out of the bus and picked up his things which had fallen out of his bag.

"Then he walked across the road and down Pohlman Street."

Witnesses described the man as in his late teens or early 20s with short, spiky hair.

CCTV footage of a man who attacked a bus driver at Southport Source: Supplied

Police at the scene of a bus assault in Southport today. Source: GoldCoastBulletin

EARLIER: A BUS driver has sustained minor facial injuries after he was punched by a passenger in Southport.

The man is described as wearing grey boardshorts with no shirt and is believed to be carrying a black backpack. He has dark skin.

Police and ambulance are on the scene.

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Testing, testing: celebs’ first tweets revealed

Hamish and Andy's first-ever tweet was a touching poem to pop star Pink. Source: Supplied

TWITTER tomorrow celebrates eight years in operation - that's eight years now of celebrities being in direct, 24-hours-a-day communication with their fans, for better or worse.

Along the way, there have been success stories - take Ellen's Oscars selfie, which quickly beame the most retweeted picture of all time. But there have also been countless gaffes, blunders and cases of foot-in-mouth that probably make celebs wonder if it's really all that great having the world at their finger tips.

The important thing to remember is that tweets are forever, something that Twitter is demonstrating with their new #MyFirstTweet feature. It allows you to search for the very first tweet made by you, your friends, your favourite celebs - anyone, for that matter.

Here are a few of the very first tweets of some very well known people:

And here's Twitter's very first tweet, sent by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey way back on March 21, 2006:

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MH370: Objects detected in ocean

The AMSA says RAAF aircraft are investigating objects 'as large as 24 metres' in the search for MH370.

PM Tony Abbott announces two possible objects relating to the search of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been identified, and a RAAF Orion is on its way to locate them.

Pre-mission preparations ... RAAF crew get ready to join the search. Source: News Corp Australia

• US Navy aircraft already scouring the search zone
• Experts believe the objects are credible sightings

CANBERRA Authorities should know something definite on the possible discovery of debris from missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 within "two or three days'', Defence Minister David Johnston says.

Australia's defence forces were doing everything they could in one of the most remote locations in the world, Senator Johnston told AAP in Jakarta tonight where he was attending an international defence dialogue.

Earlier Mr Johnston told Sky News that the operation to find debris will be a "logistical nightmare".

"This is a terribly complex logistical operation to identify what we have found via the satellite," he said.

"We are in a most isolated part of the world, in fact it probably doesn't get, if I can be so bold, more isolated.

"We are doing everything we can to try to solve this potentially tragic mystery."

READ MORE: ANXIOUS WAIT FOR MH370 FAMILIES

The first search plane arrived back to Perth this evening, confirming it was not able to find debris. Limited visibility hampered the search for flight MH370.

Two large objects identified by satellite in the Indian Ocean off Perth may be related to missing Flight MH370 and are "possible indications of debris".

Describing the "credible sightings" as the best lead investigators currently have, Australian Maritime Safety Authority general manager John Young said the objects were "relatively indistinct on imagery".

One was about 24-metres long, approximately double the length of a standard shipping container, while the other one was smaller, and about five metres in length.

A flight crew combing the southern Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said they are getting radar hits of "significant size," indicating something lying below the water's surface, ABC News America also reports.

But it is not known if the objects are plane debris.

However, those who've analysed the objects say they are a "credible" lead.

"Those who are experts indicate they are credible sightings," Mr Young told a press conference in Canberra this afternoon. "The indication to me is of objects that are of reasonable size and awash with water, bobbing up and down on the surface."

This is one of the objects seen on satellite imagery.

Satellite imagery provided to AMSA ... of objects that may be possible debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in a revised area 185 km to the south east of the original search area. Source: Supplied

This is the other objected which was detected. It is 5m long.

The second object spotted via satellite ... which is 5m long. Source: Supplied

PM SAYS DEBRIS FIRST 'TANGIBLE BREAKTHROUGH'

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the discovery of as-yet unidentified debris 3000km off Australia appears to be the first "tangible breakthrough" in the hunt for missing Malaysia aircraft MH370.

Speaking after arriving in the Papua New Guinea capital of Port Moresby tonight, Mr Abbott said Australia would do whatever it could to try to identify the items.

"We had satellite imagery which indicated there were two large objects in the Southern Ocean. We are talking about an extraordinarily remote spot about 3000km southwest of Perth," he said.

"It is a remarkably isolated location in very deep and inaccessible ocean.

"Nevertheless we are throwing all the resources we can at it. We will have as much maritime searching as we can and we have got six aircraft available for the job. "

Mr Abbott said the items picked up on satellite could not be confirmed until a closer look was able to be carried out.

"But this is the first tangible breakthrough in what up until now has been an utterly baffling mystery," he said.

"We do have pretty strong satellite imagery and obviously this is a very serious lead in the way that nothing else so far really has been.

"It's very close to the predicted southern flight corridor and that I suppose reinforces our suspicion that just maybe this is the first tangible evidence we've got of what might have happened."

DEBRIS CORROBARATED BY MORE THAN ONE SATELLITE: MALAYSIA

Malaysia's Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says the satellite images of what appears to be debris is corroborated by more than one satellite.

He said this is why the latest sightings off Perth are more credible than previous sightings of debris.

Mr Hussein said the information from Australia was "corroborated to a certain extent from other satellites".

He said the search for MH370 would continue in both the northern and southern corridors but most assets have now been deployed in the south.

There are now 25 aircraft and 18 ships searching the southern corridor. A merchant ship is on the way to the last known location of the debris and was due to arrive late yesterday. A Royal Australian Navy vessel is also on the way.

"For the families around the world, the one piece of information that we want most, that they want most, is the information we just don't have, the location of MH370," Mr Hussein said.

"Our primary focus has always been to find the aircraft and with every passing day our efforts have intensified."

The priority is finding the plane and its black box if there is to be any chance of finding out what happened to the Boeing 777-200.

"We must never never give up hope," Mr Hussien said.

Asked what he would tell the families, Mr Hussein said: "I will tell them, whatever we find, my sympathies, my heart is with them all the time … I do feel for them and I say that on record and I say that to the world. We do care for them and we can understand, we can try to understand what they are going through."

Mr Hussein admitted regret at an incident at the media centre on Wednesday when an anguished Chinese mother was dragged away screaming from the media.

Authorities were due to brief all the next of kin of passengers and crew in Kuala Lumpur last night.

If the plane is found in the vast waters off Perth, authorities say they will make arrangements for family members to travel there.

And, 13 days into the search and investigation, authorities say that despite saying the plane's communications systems being turned off deliberately by someone on board, they had not ruled out a catastrophic event having occurred on the plane.

DEBRIS COULD HAVE DRIFTED HUNDREDS OF KM AWAY

Ocean expert Robin Beaman said debris could have been carried hundreds of kilometres since the satellite images were captured on March 16.

"The currents are drifting at one or two nautical miles per hour so it certainly makes sense that it could have drifted several hundred miles by now," he said.

"There'd be parts of the plane that could float for some time but certainly not indefinitely. Eventually parts like that will become waterlogged and sink to the sea floor so it's time critical,'' he said.

"The wind is moving in an easterly direction which means anything floating on the surface will also drift in that direction but at some point it just becomes waterlogged and sinks."

Dr Beaman, from James Cook University, said it will be difficult to locate debris in such deep waters.

"It also depends on the weather. There would be waves breaking from the wind speed," he said.

"The higher the wind speed the harder it is to detect something floating on the sea surface when you start having clutter so they'd be using radar, heat sensors and all sorts of other technology to locate debris.

"It could be like your classic ship wreck site. Heavy items sink faster so they'd drop to the sea floor and lighter fragments could have been carried downstream by the current. Almost like a comet effect of debris on the sea floor."

SEARCH UNDERWAY IN REMOTE AREA

A US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft is already in the remote search area, which is about 2500km southwest of Perth, and a RAAF Orion aircraft was expected to arrive this afternoon.

Additional aircraft are also expected to follow for a more intensive search.

Mr Young cautioned that the objects would be difficult to locate and may not even be related to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, which vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 with 239 people on board.

"It's probably the best lead we have right now but we have to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's really meaningful or not,'' he said.

TOP 10 THEORIES: WHAT HAPPENED TO FLIGHT MH370

Reacting to the news, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the potential breakthrough gave reason for hope of a resolution to the crisis, but stressed the need to verify the claim.

"We have been very consistent. We want to verify, we want to corroborate,'' Mr Hussein said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also tweeted:

Under the microscope ... the search area Australia has been charged with Source: Supplied

Mr Young said higher resolution satellite images were being taken. "These will be provided in due course," he said.

He cautioned against any hasty expectations of an outcome because of unfavourable weather conditions.

"We may get a sighting, we may not. We may get it tomorrow, we may not,'' he said. "But we will continue to do this until we locate those objects or we are convinced that we cannot find them.''

When asked what advice he had for the families of those on the missing flight, he replied: "I would advise that AMSA is doing it's level best to find anyone that may have survived."

An Australian Hercules is expected to drop marker buoys in the area highlighted by the satellite imagery while a merchant ship that responded to a shipping broadcast issued by Rescue Coordination Australia on Monday is expected to arrive this evening.

Credible sighting ... AMSA general manager John Young. Source: Supplied

Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier revealed the satellite discovery in federal parliament.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search," Mr Abbott said at the start of Question Time, wanting to provide an update on "new and credible" information.

Mr Abbott said he had spoken to his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak and informed him of the developments.

But the PM insisted the task of locating the objects will be very difficult and they might not turn out to be related to the missing plane.

Looking ... crew on board an AP-3C Orion over the southern Indian Ocean. Source: AP

"We must keep in mind the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370," he said.

Malaysian authorities have asked Australia to take responsibility for the "southern vector'' of the operation to locate the Boeing 777.

They believe the jet was deliberately diverted and flew for several hours after leaving its scheduled flight path — either north towards Central Asia, or towards the southern Indian Ocean.

Australian, US and New Zealand long-range surveillance planes have been scouring a vast tract of the southern Indian Ocean since Tuesday with the search focused on an area of 305,000 square kilometres, some 2,600km southeast of Perth.

Assets involved in the search include a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion, a US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion.

In total, four RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft have been assigned to the search task being coordinated by AMSA.

Pre-mission prep ... RAAF crew in WA get ready to join the search. Picture: Colin Murty Source: News Corp Australia

SEARCHING THE 'MOST ISOLATED PART OF THE WORLD'

Four aircraft, including a Royal Australian Air Force Orion and a United States Navy P8 Poseidon, have been dispatched to what Australian Defence Minister David Johnston described as "a most isolated part of the world".

"It's a logistical nightmare. This is a terribly complex logistical operation to identify what we have found via the satellite," he said in a television interview.

The AP-3C Orion is an extremely versatile aircraft used to conduct long-range surveillance missions throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The Orions are fitted with radar, infra-red and visual systems which allow crew to see objects at night and in the distance, as well as magnetic anomaly detectors which help in identifying metal.

The Poseidon is an even more advanced aircraft described by the US as a long-range anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane aircraft capable of broad-area maritime operations.

AMSA's Rescue Coordination Centre, which works around the clock and is responsible for the national coordination of both maritime and aviation search and rescues, has experience in difficult conditions.

In December, it led the rescue of dozens of passengers and scientists stranded on a Russian ship stuck in ice in blizzards off Antarctica, a crisis which sparked a global operation to pluck them from frozen seas.

In May 2013, it coordinated the rescue of Dutch adventurer Ralph Tuijn from the Indian Ocean after his attempt to row from Australia to Africa ended when his boat collided with a massive oil tanker.

It has also been instrumental in coordinating the rescue in recent years of hundreds of asylum-seekers whose boats sometimes sink as they try to reach Australia from Indonesia.

RELATIVES PREPARE FOR THE WORST

The Chinese authorities are preparing for the worst in Beijing.

Medical staff and police have arrived at a hotel where relatives of the passengers of the Beijing-bound flight have gathered.

Scores of police and at least five ambulances have been spotted at the hotel, the BBC reports.

Chinese relatives of the passengers ... onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 wait for the latest information at Lido Hotel in Beijing, China. Picture: Lintao Zhang Source: Getty Images

SIMULATOR UNDER SCRUTINY

The news comes as Malaysian and FBI authorities investigating the home flight simulator data from MH370 pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah will look first at the level of security he used to protect his files to determine whether he was trying to hide something.

Files containing records of flight simulations were deleted on February 3 from the device found in the home of Captain Shah, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said late on Wednesday.

READ MORE: THE PLANES DECLARED MISSING SINCE 1948

Experts say the level of security used to protect those deleted files will provide the first clue in the investigation.

While it is not clear whether investigators think that deleting the files was unusual, they might hold signs of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went.

"Chances are that it will be very low level encryption and it will be easily recovered," said Deakin University cyber security expert Professor Matthew Warren.

Encryption in focus ... Captain Shah's personal flight simulator. Source: Facebook

"What would be interesting if they find high level encryption and data scrubbing systems in place. If these techniques or countermeasures are in place, it would raise a lot of questions."

Captain Shah, 53, an experienced pilot who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981, had built a homemade flight simulator in his two-storey home outside Kuala Lumpur.

Experts from the FBI are working with Malaysian authorities to help recover the deleted data.

Australian National University security expert Professor Clive Williams said it would not take long for them to recover what they are looking for.

READ MORE: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN JETS EXPLODE

"I'm sure they can reconstruct it," he said.

"They can get information out of pretty much anything."

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorised to discuss the investigation by name, said it was important to remember that "the pilots, the passengers and the crew remain innocent until proven otherwise."

"For the sake of their families I ask that we refrain from any unnecessary speculation that may make an already difficult time even harder," he said.

Boeing 777 ... a cheap flight system upgrade may have helped track MH370. Source: Supplied

In his first on camera comments on the mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, US President Barack Obama said the search was a "top priority'' for the United States and offered every possible resource — including the FBI.

Obama offered thoughts and prayers to the relatives of the missing passengers.

READ MORE: MEDIA'S CHALLENGE IN COVERING MF370

"We have put every resource that we have available at the disposal of the search process,'' he said. "There has been close cooperation with the Malaysian government.''

Obama said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board and any agency or official that deals with aviation was at the disposal of the investigation.

Deleted files being investigated ... Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: YouTube

THE 'APP' THAT COULD HAVE HELPED TRACK MH370

As the investigation into the missing flight continues, Malaysia Airlines has also come under scrutiny for apparently skimping on a computer application upgrade that could have helped track the missing Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers

The Washington Post is reporting that an upgrade to a system called Swift — which wholesales for around $10 per flight — would have enabled MH370 to transmit data about its trajectory and position even after the plane's transponder systems had been switched off.

A similar system enabled searchers to locate the Air France jet which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Wreckage from that plane was found within five days.

A satellite industry official, who did not wish to be named, told the newspaper that many airlines use the upgraded Swift system, which he likened to a mobile phone app.

Its use is mandatory on planes flying in the North Atlantic corridor between the Europe and the US but not on other plane routes, the source said.

Not giving up ... people in Kuala Lumpur holding on to hope. Pic: Joshua Paul. Source: AP

LOCKERBIE EXPERT SAYS CREW WERE TRYING TO SAVE PLANE

Theories as to what happened to the plane continue to be expounded and debunked.

Late last week Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told the world's media that the plane was purposely diverted from its course — leading to a flurry of hijacking theories — but a British aviation expert who was a key witness in the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing trial has now discredited those ideas.

The former head of the UK'S Federal Aviation Authority, Billie Vincent, told the Telegraph that he believed the plane suffered a "catastrophic event" over the Gulf of Thailand. The pilots would have been looking for a safe place to land as the cabin filled with smoke, he said.

"As opposed to being hijackers, the crew were heroically trying to save the aeroplane, save themselves and the passengers when this catastrophe hit," he told the paper.

On the hunt ... a US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft in Perth. Pic: Instagram. Source: Instagram

Distraught ... a Chinese relative of passengers on the flight breaks down. Source: AP

PASSENGERS' FAMILIES AT BREAKING POINT

Distraught relatives of MH370 passengers are at breaking point. Three heartbroken women came to the media centre in Kuala Lumpur carrying a protest banner demanding answers and were immediately dragged away by security in tears.

As the investigation continues to focus on the pilots, Minister of Defence and Acting Minister of Transport Hishammuddin Hussein said local and international experts have been recruited to examine the pilot's flight simulator.

The three women who were dragged away by security are believed to be relatives of some of the Chinese passengers missing.

As Mr Hishammuddin's press conference got underway the women, at least one who was in floods of tears, were whisked away to another part of the hotel, with a scrum of media desperately trying to follow them.

It has been nearly two weeks since the Boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers disappeared and the frustration at being left in the dark about its fate boiled over for the three women.

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