World

Actions

Possible Debris From Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight Found

Officials say debris has been found in a new search zone off the coast of Australia. That could possibly be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Posted at
and last updated

Crews have been searching for 3 weeks for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, and now investigators are again saying they've  spotted what could be plane debris in the ocean. 

"Officials say so far none of the objects have been confirmed to be related to flight MH370. A total of eight aircrafts and five ships were involved in this particular search." (Via WHDH

ABC says investigators looked at military radar readings and realized crews have once again been searching for the missing plane in the wrong part of the Indian Ocean. 

"Flight 370 was flying faster than previously thought, burning through fuel more quickly. And they concluded when that fuel ran out the plane would have plummeted into the ocean far north of the earlier estimates."

CBS reports a Chinese military plane discovered several objects painted in the colors of the missing plane floating in that new search area Saturday. Crews spent the whole day searching the surrounding area but came back with no other evidence of the plane.

This new search area, about 1,100 miles off Australia's coast and spanning about 123,000 square miles, is quite a bit farther north from the previous search area, which means the weather should be more favorable for search crews. 

CNN says ships will be sent out to pick up these new pieces of debris Sunday and bring it back to Australia where investigators will look to Malaysia's government for the next move.

"They have experts that they're bringing in who will be able to determine exactly where these objects came from. Are these objects sea trash? Are they debris from a jetliner? Or are they from something completely unrelated?"

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board. And after three weeks of fruitless searching, relatives of the passengers have begun filing insurance claims against the airline and Boeing, which manufactured the plane. 

But the Malaysian government is still not ready to give up hope of finding survivors. Its defense minister told The Sydney Morning Herald he's hoping for a miracle, saying "I cannot give them (relatives) false hope. The best we can do is pray and be sensitive to them, that as long as there is even a remote chance of a survivor, we will pray and do whatever it takes."