- NEW: No confirmed plane debris sightings, though four interesting orange objects are seen
- NEW: U.S. Navy official says it is tough to search for fuselage without confirmed drifting debris
- Australian crew calls new objects one of their "most promising leads"
- "We are here struck with sadness," relative of missing passenger says
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) -- New hope, more frustration.
As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 turned up fresh potential clues, dozens of anguished Chinese relatives on Sunday demanded that Malaysia provide them with evidence on the fate of their loved ones aboard the missing 777.
Ideal weather conditions gave one Australian aircraft crew the opportunity to detect many objects in the water west of Perth.
It spotted four orange items of interest, took photos and sent the coordinates, but Flight Lt. Russell Adams said the crew couldn't determine if the objects were from the airliner, which officials believe went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
Frustrated families arrive in Malaysia New video of recovered objects in search New video of recovered objects in search A teary-eyed woman listens from the back as other relatives of Chinese passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 speak to reporters Sunday, March 30, in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. Dozens of anguished Chinese relatives demanded that Malaysia provide answers to the fate of those on board. An object floating in the southern Indian Ocean is seen from a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 on Saturday, March 29. Ships participating in the search retrieved new debris Saturday but no objects linked to missing plane, according to Australian authorities. The sole representative of families of passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on Friday, March 28, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Authorities are combing thousands of square miles of the southern Indian Ocean in search of the wreckage of Flight 370, which disappeared March 8. Malaysian authorities declared that the plane had most likely been lost with all aboard in the remote sea far off Australia. A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on Thursday, March 27. Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27. People in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27. Crew members of the Chinese icebreaking ship Xuelong scan the Indian Ocean during a search for the missing jet on Wednesday, March 26. People work at a console at the British satellite company Inmarsat on Tuesday, March 25, in London. The mother of a passenger who was on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cries at her home in Medan, Indonesia, on March 25. Australian Defense Minister David Johnston speaks to the media March 25 about the search for the missing jet. A family member of a missing passenger reacts after hearing the latest news March 25 in Kuala Lumpur. Angry relatives of those aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 react in Beijing on Monday, March 24, after hearing that the plane went down over the southern Indian Ocean, according to analysis of satellite data. Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight March 24 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Relatives of the missing passengers hold a candlelight vigil in Beijing on March 24. A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks out an aircraft during a search for the missing jet March 24. A woman reads messages for missing passengers at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on March 24. Flight Lt. Josh Williams of the Royal Australian Air Force operates the controls of an AP-3C Orion on Sunday, March 23, after searching the southern Indian Ocean. Ground crew members wave to a Japanese Maritime Defense Force patrol plane as it leaves the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, Malaysia, on Sunday, March 23. The plane was heading to Australia to join a search-and-rescue operation. A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 22. A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It is a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes are looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks down at the Norwegian merchant ship Hoegh St. Petersburg, which took part in search operations Friday, March 21. The Royal Australian Air Force's Neville Dawson, left, goes over the search area with Brittany Sharpe aboard an AP-3C Orion some 2,500 kilometers (about 1,500 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia, over the Indian Ocean on March 21. Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday, March 20, shows debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could be from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials that they had spotted something raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's John Young speaks to the media in Canberra, Australia, on March 20 about satellite imagery. A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday, March 19. A relative of missing passengers waits for a news briefing by officials in Beijing on Tuesday, March 18. A relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. A member of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency joins in a search for the missing plane in the Andaman Sea area around the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra on Monday, March 17. Relatives of missing passengers watch a news program about the missing plane as they await information at a hotel ballroom in Beijing on March 17. Malaysian Transportation Minister Hishamuddin Hussein, center, shows maps of the search area at a hotel next to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 17. U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations Sunday, March 16, in the Indian Ocean. Indonesian personnel watch over high seas during a search operation in the Andaman Sea on Saturday, March 15. A foam plane, which has personalized messages for the missing flight's passengers, is seen at a viewing gallery March 15 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. A member of the Malaysian navy makes a call as his ship approaches a Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea on March 15. A Indonesian ship heads to the Andaman Sea during a search operation near the tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, on March 15. Elementary school students pray for the missing passengers during class in Medan, Indonesia, on March 15. Col. Vu Duc Long of the Vietnam air force fields reporters' questions at an air base in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after a search operation on Friday, March 14. Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on Thursday, March 13. The search area for Flight 370 has grown wider. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, efforts are expanding west into the Indian Ocean. A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13. Malaysian air force members look for debris on March 13 near Kuala Lumpur. A relative of a missing passenger watches TV at a Beijing hotel as she waits for the latest news March 13. A member of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency scans the horizon in the Strait of Malacca on Wednesday, March 12. Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12. Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a news conference in Sepang on March 12. Indonesian air force officers in Medan, Indonesia, examine a map of the Strait of Malacca on March 12. A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on Tuesday, March 11. Iranians Pouri Nourmohammadi, second left, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, far right, were identified by Interpol as the two men who used stolen passports to board the flight. But there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. An Indonesian navy crew member scans an area of the South China Sea bordering Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand on Monday, March 10. Vietnam air force Col. Le Huu Hanh is reflected on the navigation control panel of a plane that is part of the search operation over the South China Sea on March 10. Relatives of the missing flight's passengers wait in a Beijing hotel room on March 10. A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews before returning to search for the missing plane Sunday, March 9, in the Gulf of Thailand. Members of the Fo Guang Shan rescue team offer a special prayer March 9 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. A handout picture provided by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows personnel checking a radar screen during search-and-rescue operations March 9. Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, who reported his passport stolen in August, shows his current passport during a news conference at a police station in Phuket island, Thailand, on March 9. Two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were reportedly traveling on stolen passports belonging to Maraldi and an Austrian citizen whose papers were stolen two years ago. Hugh Dunleavy, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, speaks to journalists March 9 at a Beijing hotel where relatives and friends of the missing flight's passengers are staying. Vietnamese air force crew stand in front of a plane at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9 before heading out to the area between Vietnam and Malaysia where the airliner vanished. Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9. The Chinese navy warship Jinggangshan prepares to leave Zhanjiang Port early on March 9 to assist in search-and-rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The Jinggangshan, an amphibious landing ship, is loaded with lifesaving equipment, underwater detection devices and supplies of oil, water and food. Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9. The vessel is carrying 12 divers and will rendezvous with another rescue vessel on its way to the area where contact was lost with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea. A family member of missing passengers is mobbed by journalists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 8. A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported March 8. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. Malaysia Airlines official Joshua Law Kok Hwa, center, speaks to reporters in Beijing on March 8. A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Wang Yue, director of marketing of Malaysia Airlines in China, reads a company statement during a news conference at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 8. Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8. A woman asks a staff member at the Beijing airport for more information on the missing flight. A Malaysian man who says he has relatives on board the missing plane talks to journalists at the Beijing airport on March 8. Passengers walk past a Malaysia Airlines sign on March 8 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference on March 8 at a hotel in Sepang. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 The items were more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) long, he said.
Authorities will analyze the images and then decide whether to send a ship to the debris location.
Adams called the discovery of the four objects one of the "most promising leads" searchers have come across.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority announced that search efforts for Sunday ended with no confirmed sightings of debris from the plane. It added that objects picked up by ships on Saturday turned out to be fishing equipment and other items.
'We want truth'
The family members arrived in Kuala Lumpur and held a news conference at their hotel, imploring officials to be more transparent.
"We want evidence, we want truth and we want our family," said Jiang Hui, the families' designated representative. The crowd chanted the same words.
"We are here to call for the following three things," he said. "First, the Malaysian side should provide us with timely and comprehensive evidence and answer the families' questions."
He also asked Malaysia to apologize for releasing confusing information and for announcing on March 24 that the plane had crashed even though there was not "direct evidence."
Relatives wore white T-Shirts with the words " Pray for MH370 ... return home safely." Some wept.
"We are here struck with sadness and urgency," Jiang said. "The meetings recently in China were not fruitful with MAS (Malaysia Airlines) officials."
Mixed messages
Family members have accused Malaysian officials of withholding information since the plane vanished more than three weeks ago.
Of the 239 people aboard the doomed jetliner, 154 were Chinese.
Last week, relatives were told everyone aboard had died. But Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transportation minister, told reporters Saturday he had not closed the door on the hope that there could be survivors.
Flight attendant's husband wants to give children answers, but has none
Frustrating search
Beijing has publicly slammed Malaysia's efforts to find the Boeing 777, which went missing March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
And as the frustrating three-week search resumed Sunday, China was among the countries scouring the choppy waters of the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the plane.
Ten aircraft flew over 123,000 square miles (319,000 square kilometers) about 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers) west of Perth, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.
Various ships were also involved in the search, including the Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which will be fitted with a "black box" detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle.
On Saturday, crew members aboard a Chinese plane dropped buoys to mark three suspected debris sites, China's state-run CCTV reported. It later said Sunday an orange "suspicious object" spotted by a Chinese plane Saturday turned out to be a dead jellyfish.
Amid the confusion, Malaysia said it has done its best with what it has.
"History will judge us as a country that has been very responsible," Hishammuddin said.
Relatives said they hope to meet the transport minister in Kuala Lumpur. They also asked Malaysia to plan meetings with the various companies involved, including Boeing, the plane's manufacturer.
Race against time
Malaysian officials under fire Transport official reassures families Partner: My world is upside down Transport official reassures families Experts said the clock is ticking.
The batteries on the flight data recorder, commonly referred to as the black box, are designed to last about 30 days. The plane disappeared March 8 -- 22 days ago.
"We certainly have our challenges in front of us," said Cmdr. Mark Matthews of the U.S. Navy.
"What we're trying to find is an acoustic emission from one of the pingers on the flight data recorder (and) the cockpit voice recorder. Typically these last, the batteries last about 30 days, usually they last a little bit longer, and that's what we're trying to find. But what is critical is that the teams that are out there searching for the surface debris, they get good position data on that and they feed it back to the oceanographers, to help us determine a probable point of impact for where the aircraft went in."
American pinger locator and undersea search equipment was loaded onto the Ocean Shield. The ship is set to depart by Monday morning, and will take up to three days to reach the search area.
U.S. Navy Cmdr. William Marks told CNN's "State of the Union" that his team really needs a conclusive piece of debris to narrow down the search area, due to the range of the pinger locator.
"We have to be careful not to send it in the wrong place, but we also wanted to get it out there as close as we can to what we believe is the right place," he told CNN's Candy Crowley.
He said if the batteries on the recorders aboard the missing plane run out, the search would require side-scan sonar, one of which has been loaded on a search ship.
"But like I said, without good visual confirmation of debris, which we really have not had yet, it is tough to even go in the general direction," he said.
'They're still alive'
In Beijing on Saturday, some of the relatives of the missing vented their anguish in the streets.
"They're all still alive, my son and everyone on board!" yelled Wen Wancheng, 63, whose only son was among the passengers. "The plane is still there, too! They're hiding it."
He held aloft a banner that read: "Son, Mom and Dad's hearts are torn to pieces. Come home soon!"
Relatives implored Hishammuddin to redouble the efforts.
"What they want is a commitment on our part to continue the search, and that I have given," Hishammuddin said. "For me, as the minister responsible, this is the hardest part of my life, at the moment," he told reporters.
"Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise, and that is the hope that the families want me to convey -- not only to the Malaysian government, MAS (Malaysia Airlines), but also to the world at large," he said.
Sea objects
The latest data analysis shows Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended up in the southern Indian Ocean.
Investigators concluded that during the flight's initial phase, the plane was traveling faster and burning fuel faster than they previously had thought. As a result, it could not have traveled as far south as earlier estimates indicated.
The new search area is closer to Australia's coast, so it takes less time to reach, meaning more area can be searched. It's also marked by calmer waters.
Vast, shifting search
Countries unite in search for Flight 370 Missing Malaysia flight stirs old memories The search for Flight 370 has spanned vast bodies of water and continents.
It started in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, where the plane went out of contact with air traffic controllers.
When authorities learned of radar data suggesting the plane had turned westward across the Malay Peninsula after losing contact, they expanded the search into the Strait of Malacca.
When those efforts proved fruitless, the search spread north into the Andaman Sea and northern Indian Ocean.
It then ballooned drastically after Malaysia announced March 15 that satellite data showed the plane could have flown along either of two huge arcs, one stretching northwest into the Asian land mass, the other southwest into the Indian Ocean.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that further analysis of the data led authorities to conclude the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
Your questions answered
CNN's Faith Karimi, Mitra Mobasherat, Brian Walker, Yuli Yang and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report. KJ Kwon reported from Kuala Lumpur and Steve Almasy wrote from Atlanta.
0 comments:
Post a Comment