Possible Debris from Missing Jet Found Off Australia
Ships are on their way to the southern Indian Ocean off Australia to look for possible debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
An Australian satellite spotted two large pieces of what investigators say could be part of the plane. One piece is about 24 meters long and another one is five meters long. The pictures were taken earlier this week and were released Thursday.
Darkness, clouds, and rain prevented rescue planes from seeing anything.
A Norwegian cargo ship happened to be near the area when news of the debris was announced, but failed to spot anything during a night-long search.
The owner of the Norwegian ship said saving the lives of the missing passengers is the focus of its operation.
The debris is thought to be about 2,500 kilometers southwest of the Australian city of Perth.
The Malaysia Airlines jet with 239 people on board disappeared 13 days ago during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. So far, there has been no signs of the plane or any firm clues of what happened to it.
Malaysia Airlines, search area as of March 20, 2014
Investigators are not ruling out anything, including catastrophic mechanical failure or terrorism. But they say it is possible that someone who knew what he was doing caused the plane to fly far off course
Twenty-six nations have been hunting for the plane across an area covering more than 7 million square kilometers, from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian Ocean.
Most of the passengers were Chinese. Their families are extremely frustrated with the investigation, accusing Malaysian authorities of lying. Police forcibly carried out hysterical and sobbing relatives from a government briefing on Wednesday.
Australian Air Commodore John McGarry on the search for debris:
"Quite simply, it is credible enough to divert the research to this area on the basis it provides a promising lead to what might be wreckage from the debris field," said McGarry.
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