Australia Released Satellite Photos of Possible Malaysian Flight MH370

Search aircraft are investigating two objects spotted by satellite floating in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia that could be debris from a Malaysian jetliner missing for 12 days with 239 people on board.

Australian officials said the objects, the largest of which measured up to 24 metres (78 ft), were around 2,500 km (1,500 miles) southwest of Perth, and appeared to be awash over water several thousand metres deep.

"I can confirm we have a new lead," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, where the investigation into the missing airliner is based.

Another official in Malaysia said investigators were "hopeful but cautious" about the Australian discovery.

No confirmed wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found since it vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast early on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.
"New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the country's parliament.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search."

Four military search planes were dispatched on Thursday to try to determine whether two large objects bobbing in a remote part of the Indian Ocean were part of a possible debris field of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

One of the objects spotted by satellite imagery had a dimension of 24 meters (almost 80 feet) in length and the other one 5 meters (15 feet). There could be other objects in waters nearby in the area that's a four-hour flight from Australia's southwestern coast, said John Young, manager of Australian Maritime Safety Authority's emergency response division.

"This is a lead, it's probably the best lead we have right now," Young said. He cautioned that the objects could be seaborne debris along a shipping route where containers can fall off cargo vessels, although the larger object is longer than a container. - Associated Press

Malaysian Airlines MH370 Vanished - Search Widened to Crack the Mystery

Authorities searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have widened their search, with the west coast of Malaysia now "the focus" of the hunt.

The airline said in a statement it was looking at the possibility that the plane tried to return to an airport at Subang, near the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

But the statement stressed officials were looking at all possibilities.

Beijing-bound flight MH370 vanished on Saturday shortly after it left Kuala Lumpur. There were 239 people on board.

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said: "The search and rescue teams have expanded the scope beyond the flight path."

"The authorities are looking at a possibility of an attempt made by MH370 to turn back to Subang... Apart from the search in the sea, search on land in between these areas is also conducted."

Rescue teams from several countries are scouring the seas for signs of the plane.

Malaysian authorities said on Monday they were expanding the search area from 50 nautical miles from where the plane had disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km).

Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:41 local time on Saturday (16:41 GMT on Friday). But radio contact was lost at 17:30 GMT, somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Fake Passports issue threatening terrorism traces.

None of the debris and oil slicks spotted in the water so far have proven to be linked to the disappearance.

Prayers all around the World for the safe return of Passengers.