WATCH ABOVE: Search teams have located more objects in the Indian Ocean that could be from the missing Malaysian jet. Ships will try to find the debris today.
LATEST UPDATES:
- New Zealand air force plane spots objects in new search area
- Nine planes flew over the new search area Friday and six ships were headed there
- New data suggests the Boeing Triple-7 did not fly as far as first thought, according to officials
- Australia says planes now searching in new area for signs of Flight MH370
- Pilot’s son breaks silence, dismisses speculation
TORONTO – Eight aircraft spotted objects in the southern Indian Ocean Friday during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
The discovery came after officials moved the search area nearly 1,100 kilometres to the northeast, after a new analysis of radar data.
It’s still not clear whether the objects, of various colours, are from the plane but officials say photos are currently being analyzed.
“The objects cannot be verified or discounted as being from MH370 until they are relocated and recovered by ships,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement. “It is not known how much flotsam, such as from fishing activities, is ordinarily there. At least one distinctive fishing object has been identified.”
READ MORE: Search for Malaysian plane highlights role of satellites
Australian officials say a Chinese patrol ship in the area will try to locate the objects.
The new search area is closer to land and has calmer weather than the previous search zone.
Earlier today, Australia said planes are now searching in a new area in the Indian Ocean for possible signs of the Malaysian airliner that went missing three weeks ago.
“We have moved on from the old search area which pilots had combed for the week,” said John Young, manager of Australian Maritime Safety Authority emergency response division.
Officials said a new analysis of radar data suggests the Boeing Triple-7 flew faster and therefore ran out of fuel sooner than first thought.
READ MORE: Australia says planes now searching new area
The latest analysis indicated the aircraft was travelling faster than previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel use and reducing the possible distance the aircraft could have flown before going down in the Indian Ocean. Just as a car loses gas efficiency when driving at high speeds, a plane will get less out of a tank of fuel when it flies faster.
This suggests that searchers have possibly concluded that hundreds of floating objects detected over the last week by satellite, previously considered possible wreckage, weren’t from the plane after all. But there are advantages to the new search area: It’s closer to land and has calmer weather than the old one.
READ MORE: Canadian pilot helps in search for lost Malaysian Airlines jetliner
The new search area is also about 80 per cent smaller, but it remains large: about 319,000 square kilometres, about the size of Poland.
It’s been 20 days since the plane vanished with 239 people aboard, including two Canadians.
VIDEO GALLERY:
The search area has changed several times since the plane vanished as experts analyzed a frustratingly small amount of data from the aircraft, including the radar signals and “pings” a satellite picked up for several hours after radar contact was lost.
Race to find black boxes continues
Malaysian officials said earlier this week that satellite data confirmed the plane crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
Authorities are rushing to find any piece of the plane to help them locate the so-called black boxes, or flight data and voice recorders, that will help solve the mystery of why the jet, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, flew so far off-course.
The battery in the black box normally lasts about a month.
Pilot’s son breaks silence, dismisses speculation
The youngest son of missing Flight MH370 pilot Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah has broken his silence and dismissed allegations that his father deliberately crashed the plane into the Indian Ocean.
READ MORE: Pilot’s son breaks silence, dismisses speculation
“I’ve read everything online. But I’ve ignored all the speculation. I know my father better,” said Ahmad Seth in an interview with the New Strait Times. ”We may not be as close as he travels so much. But I understand him.”
With files from The Associated Press
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