Australians get ‘promising lead’ in search for missing Malaysian plane

Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield has
found what may be new evidence pointing to
the location of the Malaysia Airlines Flight
370′s black box. But it could take a few days
for officials to confirm whether this “promising
lead” is linked to the missing aircraft.
An Australian navy ship detected signals that
are consistent with the pings that come from
aircraft black boxes underwater on Saturday and
Sunday.
Many hope that this could be the missing black
box from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which
vanished on March 7 . Officials leading the
search for the missing aircraft have cautiously
called this a “most promising lead.”
The signals were picked up by the ship Ocean
Shield in the Indian Ocean, west of the
Australian Coast. Crewmembers are using
advanced U.S. Navy sound detectors, which can
detect pings up to 4,500 meters — more than
14,750 feet — below the surface of the ocean.
But in order to track signals, U.S. Navy Capt.
Mark Matthews told reporters in Perth, Australia,
that the sound detectors must be directly above
the object.
“It’s like playing hot and cold when you’re
searching for something and someone’s telling
you you’re getting warmer and warmer and
warmer,” Matthews said. “When you’re right on
top of it you get a good return.”
These signals differ from those detected by
Chinese ships on Saturday . The Ocean Shield’s
lead is about 300 nautical miles away from the
location of pulse signals picked up by China’s
Haixun 01 ship.
Australian officials say it could take from a few
hours to a few days to confirm whether or not
the pings are related to Flight 370.