Malaysia Plane: 122 New Objects Spotted

A further 122 objects potentially from the missing Malaysian plane have been identified by satellite, the country’s acting transport minister has said.

The images, taken on March 23, showed objects up to 23m (75ft) in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Some of the objects captured by France-based Airbus appeared bright and were possibly of solid material.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The objects were spotted in a 400 sq km area around 2,557km (1588 miles) from Perth in Western Australia, Hishammuddin said.

“This is another new lead that will help direct the search operation,” he said, adding that the information had been handed to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on Tuesday.

The latest images are the fourth known collection of satellite pictures showing possible debris in the southern Indian Ocean. No pieces have yet been recovered in the search area, which has now been split into an east and west section.

The transport minister said Malaysia Airlines was “now taking a lead in communicating with the families” and would be conducting its own press conferences.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said on Wednesday that flights had resumed and conditions had improved after rough seas and heavy rain forced air and sea operations to be suspended the previous day.

It said seven military and five civilian planes were taking part and a total of six countries were now involved – Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.

Australian authorities said on Wednesday that three more objects had been spotted by a civilian aircraft involved in the search.

However, it could not be confirmed whether they were related to the missing aircraft.

The search for debris from the missing plane is taking place in one of the world’s remotest regions.

If debris confirmed to be from the plane is found, the search area will narrow further.

However, experts say the aircraft’s locator beacons, which will help guide ships to the wreckage, now have less than two weeks of battery life remaining.

Specialised equipment which can help locate the beacon is being flown to the search area.