Signals, 3 So Far Are 'Encouraging Lead' In Malaysia Jet Search

Buddhist monks write messages ahead of a mass prayer for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday.

The Australian vessel Ocean Shield also is investigating a separate acoustic detection, Houston said.

"We have an acoustic event. The job now is to determine the significance of that event. It does not confirm or deny the presence of the aircraft locator on the bottom of the ocean," Houston said, referring to each of the three transmissions.


Xinhua also reported Saturday that a Chinese air force plane spotted a number of white floating objects 56 miles from the detection area in the search area, which is northwest of the Australian city of Perth.

"I (have) made clear, that these signals and the objects could not be verified as connected to the missing aircraft … that remains the case," Houston said.
Houston said the characteristics of the sounds reported by the Chinese are "consistent with the aircraft black box."
CNN, citing a senior Malaysian government source Sunday, said Flight 370 flew around Indonesian airspace after it disappeared from Malaysian military radar. The plane may have been intentionally avoiding radar detection, the source told CNN.

Malaysia Airlines' Beijing-bound Flight 370, with 239 people aboard, lost communication with civilian air controllers soon after it took off early March 8 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. No emergency signals or distress messages were received before the plane vanished from radar.

As the search for the missing plane reaches nearly one month with no results, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on Saturday announced the creation of a new multinational investigation team, and said the hunt would continue with "vigor and intensity."

"The search operation has been difficult, challenging and complex," Hussein said in a press briefing. "In spite of all this, our determination remains undiminished."

Malaysia will continue to lead the investigation, yet an independent "investigator in charge" will be appointed to head a new investigation team, he said.

That multinational team will examine three main areas related to the missing jetliner. It will look at airworthiness, including maintenance, structures and systems; operations, such as flight recorders and meteorology; and medical and human factors such as "psychology, pathology and survival factors," he said.

The team will include representatives from Australia, as well as China, the United States, Britain and France, Hussein said.