Latest developments:

  • Malaysia more optimistic but 'cautious'

 

  • US Navy officer: New pings likely separate acoustic event

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  • Floating objects sighted, Chinese ship to explore

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  • Pinger locator picks up two more signals

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  • Analysis finds pings by man-made equipment, likely a black box

    • Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

    Drop in tourists from China

    7.28pm: There has been a dip in the number of Chinese tourists arriving in Malaysia, following the disappearance MH370 aircraft, Bernama reports.

    Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz says to date, many Chinese tourists have cancelled their visit to Malaysia.

    In fact, no future flight booking has been recorded for the China-Malaysia flight, he adds.

    "We were doing well for January and February. But of course, the MH370 incident has definitely affected (Malaysia's) tourism," he is quoted as saying.

    Last year, tourists from China made up the third largest group after Singapore and Indonesia, with a record 1.6 million people.

    Malaysian gov't 'cautiously more optimistic'

    6.13pm: The Malaysian government is “cautiously more optimistic” with news of the latest reacquisition of signals, consistent with transmissions by emergency beacons of a plane’s black box.

    According to Bernama , this is stated by Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in a tweet: “Through (Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre chief) Angus Houston, JACC informed us of the two new signals this morning. We are cautiously more optimistic”.

    Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak then responds to this with a tweet, “let’s all pray”.

    Malaysia press briefing cancelled

    5pm: The daily press briefing on the status of the ongoing search for MAS Flight MH370 will not be held today.

    US Navy less optimistic on new pings

    4.38pm: Officers from the US Navy, speaking to Reuters , express doubt that the recent signals picked up yesterday represented the same signals as that picked up by Ocean Shield on Saturday.

    It quotes US Navy Captain Mark Matthews as saying the detections, in which the signals were picked up twice on each of the respective days, likely represent “separate acoustic events" as the pings were not close together.

    "There has been variability in the geographic position which leads me to be less optimistic than I would be if I could consistently reacquire the signal so that I have a nice, small geographic area to focus the autonomous under water vehicle search on," he adds.

    According to Reuters further, operators must separate a ping lasting just 9.3 milliseconds - a tenth of the blink of a human eye - and repeated every 1.08 seconds from natural ocean sounds, as well as disturbances from search vessels.

    Pilot: Give black box to neutral party

    4.05pm: Should it be found, the black box of the Flight MH370 aircraft must be handed to a “trustworthy, efficient and neutral” party to be examined, says a former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) pilot.

    According to Astro Awani , Captain Nik Ahmad Huzlan Nik Hussain says the investigation must not be handled by those with conflicting interests in the case.

    “Retrieving it (the black box), extracting the data and analysing it should be done transparently and not affected by the involvement of those who do not know anything,” Nik Ahmad reportedly says on Facebook .

    Floating objects spotted

    1.30pm: China’s news agency Xinhua reports multiple floating objects have been spotted by patrol aircraft near the area where Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield picked up signals believed to be from a plane's black box.

    Quoting officials on board Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01, it reports that the latter is heading to a search zone of about 75,000 square kilometres to seek out the objects, after being informed by Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) late last night.

    It adds that Chinese ships Nanhaijiu 115 and 998 are already in the search area.

    Australia: Ping signals stable, clear, distinct

    11.05am: Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston holds a press briefing in Perth. Here are some of the highlights:

    • Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield has succeeded in reacquiring signals twice yesterday afternoon and late last night in the same search area it first detected signals during the weekend.

     

  • The two new signals were held for 5 minutes 32 seconds, and for 7 minutes respectively.

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  • This brings the total number of transmissions detected by the towed pinger locator deployed by Ocean Shield to four - the first last Saturday, April 5, at 4.45pm (Perth and Malaysian time), the second also last Saturday at 9.27pm, with the third at 4.37pm and the fourth at 10.17pm, both on Tuesday.

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  • Results of data analysis of the first two signals Ocean Shield detected, carried out by the Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre (AJACC) at HMAS Albatross in New South Wales, determined that the signals were “stable, distinct and clear” at 33.331kilohertz and consistently pulsed at 1.106-second intervals.

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  • The transmissions were assessed to be not of natural origin but from a specific electronic equipment consistent with the specifications and descriptions of a flight data recorder.

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  • However, the recently acquired signals are weaker than the initial detection, lending fear to the possibility the black box battery is running out.

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  • Houston reiterates that they will not deploy the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) until use of the towed pinger locator is ceased.

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  • The towed pinger locator is still needed for further detection. This will enable triangulation of more positional data, resulting in a sharper defined search area.

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  • Ocean Shield can search an area six times larger than an AUV alone.

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  • Silt on the seabed could hamper detection of wreckage.

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  • Houston describes this as a "great lead" and says he is more optimistic but cautions that confirmation on the final resting place of MH370 will only come once they have visual evidence of the wreckage.

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  • JACC may release partial recording of the ping signals picked up by Ocean Shield.

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  • Planes will assist Ocean Shield by releasing sonar buoys near the site, which will deploy a hydrophone 1,000 feet into the water and transmit data back to the planes.

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  • Search in the southern area of the Indian Ocean, where Chinese vessel Haixun 01 first detected pings, is still going on, although no further transmissions have been picked up.

    • Bluefin can provide conclusive proof

    10am: Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston tells Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) that the next step in the search, once the use of the towed pinger locator is halted, is to lower the Bluefin-21 drone, reports the Straits Times .

    The Bluefin-21 is a torpedo-shaped mini-submarine that can provide conclusive proof that MH370 ended in the Indian Ocean.

    It carries a sonar device that can detect any abnormal item on the ocean floor. Then, it can be brought to the surface and sent down again equipped with a video camera to provide the visual evidence of debris.

    "You can't have the side sonar and the camera down there together - it's one or the other," retired Australian air chief marshal Houston is quoted telling ABC.

    JACC calls for press conference

    9am: Houston will hold a press conference at 11am in West Perth.

    To recap - Underwater search to detect transmission by the plane’s emergency beacon began last Friday, upon the arrival of Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield, equipped with the US Navy’s towed pinger locator and Bluefin-21 underwater drone, as well as HMS Echo, also equipped with underwater search capabilities.

    The next day, Chinese vessel Haixun 01 reportedly detects a signal pulsing at a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz, consistent with that of a black box pinger. and later claims to have detected a second, longer unidentified signal.

    On Monday, in what Australia deems as the “ most promising lead ”, the towed pinger locator deployed by Ocean Shield detects two signals, one which it held for more than two hours, about 600km northeast of where Haixun 01 picked up sounds earlier.

    Houston ( left ) describes the sound as consistent with that emitted by an aircraft's black box.

    JACC is in a race against time as experts have said the battery of the Boeing 777's black box, which went missing on March 8, would only last 30 days, till Sunday, April 6.

    However, as of yesterday, the ship failed to reacquire the signals. Houston has vowed that the Ocean Shield will continue deploying the towed pinger locator there for several more days until contact is reestablished or once it is certain MH370 black box pinger has indeed ceased.

    Only then will AUV be released into the ocean to map the sea floor with its sonar and a camera.

    Efforts to reacquire signals proceed

    6am: The search operation for missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 enters day 33 today.

    The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), tasked with overseeing and coordinating the multinational search effort, says search teams are still combing an area north of Perth to re-establish connection with signals detected on Sunday believed likely to be from a black box.

    It says in a statement that up to 11 military aircraft, four civil aircraft and 14 ships have been deployed in an area approximately 2,261 kilometres northwest of Perth.

    The operation will use Australian Defense Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield at the northern end of the defined search area of about 75,423 square kilometres, while Chinese ship Haixun 01 and the HMS Echo will search at the southern end.

    Compared to yesterday's fine weather, JACC says that today a weak front is moving in from the south east, which it expects to bring scattered showers.

    Meanwhile, MAS says it has drawn up a plan to immediately fly families of passengers on board its vanished MH370 to Perth if the plane is found.

    MAS regional senior vice-president (greater China) Joshua Law Kok Hwa is quoted by Bernama saying that due to limited hotel rooms in the Australian city, the Chinese next-of-kin needed to re-register or re-verify their identities to MAS staff.

    Background:

    • The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.

     

  • Authorities have determined the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.

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  • Its whereabouts have now been narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat.