Missing Plane: Scanning The Seas For MH370

By James Matthews, Sky News Correspondent

"Unfortunately, we don't have a scoop for you" - those were the parting words from Australia's Air Force 11 squadron, crew 3, as we stepped off their P3 Orion aircraft following a search for MH370.

Every crew operating out of the Pearce air base north of Perth, Western Australia, wants to be the crew that finally locates the missing Malaysian airliner.

11 Squadron are more used to hunting for submarines on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force. 

As part of Australia's contribution to the multinational search for MH370, we accompanied them on a mission 1300 miles off the coast of Western Australia.  

The open seas are relayed onto monitors as the plane flies over

It was a four hour flight to the 'crash site', where the aircraft's crew searched for three and a half hours. 

We knew we had arrived at the scene when Captain Peter Moore switched off one of his plane's four propeller engines, a move that saved fuel and prolonged the searching time by half an hour.

The advantages of technology in the hunt for MH370 are obvious. 

Satellite imagery, in particular, has guided the search. Close-up, however, technology's limits are equally clear.

Take some of the information fed onto a bank of monitors, the so-called "tech-bar", inside the aircraft.

Infrared cameras stream footage of the sea onto screens, as does the plane's radar. 

Airforce spotters work in shifts of 20 minutes and scan side to side

Both systems are effective in the aircraft's usual role of hunting for submarines but in the circumstances surrounding the search for MH370 they are not ideal.

Radar cannot penetrate water and so is relying on chancing upon debris protruding above the surface.

Infrared cameras pick out sources of heat; the only trouble is that any piece of debris will be as cold as the sea around it.

So among all the sophisticated kit involved in this multinational search effort it comes down to the human eye as much as anything else. 

Trained spotters rotate in 20 minute shifts, the time deemed as an appropriate limit for extreme concentration. 

They are taught to scan the scene before them from side to side, according to the direction in which they read and write. 

Our trip with 11 Squadron was the fourth made by the crew on this job and they have modified their approach over time. 

The search area is four hours from Australia

They scan the sea from a height 700 metres - some aircraft have gone lower but 11 Squadron have found that 700m increases the area they can scan at any one time.

It also presents the opportunity for the spotters to get a view straight down - important, they say, for debris they believe is probably resting just beneath the ocean's surface.

Looking out of the window of the P3 Orion you gain a clear sense of the challenge facing search teams. 

When you look out of the domed portholes in the aircraft skin you see a vast expanse of ocean extending far into the horizon. 

11 Squadron did make a couple of sightings during their search of 900 square miles - but sadly not of the missing aircraft. 

The crew spotted some dolphins and a killer whale.

Pearce airforce base near Perth is the hub for the air search operation

Since the announcement that MH370 had crashed, there is - perhaps - less emotional investment in the search and recovery operation. 

No longer are search crews mindful of a miracle - the possibility that someone, somewhere, might be found alive. 

Crews are now wholly focused on a job that is about recovery and the gathering of evidence.

It is also about the bereaved families. In the words of 11 Squadron's Captain Peter Moore, for the victim's loved ones "closure matters". And that is what drives the search of strangers.

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MH370 Search Crews Race To Beat Bad Weather

International teams hunting for wreckage from flight MH370 are racing to beat bad weather forecast in the search zone.

Crews set off early Thursday morning local time for an area of the southern Indian Ocean where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field.

Eleven aircraft and five ships from six countries are scouring the search area, which has been split in two and covers around 30,000 sq m (78,000 sq km), off the western coast of Australia.

But they set out knowing weather conditions are likely to deteriorate later in the day.

"This is only going to be a narrow window of opportunity by the looks of things," said Neil Bennett, from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

New satellite images continue to provide clues in the hunt for MH370

"Another weather system is moving in for Thursday, which looks like that will bring an increase in winds again and also lead to a reduction in visibility through the rain associated with the cold front."

The search was called off for 24 hours earlier this week because conditions were too dangerous for the crews.

Crews will be racing to find any sign of the Malaysia Airlines plane after a French satellite earlier spotted 122 objects, suspected to be debris, around 1,550 miles (2,500 km) southwest of Perth.

Malaysian officials said the items, between one metre and 23 metres in length, were in an area measuring around 155 square miles (400 sq km).

There have now been four separate satellite leads - from Australia, China and France - showing what could be debris.

Another weather system is moving in to the search zone. Pic: bom.gov.au

But it is not currently known if any of the objects are connected to MH370, which disappeared on March 8 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said crews saw objects while searching on Wednesday, but the items were later lost.

"Three objects were spotted on Wednesday by two aircraft but were not able to be relocated despite several passes," it said.

"They were unrelated to the credible satellite imagery provided to AMSA."

The failure to zero in on any possible debris despite the visuals from crews and numerous satellite images highlights the logistical difficulties of the search area.

A Japanese P-3 Orion has been out searching for debris

It has some of the deepest and roughest waters in the world, roiled by the "roaring forties" winds that cut across the sea.

The winds are named for the area between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees where there is no land mass to slow down gusts which create waves higher than six metres (19ft).

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

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Mudslide Witnesses' Frantic Calls To 911

Terrified residents of a town swept away by a devastating mudslide called 911 to report falling trees, buried cars and neighbours screaming for help.

One caller reported a house being pushed on to the road by a wall of mud and rock, while another shouted: "Houses are gone!"

The calls were released as rescue efforts continued after the mudslide north of Seattle, which has killed at least 14 people.

Another 176 people remain unaccounted for, though officials hope that at least some might have been double-counted or been slow to alert family and officials about their whereabouts.

In one of the calls, a woman is heard reporting a "big emergency".

"There has been a huge landslide, and it has pushed the house all the way across the road," she said, adding she was speaking of a house next door.

The woman said power lines were being cut, and called for help to be sent.

"I can't believe this, oh my God," she said.

"Tell them to come on up, there's a lot of work."

The mudslide affected a vast area and was picked up by quake equipment

The mudslide smashed through the small community of Oso, around 55 miles (90km) north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged as much of the riverside village was swept away.

Workers continued the search but hopes of finding survivors were fading. Earlier, they pulled out a four-year-old boy, but his father and siblings are missing.

In the 911 calls, a man spoke on behalf of his wife.

"She said it sounded like an earthquake was happening," the man reported.

"There is a mudslide or something, hundreds of trees have fallen right  by my house."

He added he had not been able to extract more information from his wife as she was "in a panic".

An agitated woman screamed into the phone as she called 911.

"Houses are gone!" she shouted, adding people were calling for help as they were being flooded.

"Oh my gosh," she said, breaking into tears.

Residents inspect aerial views of the affected area

Summer Raffo, 36, was driving along Route 530 in Oso when the giant landslide swept through. No-one has heard from her since.

Her brother, Dayn Brunner, doesn't hold out much hope of finding his sister alive - but he can't give up the search.

"If it were me in there, she would do the same thing," he told Sky News.

Mr Brunner has joined rescue crews picking their way through the debris in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

"It is important to me to get in there and get her out," he said. "Knowing this is no longer a rescue mission, it is hard."

Another man, who asked not to be named, had just spoken with his son, who was searching the wreckage of the family home.

"He's found my wife and my other son. They're dead," the man told Sky News.

The family had moved to their home on Steelhead Drive, the road that took the brunt of the slide, just two years ago.

"It was beautiful. My wife had never been happier," the man added.

The towns either side of Oso have rallied to support those caught in the disaster.

The scene greeting rescue teams in Oso has been described as "unimaginable".

"It is unfathomable what kind of devastation there is. You have mounds of dirt 70ft tall by 100ft wide and 200ft long sitting in what used to be somebody's yard," said Dayn Brunner.

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US Mudslide Death Toll Rises As Bodies Found

Mudslide: 911 Calls Of Scared Witnesses

Updated: 10:15pm UK, Tuesday 25 March 2014

Terrified residents of a town swept away by a devastating mudslide called 911 to report falling trees, buried cars and neighbours screaming for help.

One caller reported a house being pushed on to the road by a wall of mud and rock, while another shouted: "Houses are gone!"

The calls were released as rescue efforts continued after the mudslide north of Seattle, which has killed at least 14 people.

Another 176 people remain unaccounted for, though officials hope that at least some might have been double-counted or been slow to alert family and officials about their whereabouts.

In one of the calls, a woman is heard reporting a "big emergency".

"There has been a huge landslide, and it has pushed the house all the way across the road," she said, adding she was speaking of a house next door.

The woman said power lines were being cut, and called for help to be sent.

"I can't believe this, oh my God," she said.

"Tell them to come on up, there's a lot of work."

The mudslide smashed through the small community of Oso, around 55 miles (90km) north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged as much of the riverside village was swept away.

Workers continued the search but hopes of finding survivors were fading. Earlier, they pulled out a four-year-old boy, but his father and siblings are missing.

In the 911 calls, a man spoke on behalf of his wife.

"She said it sounded like an earthquake was happening," the man reported.

"There is a mudslide or something, hundreds of trees have fallen right  by my house."

He added he had not been able to extract more information from his wife as she was "in a panic".

An agitated woman screamed into the phone as she called 911.

"Houses are gone!" she shouted, adding people were calling for help as they were being flooded.

"Oh my gosh," she said, breaking into tears.

Summer Raffo, 36, was driving along Route 530 in Oso when the giant landslide swept through. No-one has heard from her since.

Her brother, Dayn Brunner, doesn't hold out much hope of finding his sister alive - but he can't give up the search.

"If it were me in there, she would do the same thing," he told Sky News.

Mr Brunner has joined rescue crews picking their way through the debris in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

"It is important to me to get in there and get her out," he said. "Knowing this is no longer a rescue mission, it is hard."

Another man, who asked not to be named, had just spoken with his son, who was searching the wreckage of the family home.

"He's found my wife and my other son. They're dead," the man told Sky News.

The family had moved to their home on Steelhead Drive, the road that took the brunt of the slide, just two years ago.

"It was beautiful. My wife had never been happier," the man added.

The towns either side of Oso have rallied to support those caught in the disaster.

The scene greeting rescue teams in Oso has been described as "unimaginable".

"It is unfathomable what kind of devastation there is. You have mounds of dirt 70ft tall by 100ft wide and 200ft long sitting in what used to be somebody's yard," said Dayn Brunner.

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Air Pollution 'Kills 7 Million People Worldwide'

Air pollution killed an estimated seven million people worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.

Pollution over Amritsar in northern India

New research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found pollution, ranging from cooking fires to car fumes, was linked to one in eight deaths in 2012.

Maria Neira, the WHO's public and environmental health chief, said the figure was "shocking and worrying".

Paris, where there has been a recent health scare

"Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it's affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," she said.

The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer, the WHO said.

Moscow, Russia

The research found indoor air pollution was responsible for 4.3 million deaths in 2012, mostly people cooking inside using wood and coal stoves in Asia.

And the outdoor pollution death toll was put at 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines. Nearly 90% of those deaths were in developing countries.

Lianyungang, eastern China

Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, and due to that overlap the separate death tolls cannot simply be added together, the WHO said.

The WHO said the hardest-hit regions were Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines.

Beijing, China

Those regions combined accounted for 5.9 million deaths.

The new estimates are more than double previous figures and based mostly on modelling, but the WHO has changed its research methods so it is difficult to make a comparison with past estimates.

Smog in Manila, the Philippines, after fireworks on New Year's Eve

Ms Neira said: "The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes.

"Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution.

"The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe."

Dumai in Indonesia's Riau province

Majid Ezzati, chair in global environmental health at Imperial College London, said more research was needed to identify the deadliest components of pollution in order to fight it more effectively.

"We don't know if dust from the Sahara is as bad as diesel fuel or burning coal," he said.

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Ukraine: 'No G8 Summit In Russia' Over Crisis

G7 Leaders Release Russia Statement

Updated: 8:32pm UK, Monday 24 March 2014

A statement from leaders of the G7 following an emergency meeting in The Hague on Monday as been published by the European Council.

It reads:

1. We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission met in The Hague to reaffirm our support for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

2. International law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state's territory through coercion or force.

To do so violates the principles upon which the international system is built.

We condemn the illegal referendum held in Crimea in violation of Ukraine's constitution.

We also strongly condemn Russia's illegal attempt to annex Crimea in ontravention of international law and specific international obligations. We do not recognise either.           

3. Today, we reaffirm that Russia's actions will have significant consequences.

This clear violation of international law is a serious challenge to the rule of law around the worldand should be a concern for all nations.

In response to Russia's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to demonstrate our determination to respond to these illegal actions, individually and collectively we have imposed a variety of sanctions against Russia and those individuals and entities responsible.

We remain ready to intensify actions including coordinated sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation.

4. We remind Russia of its international obligations, and its responsibilities including those for the world economy.

Russia has a clear choice to make. Diplomatic avenues to de-escalate the situation remain open, and we encourage the Russian Government to take them.

Russia must respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, begin discussions with the Government of Ukraine, and avail itself of offers of international mediation and monitoring to address any legitimate concerns.

5. The Russian Federation's support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine is a step in the right direction.

We look forward to the mission's early deployment, in order to facilitate the dialogue on the ground, reduce tensions and promote normalisation of the situation, and we call on all parties to ensure that Special Monitoring Mission members have safe and secure access throughout Ukraine to fulfill their mandate.

6. This group came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities.

Russia's actions in recent weeks are not consistent with them. Under these circumstances, we will not participate in the planned Sochi summit.

We will suspend our participation in the G-8 until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G-8 is able to have a meaningful discussion and will meet again in G-7 format at the same time as planned, in June 2014, in Brussels, to discuss the broad agenda we have together.

We have also advised our Foreign Ministers not to attend the April meeting in Moscow. In addition, we have decided that G-7 Energy Ministers will meet to discuss ways to strengthen our collective energy security.

7. At the same time, we stand firm in our support for the people of Ukraine who seek to restore unity, democracy, political stability, and economic prosperity to their country.

We commend the Ukrainian government's ambitious reform agenda and will support its implementation as Ukraine seeks to start a new chapter in its history, grounded on a broad-based constitutional reform, free and fair presidential elections in May, promotion of human rights and respect of national minorities.           

8. The International Monetary Fund has a central role leading the international effort to support Ukrainian reform, lessening Ukraine's economic vulnerabilities, and better integrating the country as a market economy in the multilateral system.

We strongly support the IMF's work with the Ukrainian authorities and urge them to reach a rapid conclusion.

IMF support will be critical in unlocking additional assistance from the World Bank, other international financial institutions, the EU, and bilateral sources.

We remain united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine, to coordinate our technical assistance and to provide assistance in other areas, including measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security.

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Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Military Jet

Turkey has shot down a Syrian fighter plane which it claims "violated its airspace" near the border between the two countries.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard."

Speaking at a political rally, Mr Erdogan congratulated his military for defending the border.

The Syrian regime condemned the action as "blatant aggression" and said the jet was battling rebel fighters within its own territory.

Turkey said two MIG-23 fighters were picked up at around 11am GMT and warned four times they were too close to the border

One of the planes then crossed at Yayladagi, east of the Kasab border crossing, and was downed by a rocket from a Turkish F-16.

Prime Minister Erdogan congratulated his forces for protecting the border

The pilot reportedly managed to eject but the aircraft crashed around 1.2km into Syrian territory. Amateur footage claims to show the aftermath of the crash.

Syrian rebels have been fighting pro-Assad fighters since Friday for control of the Kasab crossing in the northwest of the country.

The regime has lost control of most border crossings to Turkey but has been using air power to try to hold on to Kasab, the gateway to Latakia province, an Assad stronghold.

Syria this week accused Turkey of firing shells into Syria to give the rebels cover.

The downing of the plane comes six months after Turkey shot down a Syrian helicopter which crossed into airspace in the same area.

Turkey's Mr Erdogan is a fierce critic of President Assad's actions in Syria's civil war and has sheltered and supported rebel Islamist fighters.

More than 140,000 people have been killed in the three-year Syrian conflict, with some 2.5 million fleeing to neighbouring countries.

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Russian Troops Try To Seize Ukraine Base

Russian troops have been attempting to seize a Ukrainian naval base in Crimea, according to reports.

The base, in Feodosia, is one of the few military facilities still flying a Ukrainian flag after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

A Ukrainian military spokesman told Reuters that the Russian forces were trying to force their way in to with the help of helicopters.

A soldier inside the base confirmed they were under attack.

There are fears Russian forces are eyeing Ukraine's Transdniestria region

Russian troops violently flushed out the remaining pockets of Ukrainian military influence in Crimea on Saturday, smashing armoured vehicles through the walls of Belbek air force base in a swift takeover.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed papers making Crimea part of Russia at a ceremony in Moscow, saying it was complying with international agreements and had no plans to invade.

It has also called the soldiers who took over Ukrainian bases in Crimea "self-defence forces".

General Breedlove is concerned about the size of Russia's troop build-up

Today leaders of the G7 nations will hold emergency talks on the crisis on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit.

The US and European Union have already targeted some of Mr Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if his forces encroach on other parts of Ukraine with large Russian-speaking populations.

Germany, which has close trade ties with Moscow, said the EU was united in its readiness to impose sanctions on Russia if necessary.

"None of us wants to escalate, but if Russia changes things unilaterally, then it must know that we won't accept it and that relations will be bad," German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Prime Minister David Cameron has even suggested that Russia could be expelled from the G8 bloc of nations.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the Belbek air base

With the G7 due to meet at the Hague, Nato's top commander in Europe warned that the Russian military force massing on the border was "very, very sizeable and very, very ready".

General Philip Breedlove said he was worried the Russian military could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," he said.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land to Ukraine's southwest, already has a Russian military presence and most people there favour a union with the country.

Crimea landgrab 'cannot be won back', say experts

White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken echoed the suggestion that President Putin could be plotting further action.

"It's deeply concerning to see the Russian troop build-up on the border," he told CNN.

"It creates the potential for incidents, for instability. It's likely that what they're trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they're preparing to move in."

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said European powers had not done enough to help his country.

"The US is more resolute in their actions and words. We appreciate what Europe is doing (but) we would have liked a more aggressive approach," said Mr Khandogiy.

"If I'm asked if Europe has done enough I would say no."

Most experts agree there is no way of winning back Crimea.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but said the annexation set a "bad precedent".

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Missing Plane: Cockpit Conversations Revealed

A transcript of the final conversations between the crew of flight MH370 and air traffic control has been revealed two weeks after the aircraft vanished from radar.

The transcript, between the co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and the control tower, includes conversations as the aircraft was taxiing at Kuala Lumpur airport up until the final exchange with Malaysian air traffic control at 1.19am.

It also includes a repeated message about the aircraft's altitude at the same time as the plane's Acars signalling technology sent its last transmission before it was apparently disabled.

Excerpts from the cockpit conversations

At 1.01am it reads: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350 (35,000ft)."

Six minutes later, the co-pilot said: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350."

The final conversation in the documents, published in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, was at 1.19am as the plane left Malaysian airspace, and reads: "All right, good night."

But former pilot Alastair Rosenschein told Sky News too much could be read into the repetition of the plane's altitude.

He said: "You make a radio call confirming your altitude and then a few minutes later you think 'gosh did I make that call?', you don't know, the easiest thing is to make it again.

"So no it's not suspicious, at least I don't see it as suspicious.

Relatives of missing passengers shout for answers in Beijing on Saturday

"If he wanted to hijack the aircraft then this was an ideal spot because it lies between Malay air space and Vietnamese air space. So you've got that handover - the Malaysians are no longer interested in the aircraft because it's left them, they've handed it over, and the Vietnamese don't yet expect a call.

"Quite frankly if you wanted to take an aircraft and didn't want anyone to know, you wouldn't have done it on a Beijing flight - you're covered by radar the whole way.

"You would have done it on a flight from Kuala Lumpur say to London where you've got plenty of fuel."

Peter Marosszeky, an aviation expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia, added: "I've sat through many thousands of flights myself and it's not something that would really strike me as unusual.

"Without being able to hear the inflection in the pilots' voices, it's very difficult to determine whether anything said is truly noteworthy.

"I'd love to hear the actual voice level of communication to see if there's any level of anxiety that might have been driving the pilot to say what he did."

It comes after the search for debris spotted on satellite in the south Indian Ocean resumed on Saturday for a third day.

Six aircraft took off from Perth to search seas around 1,550 miles southwest of the city after two large objects were spotted earlier this week.

More aircraft and shipping is expected to join the operation over the next few days.

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'Increasing Hope' Of Solving Plane Mystery

There is "increasing hope" of finding out what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, according to Australian PM Tony Abbott.

"It's still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft," he said.

Mr Abbott said there had been three "significant" developments in the search for flight MH370, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur more than two weeks ago with 239 passengers.

The first was the release by the Chinese government of a new satellite image showing a large floating object in the southern Indian Ocean which could be debris from the Boeing 777.

The search in the southern Indian Ocean is entering a fourth day

The object, measuring 22.5 metres by 13 metres, (74ft by 43ft), was photographed just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by a satellite. China has said further analysis is needed to determine if this is related to the plane.

Mr Abbott said this "does seem to suggest at least one large object down there consistent with the object that earlier satellite imagery discovered".

He also cited the sighting of a number of small objects in the southern Indian Ocean, including a wooden pallet, by a civilian jet on Saturday as a source of optimism.

The final development is the increased resources being deployed in the search of the zone 1,500 miles southwest of Perth. Two Chinese aircraft and two planes from Japan have now joined the hunt.

The two objects spotted by satellite

Eight aircraft are currently searching two areas covering 59,000sq km (22,700sq miles).

"The more aircraft we have, the more ships we have, the more confident we are of recovering whatever material is down there and obviously, before we can be too specific about what it might be, we do actually need to recover some of this material," Mr Abbott added.

The "really big international" search effort was praised by the PM, who said: "It is a very important humanitarian exercise.

"We owe it to the almost 240 people on board the plane, we owe it to their grieving families, we owe it to the governments of the countries concerned, to do everything we can to discover as much as we can about the fate of MH370."

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the hunt in the region, said searchers would keep trying to determine whether the objects spotted on Saturday are related to the lost plane. So far, only clumps of seaweed have been found.

The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 27 metres (88ft) long and 14 metres (45ft) wide at its base, according to estimates taken from scale drawings. The fuselage is 63.7 metres (208ft) long and 6.2 metres (20ft) wide.

But bad weather could affect the operation, after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

Tropical Cyclone Gillian

Countries in the northern search corridor, which includes China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radar.

The search for the plane was narrowed to these two areas based on faint signals picked up by a satellite, which also suggest the plane flew on for six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens in the early hours of March 8.

Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted by someone on board.

The three most plausible explanations for the plane's disappearance are: hijacking, pilot sabotage and a crisis that incapacitated the crew and caused the plane to fly on auto-pilot, run out of fuel and crash.

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