Australians, Chinese spot objects in Indian Ocean

Latest: The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will hold a press conference at 10:00 pm (1400 GMT) on new developments on the search for the plane, reports the Star Newspaper.

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A bus carrying crew members of two Chinese Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 aircrafts used in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 drives off the tarmac upon the Chinese planes' return from the southern Indian Ocean, at Perth International Airport March 24, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

PERTH - Chinese and Australian planes on Monday spotted several objects in an area identified by multiple satellite images as containing possible debris from the missing Malaysian airliner, boosting hopes the frustrating search in the southern Indian Ocean could turn up more clues to the jet's fate.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the crew on board an Australian P3 Orion had located two objects in the search zone - the first grey or green and circular, the second orange and rectangular.

An Australian navy supply ship, the HMAS Success, was on the scene Monday night trying to locate and recover the objects, and Malaysia's Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the vessel could reach them within a few hours or by Tuesday morning.

Separately, the crew aboard one of two Chinese IL-76 aircraft combing the search zone observed two large objects and several smaller ones spread across several square kilometers (miles), Xinhua News Agency reported. At least one of the items - a white, square-shaped object - was captured on a camera aboard the plane, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

"We are still racing against time," Hong said at a ministry briefing. "As long as there is a glimmer of hope, our search efforts will carry on."

China has redirected the icebreaker Snow Dragon toward the latest find, and that ship was due to arrive early Tuesday. Six other Chinese ships have been directed toward the search zone along with 20 fishing vessels that have been asked to help, Lei said.

Relatives of passengers aboard the missing Boeing 777 were avidly following news reports of the latest sightings, desperate for any word on the fate of loved ones.

"We're eager to learn more about this," said Wang Zhen who is staying at a hotel near Beijing. His father and mother, Wang Linshi and Xiong Yunming, were both aboard the flight as part of a group of Chinese artists touring Malaysia.

Satellite images and data released by Australia, China and France in recent days have identified possible debris in the area that may be linked to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on March 8 with 239 people on board _ two-thirds of whom are Chinese.

The ocean depth in the search area ranges between 1,150 meters (3,770 feet) and 7,000 meters (23,000 feet), and the USPacific command said it was sending a black box locator in case a debris field is located.

The Towed Pinger Locator, which is pulled behind a vessel at slow speeds, has highly sensitive listening capability so that if the wreck site is located, it can hear the black box "pinger" down to a depth of about 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), Cmdr. Chris Budde, a USSeventh Fleet operations officer, said in a statement.

"This movement is simply a prudent effort to preposition equipment and trained personnel closer to the search area so that if debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible since the battery life of the black box's pinger is limited," Budde said.

An Australian defense official said an Australian navy support vessel, the Ocean Shield, was also moving into the search zone and would arrive in three or four days. The ship is equipped with acoustic detection equipment that can search for the missing plane's black box.

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