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World & Nation

Malaysia jet: New objects sighted, raising hope of finding wreckage

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The mother of a Flight MH370 passenger reacts at a memorial service in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  (Anthony Kwan / Getty Images)
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A relative of a Chinese passenger from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight speaks to reporters outside the Yonghegong Lama temple in Beijing.  (Goh Chai Hin / AFP/Getty Images)
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Passengers’ relatives wear T-shirts that say, “Tell me the truth, where is MH370?” in Beijing.  (Andy Wong / Associated Press)
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Cheng Liping, center, holds up a sign begging for information on the whereabouts of her husband, who was aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, at a memorial service in Beijing.   (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)
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Kelly Wen, wife of Chinese passenger aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 prays during an event to mark one year anniversary of the plane disappearance, during a candlelight vigil for passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  (Vincent Thian / AP)
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Australian air force crews have been searching the Indian Ocean for debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.   (Richard Wainwright / Associated Press)
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Captain Peter Moore is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean aboard a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion aircraft searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 over the southern Indian Ocean on Thursday.   (Michael Martina / AFP/Getty Images)
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The Bluefin-21 underwater vehicle is hoisted back aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield after successful buoyancy testing in the Indian Ocean.   (U.S. Navy / Getty Images)
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A volunteer from a nongovernmental organization called Malaysians for Malaysia gets ready to release balloons in Kuala Lumpur in honor of the passengers and crew aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.   (Rahman Roslan / Getty Images)
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A visitor at Kuala Lumpur International Airport photographs messages for the passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.  (Mohd Rasfan / AFP/Getty Images)
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Malaysian Defense Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, center, Malaysia Airlines CEO Group Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, left, and Malaysia’s Department Civil Aviation Director General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman listen to questions from journalists during a media conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday.  (Azhar Rahim / EPA)
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A grieving relative at the protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.  (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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Relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.  (AFP / AFP/Getty Images)
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Selamat Omar, 60, whose son Khairul Amri was on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, reacts while watching a live broadcast of a news conference by Malaysian acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the latest developments in the search for Flight 370.  (Joshua Paul / Associated Press)
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Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik makes final touches to a sand sculpture created as a tribute to the passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.  (ASIT KUMAR / AFP/Getty Images)
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A relative of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 at a protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.  (AFP / Getty Images)
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Relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 weep after hearing the news that the plane plunged into the Indian Ocean.  (GOH CHAI HIN / AFP/Getty Images)
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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, at an emergency late-night news conference, announces that the long-missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 “ended in the southern Indian Ocean” with no hope of survivors.  (AFP / Getty Images)
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This combo of handout images taken on March 16, 2014 and released on March 20, 2014 by the Australian Government show satellite images of two objects -- the largest estimated at 79 feet long -- spotted in the Indian Ocean.  (AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE / AFP/Getty Images)
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Relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 raise their hands to question Malaysian government officials during a news briefing held by the airlines in Beijing.  (Andy Wong / AP)
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Chinese relatives of passengers from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 leave after a meeting with airline officials at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing.  (MARK RALSTON / AFP/Getty Images)
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Filipino artists from the Guhit Visual Arts Group painted an image of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at the Benigno Ninoy Aquino High School grounds in Makati City, south of Manila, Philippines.  (AMIEL MENESES / EPA)
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Journalists wait outside the house of Fariq Abdul Hamid, copilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.  (AHMAD YUSNI / EPA)
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Relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 listen to a live telecast of a press conference by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.  (Ng Han Guan / AP)
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A map provided by the Indian Navy shows the search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.  (INDIAN NAVY / HANDOUT / EPA)
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A foam plane with messages and other cards with personalized messages are placed at the viewing gallery at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  (Wong Maye-E / AP)
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People read message cards tied up for passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, outside a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  (Lai Seng Sin / AP)
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Indonesian Search and Rescue (SAR) members conduct a search operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines airplane in the Sabang Water, near the border of Malacca straits, Aceh, Sumatera, Indonesia.  (HOTLI SIMANJUNTAK / EPA)
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Muslim men offer prayers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.  (Wong Maye-E / Associated Press)
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Students from an international school in east China pray for the passengers onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.  (ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images)
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This satellite image provided by Chinese authorities shows debris in the South China Sea believed to be remnants of the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.  (CCRSDA / AFPGetty Images)
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A Vietnamese Air Force crew member checks a map during a helicopter search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.  (HOANG DINH NAM / AFP/Getty Images)
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Malaysian police have released images of a man they say is Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad, left, and a man later identified by Interpol as Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, who both boarded the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 using stolen European passports.   (AFP/Getty Images)
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Subramaniam Gurusamy holds a wedding potrait of his son Puspanathan Gurusamy who was on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.   (MOHD RASFAN / AFP/Getty Images)
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A grieving Indonesian mother displays a portrait of her son, Sugianto Lo, and his wife, Vinny Chynthya, who were both passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.   (Kharisma Tarigan / AFP/Getty Images)
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Relatives of the passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane watch TV news in a hotel in Beijing.  (Lao Cai / EPA)
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A girl stands next to a sign at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.   (Daniel Chan / Associated Press)
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Haixun 31, center, the largest patrol vessel in the South China Sea, prepares to depart from the port for a search-and-rescue mission.  (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
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An officer, right, and a reporter look out a window during a search by the Vietnamese Air Force for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet.  (Hoang Dinh Nam / AFP/Getty Images)
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Luigi Maraldi of Italy, whose stolen passport was reportedly used by a passenger boarding a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, shows his current passport. Maraldi expressed surprise that anyone could use his old one.  (Krissada Muanhawong / Associated Press)
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Sand artist Sudersan Pattnaik gives final touches to a sculpture on India’s Puri Beach with a message of prayer for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane.  (Asit Kumar / AFP/Getty Images)
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A woman is helped by airport workers to a bus for waiting relatives of the missing Malaysian airliner at the international airport in Beijing  (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press)
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Chrisman Siregar of Medan, Indonesia, shows a portrait of his son Firman, one of the passengers on board the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that went missing over the South China Sea.  (Binsar Bakkara / Associated Press)
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A woman reacts to news of the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.  (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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A photo released by Hamid Ramlan shows his daughter Norliakmar Hamid, second right, and her husband Razahan Zamani, right, who were passengers on a missing Malaysia Airlines flight.  (HAMID RAMLAN / AFP/Getty Images)
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Family members look at a wedding album of Norliakmar Hamid and Razahan Zamani, passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, in Kuala Lumpur.   (Mohd Rasfan, AFP/Getty Images)
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A relative of Norliakmar Hamid and Razahan Zamani, passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, cries at their house in Kuala Lumpur.   (Mohd Rasfan, AFP/Getty Images)
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A woman reacts at Beijing airport to the news of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.   (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahyain speaks to reporters at a news conference in Sepang, Malaysia, about the missing jetliner.   (Lai Seng Sin / Associated Press)
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A Malaysian man who says he has relatives on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight talks to reporters at Beijing’s international airport.   (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press)
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A policeman stands guard outside a reception area at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for friends and relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.   (Manan Vatsyayana / AFP/Getty Images)
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Family members of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines flight arrive at a reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.   (Ahmad Yusni / EPA)
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A woman cries at Beijing’s airport upon hearing the news of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, which has 239 people on board.   (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
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The arrival board at Beijing’s airport shows the missing Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur as delayed.   (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)
By Don Lee
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight intensified Monday as search crews reported more sightings of possible debris in the south Indian Ocean, including two objects that could be retrieved shortly by an Australian vessel.

Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, also announced an unscheduled news conference for 10 p.m. local time (7 a.m. PDT). He is believed to be planning to announce a major development, possibly confirmation of Flight 370 debris. Razak has given only one press conference on the matter in the last two weeks when Malaysia said it believed the plane had been deliberately diverted off course.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said earlier Monday evening that a search aircraft had located two objects and that an Australian vessel, HMAS Success, was in the vicinity.

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“It is possible that the objects could be received within the next few hours, or by tomorrow morning at the latest,” he said at a news conference. Hishammuddin said Australia’s prime minister had informed the prime minister of Malaysia about the development just minutes prior to the daily briefing to reporters.

If retrieved, the two objects — one described as circular and possibly gray or green, and the other rectangular and orange — would be the first to be found in the remote section of the southern Indian Ocean about 1,500 miles off the coast of southwest Australia since searchers began focusing there Thursday. And they could provide the first physical evidence of the fate of the plane that vanished March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board.

In recent days, there has been a growing number of satellite and aircraft sightings of objects in remote ocean area that authorities described as having potential to be wreckage from the missing jetliner.

On Monday, with China and Japan joining an Australian-led team of American and New Zealand aircraft, 10 military and commercial planes combed an area of about 20,000 square nautical miles in the southern Indian Ocean looking for traces of Flight 370.

Earlier in the day, one of the two Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft involved in the search reported seeing “two big floating objects with many white smaller ones scattered within a radius of several kilometers,” according to the official New China News Agency.

After the sighting was reported, the U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon plane sought to relocate the objects but was unable to do so, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. A Chinese vessel was steaming toward the area to investigate and was expected to arrive in the area by Tuesday morning, the news agency said.

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World & Nation
Don Lee

Don Lee writes economic stories out of Washington, D.C. Since joining the Los Angeles Times in 1992, he has served as the Shanghai bureau chief and in various editing and reporting roles in California. Lee previously worked at the Kansas City Star. He is a native of Seoul, Korea, and graduated from the University of Chicago.

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