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There are initial reports of a possible find of parts of MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, far off the Australian coast. The suspected debris point is yellow with diagonal stripy lines on the map above. There is poor visibility due to weather conditions. One piece of suspected debris could be 24 metres long.
“This is a lead. Probably the best lead we have right now,” said John Young, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). “But we need to get there, find them, see them.”
He warned that nothing could be assumed: the spot where the objects were spotted was located 2,500 km (1,600 miles south-west from Perth, Western Australia, and that finding anything would be a major challenge.
Officials said the objects had been spotted on US government satellite imagery and that an assessment completed on March 20, 2014 by the Australian Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO) suggested they could be pieces of debris. They were spotted in the vast area where Australia have been searching since March 18, 2014.
In addition to 4 Australian military aircraft and two Australian ships, one New Zealand P3 Orion and two US P8 Poseidon aircraft will be travelling to the area.
A US P8 Poseidon actually arrived in the area about 3 hours ago - its imagery is now being analysed in Canberra and Washington DC.
An Australian Hercules C130 had been dispatched to drop electronic marker buoys on any major debris found to assist in drift modelling. “They will provide an ongoing reference point if the task of relocating the objects becomes protracted,” said AMSA.
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Some background details are from The Independent, March 20, 2014
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Pete