MH370 live: Suspected crash area picked up by Chinese satellite 'was just two boats parked next to each other
A Chinese agency tonight released these extraordinary images showing "three suspected floating objects" in the South China Sea
Uri Geller says he has been asked to help find the missing flight.
Here's his tweet below from a couple of days ago.
If you click on the tweet you will see some of the replies he's had. Just to warn you, there's some choice language in there...
I have been asked to help. I believe in remote viewing. Can you help me? Can you please try to 'see' where YOU belhttp://t.co/KlOekIv1Ng
— Uri Geller (@gelleruri) March 11, 2014
India has started scouring uninhabited islands for signs of the missing flight.
Aircraft are looking around more than 500 islands across the heavily forested archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.
The Indian Navy has deployed two Dornier planes to fly across the island chain, a total area of 720 km (447 miles) by 52 km), Indian military spokesman Harmeet Singh said in the state capital, Port Blair. So far the planes, and a helicopter searching the coast, had found nothing.
"This operation is like finding a needle in a haystack," said Singh, who is the spokesman for joint air force, navy and army command in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The Defence Ministry said the Eastern Naval Command would also search across a new area measuring 15 km by 600 km along the Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal.
The shape of this area, located 900 km west of Port Blair, suggested the search was focusing on a narrow flight corridor.
Here's a lunchtime roundup on the missing flight:
- There has still not been any sighting of the plane or debris as the search is widened further
- Malaysian authorities say they remain open-minded and have not ruled anything out including the possibility of terrorism or hijacking
- Satellite information is being shared among many countries and being analysed by experts in the UK and U.S.
- Radars suggest the flight may have headed towards the Anadaman Islands
- Chinese researchers say they have found seismic activity on the seabedsoon after the plane last had contact with air traffic control
- Investigations are continuing on "pings" heard by satellites from the plane that showed it was to the west of its intended flight path
A woman whose husband was on the missing flight has spoken about the confusion over what has happened to the plane.
Danica Weeks, whose husband Paul was on MH370, told ITV1's Daybreak in a live broadcast from Perth, Australia, this morning, spoke movingly about her missing husband.
She said: "He's an absolutely amazing man, he's an amazing husband and he was my strength, he got me through everything.
"He'd always tell me to just keep going and I wouldn't be there person I am if it wasn't for him.
"He was my best friend and soulmate and we spent so much time together doing things and it's empty and I can't give up hope he's out there. But I'm walking around just trying to stop my brain going through the scenarios of it".
Paul left his wedding ring behind because he would not be able to wear it at work on a mine site.
She said: "I just want to hold [his ring] constantly, I want to give it back to him. He just said 'I'll leave this heard and if something does happen to me, give the ring to the first son who gets married and the watch to the second' so it was just completely natural."
Speaking about the current theories and speculation, she added: "Until I hear something concrete, I just want to deal with the facts and all of that stuff I'm trying to put aside until Malaysia contact us and say look, this is what happened."
She said there is not as much contact with Malaysia Airlines because there is no new information.
She continued: "They've been sending us lots of links to get the press releases… I do get my best friend to screen those first and give me the information but as they said, as soon as they do have something concrete, they will automatically call me and try and give me that information first."
The family of the co-pilot of the missing flight said he was religious and serious about his job.
Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, was accused of being a cockpit Romeo who was reckless on the job.
But his family today defended Hamid, who joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007, saying: "He is a good student. He worked very hard to get where he was. His parents are so proud of him."
A relative added: "And now there is news that he was someone else. It is a very cruel thing to do at this time. We just want him to be safe."
They were reacting to reports that Hamid had invited women into the cockpit where he smoked and flirted with them.
Researchers have detected a "seafloor event" in the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam nearly two hours after flight MH370 went missing.
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China said: "The seafloor event could have been caused by the plane possibly plunging into the sea".
The report was revealed by China state news agency Xinhua which said the event was picked up on two seismographs based in Malaysia and was pinpointed on an area 72 miles to the north east of the last definite contact with the plane.
Researchers added: "The strength of the earthquake wave indicates the plunge was catastrophic."
Malaysia Airlines issued this statement earlier. It doesn't really add much, but says the airline's focus is on the care of passengers' families.
"Malaysia Airlines reiterates that we will continue to give our full support in cooperating with the search and rescue mission which is coordinated by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) under the purview of the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia.
"Malaysia Airlines is fully aware of the on-going media speculations and we have nothing further to add to the information we have already provided.
"Our primary focus at this point in time is to care for the families of the passengers and crew of MH370. This means providing them with timely information, travel facilities, accommodation, meals, medical and emotional support.
"Malaysia Airlines will continue to provide regular updates to the general public via the media and our website on all matters affecting MH370."
Malaysia Airlines reiterates that we will continue to give our full support in cooperating with the search and rescue mission which is coordinated by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) under the purview of the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia.
Malaysia Airlines is fully aware of the on-going media speculations and we have nothing further to add to the information we have already provided.
Our primary focus at this point in time is to care for the families of the passengers and crew of MH370. This means providing them with timely information, travel facilities, accommodation, meals, medical and emotional support.
Malaysia Airlines will continue to provide regular updates to the general public via the media and our website on all matters affecting MH370.
The Chinese government made an appeal to Malaysia to be open with information so that the search area can be narrowed.
As the search is expanded and more countries come on board, officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with the conflicting information that is currently being released.
Hong Lei from the Chinese foreign ministry said: "China urgently appeals to Malaysia for all information they have regarding the search.
"That will not only help China with its search, but also help all sides in the search to make their search more effective and accurately targeted."
According to Xinhua News Agency, China has now searched 21,000 square miles of ocean.
Just a reminder about the news that sources suggest the plane was being flown deliberately towards the Andaman Islands.
It is believed it was plotted flying between navigational waypoints, indicating it was being flown by someone with aviation training.
A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing increasingly on the theory that someone who knew how to fly a plane deliberately diverted the flight, with 239 people on board, hundreds of miles off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
"We are now entering the seventh day of the search for MH370. There are currently 57 ships and 48 aircraft in the search. Thirteen countries are now involved.
"Our priority remains finding the plane. We are following all leads, and we continue to work closely with our international partners.
"We are grateful for the support of our friends and neighbours, who continue to assist us by sharing their data and their resources as we search for MH370.
"I speak for the Malaysian people when I say that our hearts are with the families and the friends of those on board the plane.
"There has been a lot of media speculation today after comments from unnamed US officials suggested the plane may have travelled for some time after losing contact.
"As is standard procedure, the investigation team will not publicly release information until it has been properly verified and corroborated with the relevant authorities. Nor do we want to be drawn into specific remarks that unnamed officials have reportedly made the media.
"Since Sunday, we have worked closely with our international partners, including the US team, whose officials have been here on the ground in Kuala Lumpur.
"Since Wednesday, the Malaysian investigating team has shared more detailed information, as it became available, for verification.
"The international team are currently working on verifying that detailed information, but we have nothing to confirm at the moment.
The aircraft is still missing, and the search area is expanding. Two days ago, the search area was widened to include the Andaman Sea.
Together with our international partners, we are now pushing further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean.
We want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. But the circumstances have forced us to widen our search.
A normal investigation becomes narrower with time, as new information focuses the search. But this is not a normal investigation. In this case, the information we have forces us to look further and further afield.
During today's press conference Rolls-Royce emailed a statement as Hussein said the company had denied that its engines had emitted signals after disappearing.
It said: "Rolls-Royce continues to provide its full support to the authorities and Malaysia Airlines. Rolls-Royce concurs with the statement made on Thursday 13 March by Malaysia's Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein regarding engine health monitoring data received from the aircraft."
The company added: "We are treating this as if it were already a formal investigation and that means we are unable to share the information with you that we have shared with the authorities in Malaysia as it must be treated as confidential.
"It also means that we needed to ensure that the authorities were aware before we made any statement."
This map shows a potential route the MH370 could have taken using information that has been gathered.
It's worth noting that the final three points on the map are from blips that have not been identified.
#MH370 This is latest and most accurate flight path and the reason why the search is now where it is.pic.twitter.com/yhvZEHqT9e
— SINGAPORE TODAY (@sgify) March 14, 2014
That concludes today's press conference.
Still no sign of the aircraft and the search area gets ever bigger.
It now takes in more of the Andaman Sea and further east into the South China Sea.
There are now 57 ships and 48 aircraft from 13 countries involved, he says, plus experts from the UK's Air Accident Investigation Bureau.
Very little new information has come out today, just more denials and variations on "anything is possible".
Mr Hussein says conflicting information is coming from external sources and not the Malaysian government.
Although Malaysian Police have not yet raided the homes of pilots or crew, acting transport minister Mr Hussein said it was still a possibility.
“If investigation requires searching the pilots’ homes, it will be done,” he said.
Mr Hussein defends the treatment of relatives of people on the plane, saying they are working with China and other countries to give support as they wait for news on the fate of the plane.
He adds that the government will only confirm information once it has been verified.
Asked if pressure was being put on Boeing and Rolls-Royce to give more information, he said they were working with authorities and did not need to have pressure put on them.
Asked what Malaysia knows about pings and the plane flying for another four hours, Mr Hussein re-iterates that the sources behind statements were unnamed, with emphasis on unnamed.
He said that they are still working to see if an unidentified blip in the Strait of Malacca was from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Mr Hussein said the search would continue on both sides of the Malay peninsula.
Minister says that the equipment being used is very sophisticated and more is on its way to the country to help with the search.
The search is being expanded "because we have not found anything in the area that we have searched".
He said there are four realms of possibility. He mentions that it could have disappeared intentionally, under duress, or because of an explosion.
It is confirmed that there were no distress signals from the flight. The U.S. are using whatever information they can get from satellites about where the aircraft is.
Minister reminds media that information that the country would not normally share is now being digested by other countries in the hope that they can come to a conclusive position.
He said he will keep the media updated.
Minister stresses that the focus is to find the aircraft and the black box.
He refers to the Air France crash, mentioning how long it took to find that plane when it came down in the Atlantic.
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