An Australian civil aircraft reported sighting a number of small objects during the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement early on Sunday morning.
MH370, carrying 239 people including six Australians and two New Zealanders, dropped off civilian radar on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Two weeks later Malaysian investigators still believe it was "deliberately diverted" by someone on board.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says it was too early to be sure if they are from the missing plane.
Mr Abbott gave an update on the search for Flight MH370 before leaving Papua New Guinea on Sunday morning.
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They were seen with a naked eye, among them a wooden pallet, within a radius of five kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, the agency said.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion aircraft with specialist electro-optic observation equipment was diverted to the location, but reported sighting only clumps of seaweed.
The aircraft dropped a marker buoy to track the movement of the material and a merchant ship has been tasked to locate and identify it.
The Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and two chartered civil aircraft supported Saturday’s search for wreckage.
Since ASMA assumed co-ordination of the search on Monday more than 150 hours of air time has been committed by the air crews to the task.
23/03/14 Sophia Phan/AAP/Melanie Kembrey/Sydney Morning Herald
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MH370, carrying 239 people including six Australians and two New Zealanders, dropped off civilian radar on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Two weeks later Malaysian investigators still believe it was "deliberately diverted" by someone on board.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says it was too early to be sure if they are from the missing plane.
Mr Abbott gave an update on the search for Flight MH370 before leaving Papua New Guinea on Sunday morning.
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They were seen with a naked eye, among them a wooden pallet, within a radius of five kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, the agency said.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion aircraft with specialist electro-optic observation equipment was diverted to the location, but reported sighting only clumps of seaweed.
The aircraft dropped a marker buoy to track the movement of the material and a merchant ship has been tasked to locate and identify it.
The Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and two chartered civil aircraft supported Saturday’s search for wreckage.
Since ASMA assumed co-ordination of the search on Monday more than 150 hours of air time has been committed by the air crews to the task.
23/03/14 Sophia Phan/AAP/Melanie Kembrey/Sydney Morning Herald
