Missing Plane: 'Objects May Be MH370 Debris'

Two objects possibly related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been spotted, the Australian Prime Minister has said.

Tony Abbott said potential debris from the Boeing 777 had been seen on satellite imagery in the southern Indian Ocean.

There is no indication of what the objects might be, although the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the objects were of a "reasonable size", with one about 24 metres in length and the other about five metres long.

"Pings" from a number of large objects are believed to have been picked up by a US spotter plane on its way to the scene.

:: Live Updates: Search For Possible Debris

Mr Abbott briefs MPs about the sighting of two potential objects from MH370

In a statement to MPs, Mr Abbott described the reported sighting, about 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth - or four hours by plane - as "credible" and a "potentially important development".

A Royal Australian Air Force Orion aircraft is in the remote search area looking for the objects.

A second Australian Orion as well as a US Navy Poseidon aircraft and a New Zealand Orion are heading there.

"The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out they are not related to search for MH370," Mr Abbott warned.

A US Navy Poseidon is involved in the search for the objects

Images, which show the objects floating on or just under the surface, were taken on March 16 but it has taken time to analyse the pictures, and the objects would have moved since then.

However, more satellite images are being taken of the area.

John Young, from AMSA, cautioned the objects could be seaborne debris along a shipping route where containers can fall off cargo vessels, but the larger object is longer than a container.

He also said visibility was poor and may hamper efforts to find the objects.

HMAS Success is heading to the area but is some days away

A merchant ship was expected to arrive in the vicinity shortly and the Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which is capable of retrieving any debris, is some days away.

Search teams have been scouring an enormous expanse of ocean

The search for the missing plane, which had 239 people on board, has been focused on two specific corridors, one of which extends towards the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Mr Young said the objects were spotted in the southern part of the south corridor.

Military planes from Australia, the US and New Zealand have been scouring the vast area, which was halved in size to 118,000 sq miles (305,000 sq km) on Wednesday.

Relatives of missing passengers are led away by Malaysian officials

There has been no trace of the aircraft since it vanished from radar a short distance into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing 12 days ago.

In Beijing, relatives of many of the 154 Chinese passengers waited anxiously for news from an AMSA news conference.

Sky's Jonathan Samuels, who is with the families, said: "They look exhausted. Most have slowly returned to their rooms to await developments from Australia."

Investigators believe two vital pieces of communication equipment were intentionally switched off and the aircraft deliberately diverted, potentially taking it thousands of miles off course.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours after it was turned back across Malaysia towards the Strait of Malacca.

The development comes after a news conference was interrupted by relatives frustrated at a lack of information from officials.

There were chaotic scenes as two women were bundled out and shut in another room before being led away.

Investigators are considering a number of theories about what happened to the aircraft, including hijacking, sabotage and terrorism.

However, background checks on all foreign passengers bar three from Ukraine and Russia have yielded "no information of significance", Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Files from a flight simulator used by the plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, are being examined by experts at the FBI, after it was revealed data was deleted last month.

The pilot is considered innocent until proven guilty and members of his family are co-operating with the the investigation, Mr Hishammuddin said.

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