A 'pulse signal' has been detected by a
Chinese ship involved in the multinational
search effort for the missing Malaysia
Airlines plane, it has been reported.
A black box detector deployed by the vessel,
Haixun 01, picked up a signal at 37.5Hz per
second today in southern Indian Ocean waters,
according to multiple sources.
The reports said it was not established whether
the signal was related to the missing jet.
It was picked up at around 25 degrees south
latitude and 101 degrees east longitude,
according to China's official news agency
Xinhua.
It could be a possible indicator of the
underwater beacon from a plane's black box.
Xinhua further said a Chinese air force plane
spotted a number of white floating objects in
the search area.
The Australian agency co-ordinating the search
would not immediately comment but Malaysian
government sources were reported to have
confirmed the news.
Search teams trying to find the flight recorders
from the missing jet criss-crossed another
patch of the Indian Ocean today, four weeks
after the airliner vanished while en route from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on
board.
Earlier, Malaysia's defence minister said the
search for the missing jet will continue 'with
the same level of vigour and intensity'.
Hishammuddin Hussein pledged: 'We will
continue to focus, with all our efforts, on
finding the aircraft.'
He said there are no more new satellite images
or data that can provide new leads, and the
focus is now fully on the ocean search.
A multinational team is desperately trying to
find debris floating in the water or faint sound
signals from the recorders that could lead
them to the aircraft.
Beacons in the black boxes emit 'pings' so they
can be more easily found, but the batteries
only last about a month.
And officials say the more time that passes
before any floating wreckage is found, the
harder it will be to find the plane itself.
