Malaysia Airlines flight 370 may have been found after Australian officials found two pieces of debris on satellite images of the Indian Ocean.
The flight disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board, and in the days since then the mystery of the missing flight has deepened. Satellite data indicated that the flight flew off course — possibly deliberately — leaving a search area thousands of miles wide.
Dozens of nations have now joined the search , and Malaysia asked Australia to take responsibility for searching the “southern corridor,” which is one of two paths the plane could have taken.
Though others have reported that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was found, the information from Australian officials appears to be the first bit of solid data in the nearly two weeks since the plane went missing.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the findings on Thursday, noting that Australian vessels are headed to the Indian Ocean to investigate further.
“New and credible information has come to light in relation to the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean,” Abbott said in the Australian House of Representatives in Canberra. “The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite imagery of objects possibly related to the search.
“Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified,” he said. “I can inform the House that a Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been diverted to attempt to locate the objects.”
But Abbot tempered his statement, noting that the objects may be difficult to find and could end up being unrelated to Malaysia Airlines flight 370.
This is not the first time that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has reportedly been found. Earlier this week an Indian IT specialist spotted what appeared to be a low-flying 777 aircraft near the Andaman Islands.