A Thai satellite has spotted 300 floating objects, but hopes of a breakthrough in the search for MH370 are likely to be frustrated by another day of bad weather.
Last night, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority tweeted that bad weather was expected in the search zone for the next 24 hours.
“Ships staying in search area & will attempt to continue searching but all planes returning,” AMSA tweeted.
The objects detected by the satellite range from two to 16 metres in length, and are about 2700 kilometres southwest of Perth, said Anond Snidvongs, director of Thailand’s space technology development agency.
“But we cannot — dare not — confirm they are debris from the plane,” he said.
The pictures were taken by Thailand’s only earth observation satellite on Monday but took several days to process and were relayed to Malaysian authorities on Wednesday, he said.
The discovery was reported less than 24 hours after the Malaysian government revealed 122 objects had been seen about 2557 kilometres from Perth, ranging in length from one metre to 23 metres.
It’s unknown whether the satellites detected the same objects; currents in the ocean can run a meter per second (about 2.2mph) and wind also could move material.
However, for relatives of the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, it was yet another agonising day of waiting.
“Until something is picked up and analysed to make sure it’s from MH370 we can’t believe it, but without anything found it’s just clues,” Steve Wang, whose 57-year-old mother was aboard the flight, said in Beijing.
“Without that, it’s useless.”
Thailand faced criticism after announcing more than a week after the jet’s disappearance on March 8 that its radar had picked up an “unknown aircraft” minutes after flight MH370 last transmitted its location.
The Thai air force said it did not report the findings earlier as the plane was not considered a threat.
The Malaysia Airlines plane is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board after mysteriously diverting from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing path and apparently flying for hours in the opposite direction.
Thunderstorms and gale-force winds grounded the international air search for wreckage on Thursday. [AAP]
