More than two dozen Chinese family members of those onboard a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner arrived in Kuala Lumpur Sunday seeking answers from Malaysia's government as to what happened to their loved ones. Two-thirds of the 227 passengers on Flight 370 were Chinese, and their relatives have expressed deep frustration with Malaysian authorities since the plane vanished weeks ago.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which oversees the search, said a warship with an aircraft black box detector was set to depart Australia to join the search. The ship, carrying a black box detector, an unmanned underwater vehicle and other acoustic detection equipment should arrive in the search area in three or four days.
A man who gave only his surname, Xu, said in brief comments that the relatives want to meet officials 'at the very highest levels.'
In Beijing before they boarded the flight, one relative said they would demand to meet the prime minister and the defense minister, who is the chief spokesman for the government.
'We have questions that we would like to ask them in person,' said Wang Chunjiang, whose younger brother, lawyer Wang Chunyong, was on Flight 370.
'We know what we can do is insignificant, but we will do whatever we can do for our beloved ones,' said Wang, who was unable to make the trip because of a family issue. 'We want to know what could have happened to them in the six hours the plane kept flying, and if they had to endure any mental and physical pains.'
He said some relatives were hoping for a miracle. 'It cannot be completely ruled out before we see the wreckage of the plane or the bodies of our loved ones.'
Two ships combing the ocean off the west coast of Australia recovered a number of objects Saturday, but none was confirmed to be related to the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, the group leading the search said in a statement.
Aircraft in the area spotted multiple items in the water, including three objects pinpointed by a Chinese plane in the search area Saturday, AMSA said.
A total of eight aircraft were involved in searching about 97,000 square miles Saturday.
Xinhua News Agency said the Chinese military plane Ilyushin IL-76 sighted three objects that were white, red and orange in color. The missing Boeing 777's exterior was red, white, blue and gray.
A Royal Australia Air Force P3 Orion reported seeing objects in the water in a different part of the search area, the AMSA said.
'The objects sighted by aircraft cannot be verified or discounted as being from MH370 until they are relocated and recovered byships,' the AMSA said. 'It is not known how much flotsam, such as from fishing activities, is ordinarily there.'
PROFILES: A look at some passengers on Flight 370
Malaysia Airlines' Beijing-bound Flight 370, with 239 people aboard, lost communication with civilian air controllers soon after it took off early March 8 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. No emergency signals or distress messages were received before the plane vanished from radar.
A multinational search and recovery effort for the plane has carried on for three weeks.
AMSA said 10 planes will join the search Sunday. The first aircraft to leave the Perth air force base, a Chinese Ilyushin IL-76, was already over the area.
After Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said this week that the plane went down in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean, far from any possible landing sites, Malaysia Airlines Chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Md Yusof put out a statement saying there was no hope for survivors.
'Based on this evidence, the prime minister's message was that we must accept the painful reality that the aircraft is now lost and that none of the passengers or crew on board survived,' he said.
However, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein pledged Saturday to continue the search for 'possible survivors.'
'Even hoping against hope, no matter how remote, of course we are praying and we are continuing our search for possible survivors,' said Hussein, who was meeting with relatives of those aboard the missing flight.
Saturday's search was the second in the newly targeted area, after Australian officials shifted their search for the missing Malaysian jetliner Friday, citing 'a new credible lead'' about the path of the aircraft and where debris may be located. The new search area is about 1,150 miles west of Perth, Australia, and about 685 miles to the northeast of the previous search area.
There is still no solid evidence regarding what led to the plane's disappearance. Earlier this week, Hussein said there was an ongoing investigation.
Contributing: Laura Petrecca in New York City; the Associated Press USA NOW
Search for mudslide victims continues | USA NOW'We can confirm that the police have interviewed more than a hundred people, including families of both the pilot and co-pilot,' he said.
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, March 29, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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