Malaysia plane: Search teams regain recorder signal

 
Teams searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have reacquired signals that could be consistent with “black box” flight recorders.

An Australian vessel heard the signals again on Tuesday afternoon and evening, the search chief said.

Signals heard earlier had also been further analysed by experts who concluded they were from “specific electronic equipment”, he said.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March, carrying 239 people.

It was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Malaysian officials say that based on satellite data, they believe it ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of kilometres from its intended flight path.

“I believe we are searching in the right area,” said Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the joint agency co-ordinating the search.

“But we need to visually identify aircraft wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370.”

The Australian vessel, Ocean Shield, has been towing a US Navy pinger locator to listen for signals from the plane’s flight recorders in waters west of the Australian city of Perth.