2014 news: 03/12/14

Wednesday 12 March 2014

No debris seen at spot on satellite

NEW: A Vietnamese plane finds no debris during a scouting mission

The plane searched an area identified by Chinese satellite imagery

The satellite images showed "three suspected floating objects," Chinese authorities say

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared early Saturday over Southeast Asia

(CNN) -- Vietnamese searchers reported seeing no sign of debris Thursday when they flew over an area of sea that Chinese authorities had flagged as the location of possible remnants of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The news appeared to dash the latest hope of finding a lead in the baffling disappearance of the Malaysian plane, which vanished early Saturday while flying over Southeast Asia.

The mystery over the fate of the passenger jet and the 239 people it was carrying has so far left government officials and aviation experts flummoxed.

The search for the plane -- frustrating and fruitless so far -- entered its sixth day Thursday.

A plane from Vietnam's National Committee for Search and Rescue carried out a flight Thursday morning over the area identified by Chinese satellite imagery, said Doan Luu Van, International Affairs Coordinator with the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. He said the committee would send another scouting mission "early this afternoon" to the same location.

China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said satellite images showed "three suspected floating objects" that it described as "a suspected crash site."

The images were captured around 11 a.m. on March 9, the day after the plane went missing, but weren't released until Wednesday.

The Chinese agency gave coordinates of 105.63 east longitude, 6.7 north latitude, which would put the objects in waters between Malaysia and southern of Vietnam, near where the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

A member of Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency scans the horizon in the Strait of Malacca off Sumatra island, Indonesia, during a search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet on Wednesday, March 12. Contact with Flight 370 was lost Saturday as the Boeing 777-200ER flew over the South China Sea after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. It was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.

Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a news conference in Sepang, Malaysia, on March 12.

Indonesian air force officers in Medan, Indonesia, examine a map of the Strait of Malacca on March 12.

A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on Tuesday, March 11.

Iranians Pouri Nourmohammadi, second left, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, far right, were identified by Interpol as the two men who used stolen passports to board the flight. But there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport.

An Indonesian navy crew member scans an area of the South China Sea bordering Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand on Monday, March 10.

Vietnam air force Col. Le Huu Hanh is reflected on the navigation control panel of a plane that is part of the search operation over the South China Sea on March 10.

Relatives of the missing flight's passengers wait in a Beijing hotel room on March 10.

A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews before returning to search for the missing plane Sunday, March 9, in the Gulf of Thailand.

Members of the Fo Guang Shan rescue team offer a special prayer March 9 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia.

A handout picture provided by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows personnel checking a radar screen during search-and-rescue operations March 9.

Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, who reported his passport stolen in August, shows his current passport during a news conference at a police station in Phuket island, Thailand, on March 9. Two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were reportedly traveling on stolen passports belonging to Maraldi and an Austrian citizen whose papers were stolen two years ago.

Hugh Dunleavy, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, speaks to journalists March 9 at a Beijing hotel where relatives and friends of the missing flight's passengers are staying.

Vietnamese air force crew stand in front of a plane at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 9 before heading out to the area between Vietnam and Malaysia where the airliner vanished early Saturday.

Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9.

The Chinese navy warship Jinggangshan prepares to leave Zhanjiang Port early on March 9 to assist in search-and-rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The Jinggangshan, an amphibious landing ship, is loaded with lifesaving equipment, underwater detection devices and supplies of oil, water and food.

Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9. The vessel is carrying 12 divers and will rendezvous with another rescue vessel on its way to the area where contact was lost with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea.

A family member of missing passengers is mobbed by journalists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 8.

A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported March 8. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8.

Malaysia Airlines official Joshua Law Kok Hwa, center, speaks to reporters in Beijing on March 8.

A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

Wang Yue, director of marketing of Malaysia Airlines in China, reads a company statement during a news conference at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 8.

Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8.

A woman asks a staff member at the Beijing airport for more information on the missing flight.

A Malaysian man who says he has relatives on board the missing plane talks to journalists at the Beijing airport on March 8.

Passengers walk past a Malaysia Airlines sign on March 8 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference on March 8 at a hotel in Sepang. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said.

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370