Missing Plane: Image Shows Objects In Sea

Australian authorities have released an image taken by search planes looking for missing flight MH370 in a new area in the Indian Ocean.

The image shows two apparently white objects, one rectangular and one circular, floating in the sea inside a new search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

A tweet from the Australian Marine Safety Authority (AMSA) said a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft first spotted the objects on Friday.

The sightings, which AMSA said included two rectangular objects that were blue and grey - among the colours of the missing plane - will need to be confirmed by personnel on board ships involved in the search.

That is expected to take place on Saturday when the Chinese Maritime Administration patrol ship Haixun 01 moves into the area.

Search aircraft flown from an airbase near Perth spotted the objects

It comes after the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane shifted due to data suggesting it was travelling faster than previously thought.

Analysis of radar information from before contact with flight MH370 was lost indicated the plane was burning up fuel more quickly and may not have travelled as far south over the Indian Ocean.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau described the data, which came from analysis by Boeing, as the "most credible lead to where debris may be located".

Search teams have been relocated to scour an area 685 miles northeast of the zone they had been operating in.

A new area is being searched after analysis of MH370 data

Some 10 aircraft, including nine military planes, are involved, and six ships are being sent to the region.

Experts will also trawl through satellite images of the new search zone to identify any possible crash sites.

During a news conference on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian authorities said the search in the Indian Ocean could shift to a deep sea search and salvage if no sign of the missing plane was discovered before the 30-day life of its black box battery.

The search is now nearly three weeks old and the operation has had to be called off twice due to bad weather.

Acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the new search area "could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images" because of ocean drift.

Professor Chris Bellamy, a maritime security expert at the University of Greenwich, said it was not surprising that the search area continues to change.

He told Sky News: "In that time (since satellite images), with a current of approximately three knots the debris could have drifted that distance.

"We may be talking about a load of debris floating in the area that they have been searching just before they moved the area and an impact in the new area.

"It doesn't totally surprise me that it's taken them so long to refine the search and decide that the plane probably went in further north."

Search teams are using 10 planes in an attempt to find missing flight MH370

The development comes after images from a Thai satellite showed 300 objects ranging from two to 15 metres in size scattered in the sea about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.

A French satellite spotted more than 120 objects floating in the ocean, while Japan is also reported to have captured aerial images of 10 items.

It is not known whether any of the objects are from the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The plane is thought to have crashed with the loss of all 239 people on board after flying thousands of miles off course.

Prayers and messages of support left on a wall at Kuala Lumpur airport

Distraught relatives of the 150 Chinese passengers on board the plane continue to voice their anger and frustration at the speed of the investigation.

Some Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families, according to the state news agency.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, has been asked about the psychological testing of pilots employed by the airline.

He said: "They do psychological tests when they take new pilots on. That is something we check yearly and six-monthly, depending on how old they are, through an interview with aviation doctors."

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Missing Plane: Lessons May Take 'Years'

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

Some have said black boxes should be made to float to the surface

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

A new area is being searched after analysis of MH370 data

Salvage expert David Mears, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

Change takes 'years' in the airline industry, says David Mears

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

Planes spotted two objects in the new search area

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

The backgrounds of the Malaysia Airlines pilots have been scrutinised

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

Captain Clayton Osbon had a psychotic episode in the cockpit

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Pilot suicide is the suspected cause of the 1997 SilkAir flight crash

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

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Missing Malaysia Plane Pilot 'Not Extremist'

A friend of the missing Malaysia Airlines pilot has told Sky News he was a "professional" and would not do anything "extreme".

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, was at the controls of the passenger jet when it disappeared on March 8.

And in the absence of any information over what caused the aircraft to vanish, there has been speculation Mr Zaharie may be have been responsible, either for political or terrorism motives, or even to commit suicide for family reasons.

This has been fuelled after investigators revealed MH370's tracking devices were deliberately switched off during the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The FBI has been examining data from a flight simulator removed from his home, following a request of the Malaysians who wanted help to recover files deleted from the hard drive.

But Mr Zaharie's friend Nasir Othman has dismissed any link between the captain's personal life and the disappearance of the flight, which is thought to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean after straying thousands of miles off course.

A family photo of Captain Zaharie posted in a YouTube video

Mr Nasir said: "I can say he's a moderate Muslim who performs his daily rituals, but to say he's on the extreme, I don't think so."

Attention has also focused on Mr Zaharie's membership of an opposition party headed by veteran politician Anwar Ibrahim, who was convicted of sodomy - a crime in Malaysia - hours before the aircraft took off.

But Mr Nasir said: "Everybody has their own personal political beliefs. That doesn't mean he would go to an extreme extent.

"He's a professional. I don't think he would do that."

A flight simulator was removed from Mr Zaharie's home

Mr Zaharie's son Ahmad Seth has also publicly rejected reports his father was a political fanatic. 

In his first interview since the plane went missing the 26-year-old told Malaysian English-language newspaper, the New Straits Times his father was not a hijacker.

He said: "I've read everything online, but I've ignored all the speculation.

"We may not be as close as he travels so much, but I understand him."

Mr Zaharie has more than 18,000 hours flying experience, and joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981.

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Missing Malaysia Plane 'Was Travelling Faster'

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has shifted after data suggested it was travelling faster than previously thought.

Analysis of radar from before contact with flight MH370 was lost indicates the plane was burning up fuel more quickly and may not have travelled as far south over the Indian Ocean.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau described the data as the "most credible lead to where debris may be located".

Search teams have been relocated to scour an area 685 miles northeast of the zone they had been operating in.

Some 10 aircraft, including nine military planes, are involved and six ships are being sent to the region.

Experts will also trawl through satellite images of the new search zone to identify any possible crash sites.

The development comes after images from a Thai satellite showed 300 objects ranging from two to 15 metres in size scattered in the sea about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.

Search teams are using 10 planes in an attempt to find missing flight MH370

A French satellite spotted more than 120 objects floating in the ocean, while Japan is also reported to have captured aerial images of 10 items.

It is not known whether any of the objects are from the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The plane is thought to have crashed with the loss of all 239 people on board after flying thousands of miles off course.

The search for the jet was suspended earlier this week because of poor weather off the coast of Australia.

Investigators had been searching an area southwest of Perth

Heavy rain, strong winds and low cloud caused reduced visibility and forced aircraft to turn back.

Meanwhile, distraught relatives of the 150 Chinese passengers on board the plane continue to voice their anger and frustration at the speed of the investigation.

Some Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families, according to the state news agency.

More follows...

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MH370 Search Crews Race To Beat Bad Weather

International teams hunting for wreckage from flight MH370 are racing to beat bad weather forecast in the search zone.

Crews set off early Thursday morning local time for an area of the southern Indian Ocean where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field.

Eleven aircraft and five ships from six countries are scouring the search area, which has been split in two and covers around 30,000 sq m (78,000 sq km), off the western coast of Australia.

But they set out knowing weather conditions are likely to deteriorate later in the day.

"This is only going to be a narrow window of opportunity by the looks of things," said Neil Bennett, from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

New satellite images continue to provide clues in the hunt for MH370

"Another weather system is moving in for Thursday, which looks like that will bring an increase in winds again and also lead to a reduction in visibility through the rain associated with the cold front."

The search was called off for 24 hours earlier this week because conditions were too dangerous for the crews.

Crews will be racing to find any sign of the Malaysia Airlines plane after a French satellite earlier spotted 122 objects, suspected to be debris, around 1,550 miles (2,500 km) southwest of Perth.

Malaysian officials said the items, between one metre and 23 metres in length, were in an area measuring around 155 square miles (400 sq km).

There have now been four separate satellite leads - from Australia, China and France - showing what could be debris.

Another weather system is moving in to the search zone. Pic: bom.gov.au

But it is not currently known if any of the objects are connected to MH370, which disappeared on March 8 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said crews saw objects while searching on Wednesday, but the items were later lost.

"Three objects were spotted on Wednesday by two aircraft but were not able to be relocated despite several passes," it said.

"They were unrelated to the credible satellite imagery provided to AMSA."

The failure to zero in on any possible debris despite the visuals from crews and numerous satellite images highlights the logistical difficulties of the search area.

A Japanese P-3 Orion has been out searching for debris

It has some of the deepest and roughest waters in the world, roiled by the "roaring forties" winds that cut across the sea.

The winds are named for the area between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees where there is no land mass to slow down gusts which create waves higher than six metres (19ft).

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

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Missing Plane: Scanning The Seas For MH370

By James Matthews, Sky News Correspondent

"Unfortunately, we don't have a scoop for you" - those were the parting words from Australia's Air Force 11 squadron, crew 3, as we stepped off their P3 Orion aircraft following a search for MH370.

Every crew operating out of the Pearce air base north of Perth, Western Australia, wants to be the crew that finally locates the missing Malaysian airliner.

11 Squadron are more used to hunting for submarines on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force. 

As part of Australia's contribution to the multinational search for MH370, we accompanied them on a mission 1300 miles off the coast of Western Australia.  

The open seas are relayed onto monitors as the plane flies over

It was a four hour flight to the 'crash site', where the aircraft's crew searched for three and a half hours. 

We knew we had arrived at the scene when Captain Peter Moore switched off one of his plane's four propeller engines, a move that saved fuel and prolonged the searching time by half an hour.

The advantages of technology in the hunt for MH370 are obvious. 

Satellite imagery, in particular, has guided the search. Close-up, however, technology's limits are equally clear.

Take some of the information fed onto a bank of monitors, the so-called "tech-bar", inside the aircraft.

Infrared cameras stream footage of the sea onto screens, as does the plane's radar. 

Airforce spotters work in shifts of 20 minutes and scan side to side

Both systems are effective in the aircraft's usual role of hunting for submarines but in the circumstances surrounding the search for MH370 they are not ideal.

Radar cannot penetrate water and so is relying on chancing upon debris protruding above the surface.

Infrared cameras pick out sources of heat; the only trouble is that any piece of debris will be as cold as the sea around it.

So among all the sophisticated kit involved in this multinational search effort it comes down to the human eye as much as anything else. 

Trained spotters rotate in 20 minute shifts, the time deemed as an appropriate limit for extreme concentration. 

They are taught to scan the scene before them from side to side, according to the direction in which they read and write. 

Our trip with 11 Squadron was the fourth made by the crew on this job and they have modified their approach over time. 

The search area is four hours from Australia

They scan the sea from a height 700 metres - some aircraft have gone lower but 11 Squadron have found that 700m increases the area they can scan at any one time.

It also presents the opportunity for the spotters to get a view straight down - important, they say, for debris they believe is probably resting just beneath the ocean's surface.

Looking out of the window of the P3 Orion you gain a clear sense of the challenge facing search teams. 

When you look out of the domed portholes in the aircraft skin you see a vast expanse of ocean extending far into the horizon. 

11 Squadron did make a couple of sightings during their search of 900 square miles - but sadly not of the missing aircraft. 

The crew spotted some dolphins and a killer whale.

Pearce airforce base near Perth is the hub for the air search operation

Since the announcement that MH370 had crashed, there is - perhaps - less emotional investment in the search and recovery operation. 

No longer are search crews mindful of a miracle - the possibility that someone, somewhere, might be found alive. 

Crews are now wholly focused on a job that is about recovery and the gathering of evidence.

It is also about the bereaved families. In the words of 11 Squadron's Captain Peter Moore, for the victim's loved ones "closure matters". And that is what drives the search of strangers.

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Malaysia Plane Relatives March On Embassy

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Scores of angry relatives of passengers from the missing airliner have marched on the Malaysian embassy in Beijing accusing the authorities of "hiding the truth".

They marched three miles from the hotel where they have been staying for the last two and a half weeks to the embassy, waving banners and chanting "give us back our relatives".

Demonstrations in the communist country are rare and there was a heavy police presence, although the protest passed off largely peacefully.

It came a day after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed the plane had crashed in remote seas off Australia - despite no confirmed sightings of any wreckage.

Protests and dissent in communist China are rare

About 20 to 30 protesters threw water bottles at the Malaysian embassy and tried to storm the building, demanding to meet the ambassador, witnesses said.

Riot squad officers stood between the grieving relatives and the embassy and a huge media contingent was kept behind a further police line, well away from the demonstration.

At one point some family members walked up to the media pack asking for them to join them at the embassy, but journalists were stopped from moving by police.

One protester, Steven Wang, told reporters "We just want the truth and if you make a conclusion with no exact evidence just from analysis from the satellite data, why you make a conclusion?

Police lined up to prevent the relatives from getting into the embassy

"Why you make the conclusion that no one is alive? They said that none of them survived, I don't believe that. If you make such a conclusion, you must have some evidence. And we want to ask why."

The demonstration ended when relatives were told the Malaysian ambassador would meet them at the hotel and answer questions.

A high-level delegation is also being sent to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur to address family members on Wednesday.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished more than two weeks ago while flying between the two cities.

The Malaysian authorities believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, citing satellite-data analysis by British firm Inmarsat.

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MH370 Search Resumes As Weather Improves

The search operation for wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has started again as weather conditions improve off the Australian coast.

Gale-force winds, heavy rain, huge waves and low-hanging cloud had forced the international operation to be abandoned for 24 hours.

But crews were able to set off from Western Australia for the search zone in the southern Indian Ocean on Wednesday morning local time.

"Today's search is split into three areas within the same proximity covering a cumulative 80,000 sq km," said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the search.

Twelve aircraft and two vessels are involved in Wednesday's search, which also involves New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and Korea.

UK satellie company Inmarsat helped narrow the search for MH370

Australia's HMAS Success will conduct a surface sweep of an area where two objects were spotted this week.

China's polar supply ship Xue Long was also heading to the search zone, with other Chinese vessels on their way.

The efforts will be aided by the deployment of an America's advanced sonar device to help locate the plane's black box.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the search would continue until there was no hope of finding anything from the passenger jet, which vanished on March 8 on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

"We are just going to keep on looking because we owe it to people to do everything we can to resolve this riddle," he told Channel Nine.

"It is not absolutely open-ended but it is not something we will lightly abandon."

Grieving relatives have expressed their anger in Beijing

Before the weather stopped the search, hopes had been high that wreckage would be found after several sightings of objects, including a green circular item and an orange rectangular one.

But Mark Binskin, vice chief of Australia's Defence Force, underscored the daunting size of the search zone.

"We're not trying to find a needle in a haystack, we're still trying to define where the haystack is," he told reporters.

Officials earlier announced the hunt had been narrowed to the southern tip of the southern flight corridor the plane is thought to have followed.

The hunt, which at one stage involved 26 countries, was called off in the northern corridor of the Indian Ocean.

The search resumes amid heavy criticism of Malaysia and the airline from the relatives of the on 239 people on the flight.

Dozens of angry Chinese people clashed with police in a protest outside Malaysia's Embassy in Beijing. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

China has also demanded Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that the plane crashed into the ocean.

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Malaysia Jet Search Called Off Due To Weather

The air and sea search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended due to bad weather and rough seas.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the hunt had to be called off for the day due to gale force winds, rain and big waves.  

"AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew," it said.

"Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions."

Cyclone Gillian is hampering the search efforts

AMSA said the weather is expected to improve in the evening local time.

The Australian navy ship HMAS Success, which tried to find debris seen by a plane and satellite, has headed south of the search area to get out of the rough seas.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak earlier announced that after 17 days investigators were convinced the plane, with 239 people on board, went off course and crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

Chinese Air Force crew returned to the base after the search was suspended

He said satellite data provided by UK company Inmarsat showed MH370's last recorded position was in the middle of the ocean west of Perth, Australia.

Several satellite images of potential debris in that area had been picked up ahead of the announcement, with French, Australian, American and Chinese authorities all capturing images of possible debris.

Hopes had been high that wreckage would be found after two new objects - a green circular item and an orange rectangular one - were spotted by an Australian military plane on Monday.

HMAS Success has left the search area due to rough seas

This followed larger "white and square" objects seen by a Chinese plane.

The search is a race against time as the battery life of the locator beacon in the black boxes may run out in the next two weeks.

The US military has sent a black box locator and a robotic underwater vehicle to help the hunt.

Families had been waiting since March 8 for news

The mystery of why the plane, which was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, veered so far off course remains unsolved ahead of a press conference on Wednesday, when more details will be revealed.

Distraught relatives of passengers on the plane were informed of the news ahead of Mr Razak's press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's PM Najib Razak announced that the plane crashed

There were hysterical scenes at the Beijing hotel where many of the relatives of those on board were staying.

Some of the family members have since launched a scathing attack on Malaysia's government, the airline and the country's military for the way the investigation was handled.

Distraught relatives at a Beijing hotel

Their statement reads: "During the past 18 days since March 8, when Malaysia Airlines announced that it had lost contact with MH370, Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia, and the military forces of Malaysia have concealed, delayed and hidden the truth from the relatives and the people of the world."

Malaysia's police chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar, earlier reiterated that all the passengers had been cleared of suspicion.

But he said the pilots and crew were still being investigated.

He would not comment on whether officials had recovered the files that were deleted a month earlier from the home flight simulator of the chief pilot.

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Plane Families: Malaysia Govt 'Despicable'

Families of passengers who lost their lives on the Malaysia Airlines plane have issued a scathing attack on Malaysia's government.

Their statement is also strongly critical of the airline and the country's military.

It reads: "During the past 18 days since March 8, when Malaysia Airlines announced that it had lost contact with MH370, Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia, and the military forces of Malaysia have concealed, delayed and hidden the truth from the relatives and the people of the world.

"This despicable act aimed to fool the relatives of the 154 Chinese passengers has devastated us physically and mentally, while misleading and delaying the rescue operation, wasting a lot of manpower, material resources and leading to the loss of precious rescue time.

"If the 154 of our loved ones have lost their lives, then Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia and the military are really the executors."

The text message sent to families

Relatives of the 239 people on board Flight MH370 screamed in anguish on Monday as they were told by text message that evidence strongly suggested the plane had crashed, claiming the lives of all those on board.

The text said: "Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived.

"As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia's Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean."

Families had been waiting since March 8 for news

Malaysia Airlines stressed they informed relatives not only by text but "via all channels".

Meanwhile, the younger brother of Philip Wood, an American who was also travelling on the plane, has spoken of his anguish.

"It's exhausting but there's no anger," said Tom Wood. "We want more answers. There are so many things jumping around on the news about what they think might have happened.

"We were holding out hope for him somehow to have survived along with other people on the plane but we're ready to accept that he's not coming back.

Several relatives had to be treated by paramedics after hearing the news

"I hope it was quick when it happened.

"I have all kinds of emotions running through me. I know I'll have moments in the future where I'll break down and cry because I'm going to miss him.

"He wasn't just an older brother - he was a friend. He was an inspiration - a cool guy."

TV pictures showed distressed families being helped away amid chaotic scenes in the Lido Hotel in Beijing.

Paramedics treated some people who were overcome by grief.

Family members screamed in anguish when they were told

Relatives were told of the jet's fate 30 minutes before Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told a news conference the plane had crashed.

UK satellite data confirmed flight MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

The flight vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made, but debris found in remote waters off Australia might be from the aircraft.

Families of the passengers will be taken on chartered flights to Australia, according to Sky News sources.

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Russia Troop Build-Up 'Sizeable And Ready' - Nato

The Russian military force on Ukraine's eastern border is "very, very sizeable and very, very ready", according to Nato's top military commander.

General Philip Breedlove said he was worried they could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," said Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land to Ukraine's southwest, already has a Russian military presence and most people there favour a union with the country.

General Breedlove is worried about the size of Russian troop build-up

Russian troops violently flushed out the remaining pockets of Ukrainian military influence in Crimea on Saturday, smashing armoured vehicles through the walls of Belbek airforce base in a swift takeover.

President Putin last week signed papers making Crimea part of Russia at a ceremony in Moscow, and most experts agree there is no way of winning back the region.

Transdniestria is a thin sliver of land in east Moldova (pictured in blue)

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said European powers had not done enough to help his country.

"The US is more resolute in their actions and words. We appreciate what Europe is doing (but) we would have liked a more aggressive approach," said Mr Khandogiy.

"If I'm asked if Europe has done enough I would say no."

Foreign Secretary William Hague has also warned Russia it is not simply facing "short-term pain" of limited sanctions, but long-term "isolation and stagnation" following its landgrab in Crimea.

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, he wrote: "The European Commission are working now on more far-reaching economic measures that will be imposed if Russia takes further steps to undermine Ukraine."

Armed men seized the navy ship Slavutich

He said Britain and its allies had "never given up on diplomacy or sought a path of permanent confrontation with Russia".

"But nor should European nations run scared before bullying behaviour," he added.

Mr Hague said it was now necessary to "contemplate a new state of relations with Russia that is very different to the last 20 years".

Russia took control of several Ukrainian military bases on Saturday, in a territory which it now firmly considers its own.

Several hundred protesters raised the Russian flag after storming an airforce base in the western Crimean town of Novofedorivka while pro-Kremlin forces watched.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the airbase near Sevastopol

In the city of Sevastopol, armed men seized control of the Slavutich, one of the last navy ships in Crimea still flying Ukraine's flag.

But the most dramatic episode saw Russian special forces break into the nearby Belbek air base, which has long been the pride of Ukraine's air force.

Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay was inside the sprawling compound as the attack took place.

"They came through the walls in armoured personnel carriers," he said, adding that the forces were "all balaclaved" and wore "slightly different uniforms to regular Russian soldiers".

Ramsay also heard "big explosions" which he said were probably blast bombs to disorientate the Ukrainian troops, who were then made to line up on a parade ground.

The base is in a key strategic position on Crimea's Black Sea coast

He said the Ukrainians were "massively outnumbered and outgunned" by the Russians, with just small arms and a few machine guns.

Ukraine's defence ministry later confirmed its men had left the base and said a journalist and a Ukrainian soldier had been wounded during the takeover.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the base was an important capture for the Russians.

The Ukrainian troops were 'outnumbered'

"It is a base that is home to a significant number, possibly a third, of the main combat aircraft of the Ukrainian air force - the MIG-29s - and their support aircraft and the structures that go with them," he said.

"If you look at that and the blockage of the Ukrainian Navy in the shared port of Sevastopol in Crimea, what you see here is the Russians doing two things.

"The first is to seize territory that they now lay claim to and the second is to cripple the Ukrainian armed forces.

"That is extremely important to them if they want to move into the Ukrainian eastern provinces where there are a predominance of Russian speakers."

The Foreign Office has extended its travel warnings and is advising against all but essential travel to Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to increased tension in eastern Ukraine.

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Missing Plane: French Satellite Spots 'Debris'

A French satellite has spotted potential objects floating in the Indian Ocean in the southern corridor of the search for missing flight MH370.

The images, thought to have been captured on Friday, were immediately relayed to the rescue co-ordination centre in Australia as the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane continues.

It is the third possible sighting of debris in the area and occurred almost 600 miles north of the last report from the Chinese.

A fourth day of searches proved unsuccessful on Sunday

Speaking about the French sighting,  Australian deputy prime minister Warren Truss said: "That's not in the area that had been identified as the most likely place where the aircraft may have entered the sea. But having said all that we've got to check out all the options."

On Saturday, the Chinese government released a satellite image showing a large floating object.

That object, measuring 74ft (22.5m) by 43ft (13m), was photographed on Tuesday just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by an Australian satellite.

A statement from Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: "This morning, Malaysia received new satellite images from the French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor.

A Chinese satellite spotted this potential debris on Saturday

"Malaysia immediately relayed these images to the Australian rescue co-ordination centre.

"Australia, China and France have now released satellite images that show potential objects, which may be related to MH370, in the vicinity of the southern corridor.

"All this information has been forwarded to Australia, as the lead country in the area of concern."

Eight aircraft were involved in a fruitless fourth day of searching for the debris on Sunday as fog hampered efforts.

Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams said: "Unfortunately the weather conditions have deteriorated. The cloud was down to the surface and at times we were completely enclosed by cloud right down at our minimum altitude."

Two objects spotted by an Australian satellite last Sunday

The search - which extends 1,553 miles from Perth and covers 22,800 sq miles (59,000 sq km) - will resume on Monday when Chinese military transport planes will take to the air.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier spoken of the "increasing hope" of finding out what happened to MH370.

He said: "It's still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft."

The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 88ft (27m) long and 45ft (14m) wide at its base, according to estimates taken from scale drawings.

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

The fuselage is 208ft (63.7m) long and 20ft (6.2m) wide.

Malaysian authorities held a six-hour briefing in Beijing with relatives of passengers on board the flight.

Bad weather has threatened the operation after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

A cold front is also predicted to move through the region later on Sunday, which could bring clouds and wind.

The Malaysia Airline flight disappeared from air traffic control screens in the early hours of March 8 with 239 people on board.

Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted by someone on board shortly after leaving Malaysian air space.

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Russian Special Forces Storm Crimea Base

Russian special forces have used armoured vehicles to storm an air force base in Crimea after Ukrainian troops refused to abandon their posts.

One Ukrainian soldier was reported to have been shot during the assault, launched after a deadline to hand over the compound to Russia expired at 12.30 GMT.

"They came through the walls in armoured personnel carriers," said Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, at the Belbek base.

"There have been explosions, blast bombs, one Ukrainian soldier has been shot."

He added: "We believe they are special forces. They are all balaclaved and have slightly different uniforms to regular Russian soldiers.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the airbase near Sevastopol

"There was a lot of firing, probably into the air, it is hard to know. I've seen at least one injured soldier."

Ramsay also heard "big explosions" which he said were probably blast bombs to disorientate the Ukrainian troops, who were then made to line up on a parade ground.

The Ukrainian commander at the Belbek base had expected the attack and told his forces to resist, instructing them they could fire warning shots before fighting back.

Ukrainian troops sang the national anthem in defiance

He has since been taken into custody by the Russians. A live camera shot of the base was also taken out after a Russian soldier climbed a mast to disable it.

Earlier the Ukrainians loaded an "air defence weapon"  and troops were ordered to stand their ground and not surrender the base.

However, any resistance appears to have had little effect.

The base is in a key strategic position on Crimea's Black Sea coast

Stuart Ramsay said that the Ukrainians were "massively outnumbered and outgunned" by the Russians, with just small arms and a few machine guns.

Russian soldiers had earlier surrounded the airbase while militia wearing balaclavas and Cossack-style hats gathered outside the base.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the base was an important capture for the Russians.

"It is a base that is home to a significant number, possibly a third, of the main combat aircraft of the Ukrainian air force - the MIG-29s - and their support aircraft and the structures that go with them.

A soldier pulled the plug on one of the cameras overlooking the base

"If you look at that and the blockage of the Ukrainian Navy in the shared port of Sevastopol in Crimea, what you see here is the Russians doing two things.

"The first is to seize territory that they now lay claim to and the second is to cripple the Ukrainian armed forces.

"That is extremely important to them if they want to move into the Ukrainian eastern provinces where there are a predominance of Russian speakers."

A Russian tank outside the Belbek airforce base

The Foreign Office has extended its travel warnings and is advising against all but essential travel to Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to increased tension in eastern Ukraine.

At the Kremlin on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation incorporating Crimea into Russia and hailed it as a "remarkable event".

International monitors are due to arrive in Ukraine in the next 24 hours to examine the political and security situation in the country.

Russia agreed the move - claiming it would help stop "nationalist bandits" in the country - but has barred the observers from going to Crimea.

Russian troops had been keeping a lookout on a hill surrounding the base

It also hit back at the widening of sanctions, calling them "divorced from reality" and said it reserved the right to impose sanctions of its own.

The 57 member countries of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed an initial deployment of 100 monitors to regions in the east, south and west of Ukraine.

They will spend six months in the country and 400 more could be added "as necessary and according to the situation", diplomats said.

Western countries have been pushing hard for an observer mission as a way of preventing an escalation of tensions in Ukraine following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Crimea's annexation was celebrated in the region's capital Simferopol

Russia had blocked the plan on previous occasions.

OSCE vice-chairperson Thomas Greminger welcomed the decision as a "very meaningful contribution to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine".

But, in a statement on Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry made it clear Crimea is a 'no-go area' for the observers.

It said: "The mission's mandate reflects the new political and legal realities and does not apply to Crimea and Sevastopol, which became a part of Russia."

Moscow celebrates the annexation of Crimea with a fireworks display

"Russia hopes that the objective and impartial work of the international observers will help to overcome the internal Ukrainian crisis, stop rampant nationalist banditry, eradicate ultra-radical tendencies."

Prime Minister David Cameron and other EU leaders have also imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 12 more people to punish Moscow for its takeover of the Ukrainian territory.

There are now 33 Ukrainians and Russians on the list, accused of playing some part in what Western powers say is an illegal land grab of the region.

Russia said the move was necessary to prevent oppression of Russian-speaking people on the peninsula following the Ukrainian political crisis which saw President Viktor Yanukovych flee the country.

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