New satellite images have revealed 122 objects in the southern Indian Ocean that could be debris from the Malaysian jetliner missing since March 8 with 239 people on board, Malaysia's acting transport minister said.
The find has dramatically narrowed the search area, with the debris spotted across an area measuring just 155 square miles (400 square kilometres).
In the past few days the search area has measured around 622,000 square miles.
Debris field: The satellite has found objects in a 155 square-mile area
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Breakthrough: Malaysia's Defense Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein shows a printout of the latest satellite image of objects that might be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane
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Homing in: This graphic released by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency on Wednesday shows the approximate position of objects seen floating in the southern Indian Ocean in the search zone for MH370
Monitored: Malaysian Lieutenant General Ackbal Samad shows a map showing possible track of Malaysia Airlines MH370 to relatives of passengers aboard the missing plane
Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the images were captured by France-based Airbus Defence and Space on March 23.
They are the fourth set of satellite images to show potential debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in a remote part of the Indian Ocean roughly 2,500 km (1,550 miles) south west of Perth.
The objects are believed to be solid and range from one metre to 23 metres (three to 75 feet) long.
It is understood some pieces of debris are 'bright' but authorities have not confirmed whether they are from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, and investigators believe someone on the flight may have shut off the plane's communications systems.
Partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and recrossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot.
Malaysia's air force has released few details of its radar tracking beyond saying the plane was last detected off the northwest coast heading towards India.
But the country's deputy defence minister, Abdul Rahim Bakri, told parliament that no action was taken when the unidentified plane was spotted because it was assumed it had been ordered to turn back, local media said.
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Statement: A representative of relatives of Chinese passengers on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, center, makes an announcement to journalists prior to a briefing with Malaysian officials at a hotel in Beijing on Wednesday
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Focus of air and sea assets: A map of the areas already searched and the planned search areas in the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, on Wednesday
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Challenging task: The search areas are in one of the most remote areas on earth and in seas renowned for being extremely rough
'It was detected by our radar, but the turn back was by a non-hostile plane and we thought maybe it was at the directive of the control tower,' he was quoted as saying.
Asked at the news conference whether air force radar operators thought the plane had been told to turn back by air traffic controllers, Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, said he could not confirm it.
A dozen aircraft from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, China, Japan and South Korea were once more scouring the seas southwest of Perth in the hunt for wreckage on Wednesday, after bad weather the previous day forced the suspension of the search.
The area is renowned among mariners for high winds and big waves and the good weather is unlikely to last.
‘This is only going to be a narrow window of opportunity by the looks of things, because 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,’ Neil Bennett, a spokesman for Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, told Reuters.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak this week confirmed Flight MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
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Intense search: The Commanding Officer of the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success, Captain Allison Norris, on the bridge during the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight
Scouring the ocean: Royal Australian Air Force airborne electronics analyst Sergeant Samuel Carson uses the advanced camera systems on board an AP-C3 Orion aircraft to search for evidence of MH370
Citing satellite-data analysis by British company Inmarsat , he said there was no doubt the Boeing 777 came down in one of the most remote places on Earth.
Recovery of wreckage could unlock clues about why and how the plane had diverted so far off course in one of aviation's most puzzling mysteries. Theories range from a hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems.
Australia, China and France have all released satellite images over the past week showing possible debris in the same general area as the latest sighting, but no confirmed wreckage has been located.
Meanwhile, the pilot of MH370 was distraught over his wife’s decision to move out of their family home and could have taken the plane for a ‘last joyride’ before it crashed into the southern Indian Ocean killing all 239 people on board, according to a long-time friend of the pilot.
The friend, also a pilot, said Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had been left rattled by his family problems, and didn’t appear to be in the right state of mind to be flying. He warned that it was ‘very possible that neither the passengers nor the other crew on-board knew what was happening until it was too late’.
‘He's one of the finest pilots around and I'm no medical expert, but with all that was happening in his life Zaharie was probably in no state of mind to be flying,’ he told the NZ Herald on the condition of anonymity.
While his professional record appeared impeccable, Captain Zaharie's long-time friend said the pilot's personal life was in turmoil. He said his friend's relationships were breaking down, and while Zaharie was involved with another woman he was still devastated at his wife's decision to move out of their family home.
He said the troubled pilot could have seen MH370 as an opportunity to try high-risk maneuvers he'd perfected on his beloved flight simulator.
These shocking new claims follow reports that flight MH370 climbed to between 43,000 and 45,000ft shortly after the last voice communication from the cockpit of the plane.
'Last joyride': A close friend says Captain Zaharie was upset over the breakdown of his marriage, and wasn't in the right frame of mind to fly
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Virtual reality: A close friend of Captain Zaharie says the pilot might have seen MH370 as a chance to try things he'd only previously been able to try on his simulator
Devastated: A relative of the Chinese passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines MH370 grieves after being told the flight ended in southern Indian Ocean
Mourning: High school students hold candles during a vigil for passengers of the missing Malaysia Airline flight MH370 in Lianyungang, China
The worst news: Ayu Suliasti, daughter of the Indonesian couple Sugianto and Vinny Chynthya Tio, shows pictures of her parents who were passengers on the missing plane
An aviation industry source, who wished to remain anonymous, told MailOnline: 'It was tracked flying at this altitude for 23 minutes before descending. Oxygen would have run out in 12 minutes [in a depressurised cabin], rendering the passengers unconscious.'
The 777-200ER Boeing aircraft used on the ill-fated flight has a maximum service ceiling of 43,000 feet and can very probably fly safely at even greater heights, one expert said.
