New possible underwater ‘pings’ detected in search for missing Malaysian jet

PERTH, Australia – An Australian official says a search crew hunting for the missing Malaysian jet has located a new possible underwater signal.

The search agency co-ordinating the search off Australia’s west coast says an Australian navy aircraft on Thursday picked up a signal in the same area a ship first heard sounds consistent with an aircraft’s black boxes earlier this week.

The aircraft dropped sound-locating buoys by parachute in a pattern near where the signals were last heard.

Angus Houston, who is heading up the search, said in a statement that the plane picked up a “possible signal” that may be from a man-made source.