Unconfirmed reports have surfaced that MH370's black box has been found deep in the Indian Ocean
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he is 'very confident' the signals are from MH370, missing since March 8
Latest signal picked up in area where other pings have been heard, several hundred miles west of Perth
It was detected by an Australian P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft during an acoustic search
Possible black box signals heard for several minutes earlier this week in remote area of ocean
The search for the missing Malaysian Airline's black box involves a staggering array of sophisticated ships, aircraft and equipment, with eight countries contributing 17 vessels and 19 aircraft – including British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless.
And on Friday it looked like the scale of the operation had paid off, with reports that the fight recorder had been located deep in the Indian Ocean.
Perth radio station 6PR tweeted the discovery, citing aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas, who revealed the flight recorder had finally been found more than a month after the Boeing 777 went missing.
The black box is likely to be around 15,000 feet down and a staggering array of ships and planes are hunting it
Vigilant: Captain Flt Lt Tim McAlevey of the Royal New Zealand Air Force flying a P-3 Orion during the MH370 search
Hi-tech: Crew members of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion operate radar and sensor systems during the search
China's People's Liberation Army Navy Liaison Officer Commander Lin Wan, transits from the Luyang II class Guided Missile Destroyer Haikou (DDG-171) to board the Australian Navy ship HMAS Success as they continue to search in the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is in China, said he is 'very confident' the signals detected were from the black box from MH370.
'We have very much narrowed down the search area...and we are very confident the signals are from the black box from MH370,' he said.
'We have a series of detections, some lasting for quite a long period of time.
A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion conducts a low level fly-by before dropping supplies to Australian Navy ship HMAS Toowoomba as they continue to search for MH370 on Friday
'We're now getting to the stage from where the black box is starting to fade. We're hoping to get as much information as we can before the signal finally expires.
'I really don't want to give any more information than that at this stage...as a sign of respect to the Chinese people and their families.'
Speaking from Shanghai, China, Mr Abbott said today's discovery was a huge step in solving the mystery.
'This is probably the most difficult search in human history,' he said.
'Among tragedy, however, there is hope.
The Australian Defense vessel Ocean Shield tows a pinger locator in the first search for the missing flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder
The towed pinger locator on the deck of the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield
The search area in the Indian Ocean, West of Australia, where pinger contacts have been recorded in the search for flight MH370
The planned search area in the Indian Ocean, west of Australia, for the wreckage of flight MH370 on Friday April 11
Friday's search area in relation to previously searched sectors
'We are confident we know the position of the black box to the nearest kilometre.
'But confidence in the position is not the same as recovering the wreckage from more than 4.5km beneath the sea and finally determining all that happened on that flight.'
The fact that Mr Abbott has reportedly used the word 'confident' suggests that searchers are finally convinced that weeks of scouring the Indian Ocean might now have resulted in the discovery of the missing Boeing 777.
Mr Abbott has indicated he will first need to brief the Chinese because most of the 239 passengers were from that country.
Relatives have complained in the past of not being kept informed of progress in the search.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's government has now begun to investigate civil aviation and military authorities to determine why opportunities to identify and track Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were missed in the chaotic hours after it vanished on March 8 en route to Beijing, two officials said.
The preliminary internal enquiries come as tensions mount between civilian and military authorities over who bears most responsibility for the initial confusion and any mistakes that led to a week-long search in the wrong ocean.
HMS Tireless as it pulls out of Gibraltar in 2001. The British nuclear submarine is a crucial asset in the search for black box
HMS Echo, which has joined the search for the black box
It's thought that the black box lies 15,000 feet down in the Indian Ocean
'What happened at that time is being investigated and I can't say any more than that because it involves the military and the government,' a senior government official told Reuters.
In an interview with Reuters last weekend, Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said internal enquiries were under way, although he declined to give details.
A government spokesman did not respond to Reuters questions over whether an investigation had been launched. The senior government source said it was aimed at getting a detailed picture of the initial response. It was unclear which government department was in charge or whether a formal probe had been opened.
Malaysia's opposition coalition has demanded a parliamentary inquiry into what happened on the ground in those first few hours. Government officials have said any formal inquiry should not begin until the flight's black box recorders are found.
Investigators believe the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean based on a flight path calculated from its contacts with a satellite and analysis of its speed and fuel capacity.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he is 'very confident' the signals are from MH370, missing since March 8
Latest signal picked up in area where other pings have been heard, several hundred miles west of Perth
It was detected by an Australian P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft during an acoustic search
Possible black box signals heard for several minutes earlier this week in remote area of ocean
The search for the missing Malaysian Airline's black box involves a staggering array of sophisticated ships, aircraft and equipment, with eight countries contributing 17 vessels and 19 aircraft – including British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless.
And on Friday it looked like the scale of the operation had paid off, with reports that the fight recorder had been located deep in the Indian Ocean.
Perth radio station 6PR tweeted the discovery, citing aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas, who revealed the flight recorder had finally been found more than a month after the Boeing 777 went missing.
The black box is likely to be around 15,000 feet down and a staggering array of ships and planes are hunting it
Vigilant: Captain Flt Lt Tim McAlevey of the Royal New Zealand Air Force flying a P-3 Orion during the MH370 search
Hi-tech: Crew members of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion operate radar and sensor systems during the search
China's People's Liberation Army Navy Liaison Officer Commander Lin Wan, transits from the Luyang II class Guided Missile Destroyer Haikou (DDG-171) to board the Australian Navy ship HMAS Success as they continue to search in the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is in China, said he is 'very confident' the signals detected were from the black box from MH370.
'We have very much narrowed down the search area...and we are very confident the signals are from the black box from MH370,' he said.
'We have a series of detections, some lasting for quite a long period of time.
A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion conducts a low level fly-by before dropping supplies to Australian Navy ship HMAS Toowoomba as they continue to search for MH370 on Friday
'We're now getting to the stage from where the black box is starting to fade. We're hoping to get as much information as we can before the signal finally expires.
'I really don't want to give any more information than that at this stage...as a sign of respect to the Chinese people and their families.'
Speaking from Shanghai, China, Mr Abbott said today's discovery was a huge step in solving the mystery.
'This is probably the most difficult search in human history,' he said.
'Among tragedy, however, there is hope.
The Australian Defense vessel Ocean Shield tows a pinger locator in the first search for the missing flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder
The towed pinger locator on the deck of the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield
The search area in the Indian Ocean, West of Australia, where pinger contacts have been recorded in the search for flight MH370
The planned search area in the Indian Ocean, west of Australia, for the wreckage of flight MH370 on Friday April 11
Friday's search area in relation to previously searched sectors
'We are confident we know the position of the black box to the nearest kilometre.
'But confidence in the position is not the same as recovering the wreckage from more than 4.5km beneath the sea and finally determining all that happened on that flight.'
The fact that Mr Abbott has reportedly used the word 'confident' suggests that searchers are finally convinced that weeks of scouring the Indian Ocean might now have resulted in the discovery of the missing Boeing 777.
Mr Abbott has indicated he will first need to brief the Chinese because most of the 239 passengers were from that country.
Relatives have complained in the past of not being kept informed of progress in the search.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's government has now begun to investigate civil aviation and military authorities to determine why opportunities to identify and track Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were missed in the chaotic hours after it vanished on March 8 en route to Beijing, two officials said.
The preliminary internal enquiries come as tensions mount between civilian and military authorities over who bears most responsibility for the initial confusion and any mistakes that led to a week-long search in the wrong ocean.
HMS Tireless as it pulls out of Gibraltar in 2001. The British nuclear submarine is a crucial asset in the search for black box
HMS Echo, which has joined the search for the black box
It's thought that the black box lies 15,000 feet down in the Indian Ocean
'What happened at that time is being investigated and I can't say any more than that because it involves the military and the government,' a senior government official told Reuters.
In an interview with Reuters last weekend, Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said internal enquiries were under way, although he declined to give details.
A government spokesman did not respond to Reuters questions over whether an investigation had been launched. The senior government source said it was aimed at getting a detailed picture of the initial response. It was unclear which government department was in charge or whether a formal probe had been opened.
Malaysia's opposition coalition has demanded a parliamentary inquiry into what happened on the ground in those first few hours. Government officials have said any formal inquiry should not begin until the flight's black box recorders are found.
Investigators believe the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean based on a flight path calculated from its contacts with a satellite and analysis of its speed and fuel capacity.
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