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New possible pings detected in search for MH370

PERTH — An Australian aircraft hunting for the missing Malaysian jet picked up a new possible underwater signal today (April 10) in the same area search crews detected sounds earlier in the week that were consistent with an aircraft’s black boxes.

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion flies past the Australian navy vessel Ocean Shield as it drops sonar buoys to assist in the search for missing MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean in this picture released by the Australian Defence Force on April 9, 2014. Photo: Reuters

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion flies past the Australian navy vessel Ocean Shield as it drops sonar buoys to assist in the search for missing MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean in this picture released by the Australian Defence Force on April 9, 2014. Photo: Reuters

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PERTH — An Australian aircraft hunting for the missing Malaysian jet picked up a new possible underwater signal today (April 10) in the same area search crews detected sounds earlier in the week that were consistent with an aircraft’s black boxes.

The Australian navy P-3 Orion, which has been dropping sound-locating buoys into the water near where the original sounds were heard, picked up a “possible signal” that may be from a man-made source, said former air chief marshal Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search off Australia’s west coast.

“The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight,” Mr Houston said in a statement.

If confirmed, this would be the fifth underwater signal picked up in the hunt for Flight 370, which vanished over a month ago on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

On Tuesday, the Australian vessel Ocean Shield picked up two underwater sounds, and an analysis of two other sounds detected in the same general area on Saturday showed they were consistent with a plane’s flight recorders, or “black boxes”.

The Australian navy has been dropping buoys from planes in a pattern near where the Ocean Shield’s signals were heard.

Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Leavy said each buoy is dangling a hydrophone listening device about 300m below the surface. The hope, he said, is the buoys will help better pinpoint the signals. AP

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