MISSING malaysia airlines jet Ships race to probe signals

Associated Press

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

A British navy ship with sophisticated sound-locating equipment arrived today in a patch of the southern Indian Ocean to determine whether underwater sounds picked up by a Chinese ship crew using a hand-held device came from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 black boxes.

Britain reported the HMS Echo had arrived in the new area. It will be in a race against time to determine what the noises are, because the battery-powered pingers that emit sounds from the black boxes are on the verge of dying out.

Meanwhile, the Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which is carrying high-tech sound detectors from the U.S. Navy, was investigating a sound it picked up in another area about 345 miles away.

Australian authorities said once it had finished that investigation, it would head to the new area to help the HMS Echo.

Searchers today were anticipating good weather, with nine military planes, three civilian planes and a total of 14 ships expected to search for Flight 370, which vanished March 8.

Hopes of finding the plane were given a boost after a Chinese ship picked up an electronic pulsing signal Friday and again Saturday.

The Ocean Shield detected a third signal in the different area Sunday.