Chinese Ship Detects Possible Black Box Signal in Search for Missing Plane

The Haixun 31 maritime patrol vessel, China's largest maritime patrol ship.

Image: Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

This could be it.

A Chinese ship searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected a pulse signal on the same frequency used by black boxes, according to the Chinese Xinhua News Agency.

The Haixun 01 heard the ping with a frequency of 37.5 kHz about 1,050 miles off Perth, Australia in the southern Indian Ocean, significant because it's not a sound of nature or animals in the ocean â€" it's man made. Two other ships that searched the area on Saturday â€" the Royal Navy's H.M.S. Echo and the Royal Australian Navy's Ocean Shield â€" reported no findings.

This could mean the Chinese are using equipment in the search not previously disclosed to the Australian authorities, according to Mary Shiavo, former Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation.

The signal was reportedly picked up at 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east latitude, and comes as a Chinese plane reported spotting a number of white objects floating in the search area.

Australian Defense Minister David Johnston warns that even if this turns out to be Flight 370's black box â€" and it's not clear if it is â€" it could take weeks to find its location on the sea bed. "There's a huge chance of false positives here," he warned.

The Malaysian prime minister was informed of the development by the Chinese government a few hours ago.

Up to ten military planes, three civil jets and 11 ships searched the area on Saturday. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it continues to refine the search area where the aircraft reportedly entered the water “based on continuing ground-breaking and multi-disciplinary technical analysis of satellite communication and aircraft performance, passed from the international air crash investigative team comprising analysts from Malaysia, the United States, the UK, China and Australia.”

The plane has been missing since March 8 when it vanished from the skies as it entered Vietnamese airspace â€" and hasn't been heard from since. There were 239 people on board, and their families want answers.

The search to find the plane's black box is running out of time. Batteries in the flight recorders only last 30 days, meaning the black box could go silent as soon as Monday. If that happens, we might never know what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

It would forever be one of modern aviation's biggest mysteries.

This story is breaking. We'll continue updating it as new details become available...