Missing Plane: 'No Time Limit' To Search

The "extraordinarily difficult" search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane will go on for as long as possible, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said.

He said the best brains in the world were trying to solve the mystery of what happened to flight MH370, which vanished more than three weeks ago with 239 people on board.

Ten aircraft and 10 ships are now searching the ocean 1,200 miles (2,000km) off the western coast of Australia for debris from the Boeing 777, which was travelling from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to the Chinese capital Beijing.

Speaking at Pearce Airbase in Perth, which is home for the search teams scouring the southern Indian Ocean, Mr Abbott said crews were "well, well short" of any point where they would scale back their efforts.

Mr Abbott pledged: "If this mystery is solvable, we will solve it."

People light candles during a vigil to remember passengers of flight MH370

He told journalists at a news conference: "I'm certainly not putting a time limit on it. We can keep searching for quite some time to come and we will keep searching for quite some time to come."

"The intensity of our search and the magnitude of operations is increasing, not decreasing."

Mr Abbott rejected suggestions his Malaysian counterpart had been too quick to say the plane had crashed into the ocean.

"No, the accumulation of evidence is that the aircraft has been lost and it has been lost somewhere in the south of the Indian Ocean," he said.

Najib Razak said last week that based on satellite evidence the plane had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysian authorities believe the flight was deliberately diverted off course.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott on his visit to the base

The majority of the passengers on board were Chinese, and Beijing has been critical of Malaysia's handling of the investigation.

But the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial today that it was understandable that not all sensitive information could be made public.

It comes as Chinese relatives of passengers fly to Malaysia to demand an apology, accusing officials there of "delays and deception".

"Although the Malaysian government's handling of the crisis has been quite clumsy, we need to understand that this is perhaps the most bizarre incident in Asian civil aviation history," the editorial said.

Monday's search involves 10 aircraft and 10 ships

"Public opinion should not blame the Malaysian authorities for deliberately covering up information in the absence of hard evidence."

The search area is close to an area of the Indian Ocean where the currents drag rubbish and flotsam.

A number of objects have been spotted, but none of those retrieved so far has been from the plane.

One of the vessels due to join the search in the coming days is an Australian defence force ship that has been fitted with a US black box locator and underwater drone.

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Climate Change: 'We're All Sitting Ducks'

Flooding, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires will pose a massive threat to humans in the future as climate change worsens, a major United Nations report has warned.

The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the impact of global warming was already being felt and would increase with every additional degree that temperatures rose.

The world is in "an era of man-made climate change" and has already seen impacts of global warming on every continent and across the oceans, the report said.

And experts warned that in many cases, people are ill-prepared to cope with the risks of a changing climate.

The White House said it is taking the report as a call for action, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying: "Waiting is truly unaffordable. The costs of inaction are catastrophic."

Sao Paolo, Brazil, was recently hit by a drought

Food security will be hit by reduced yields in wheat, rice and maize crops, while climate change will also exacerbate existing health problems, and lead to more heatwave-related deaths, malnutrition and disease, the report said.

Increasing numbers of people are set to be displaced by extreme weather events, and the impacts of rising temperatures could help increase the risk of violent conflicts by worsening problems such as poverty.

The report's publication has renewed calls from scientists and campaigners for action to cut greenhouse gases and to help vulnerable people adapt to "already-unavoidable impacts of climate change".

Vicente Barros, co-chair of the IPCC study, from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, said: "We live in an era of man-made climate change.

"In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future."

Princeton University professor Michael Oppenheimer, one of the main authors of the 32-volume report, warned: "We're all sitting ducks."

Risks of coastal and inland flooding in UK 'is set to increase'

Professor Sam Fankhauser, of the London School of Economics and a contributing author to the report, said: "In the UK and the rest of northern Europe, we will need to cope with increasing risks from coastal and inland flooding, heatwaves and droughts.

"The UK and all rich countries must also provide significant support to help poor countries, which are particularly vulnerable, to cope with the impacts of climate change."

The report is the second chapter of the fifth assessment by the IPCC, set up in 1988 to provide neutral, science-based guidance to governments.

The last overview, published in 2007, unleashed a wave of political action that strived but failed to forge a worldwide treaty on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.

The new document, unveiled in Yokohama in Japan after a five-day meeting, gives the starkest warning yet by the IPCC of extreme consequences from climate change, and delves into greater detail than ever before into the impact at regional level.

It builds on previous IPCC forecasts that global temperatures will rise 0.3-4.8C (0.5-8.6F) this century, on top of roughly 0.7C since the Industrial Revolution.

Seas will rise by 26-82cm (10-32in) by 2100, it is predicted.

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Missing Plane: Lessons May Take 'Years'

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

Some have said black boxes should be made to float to the surface

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

A new area is being searched after analysis of MH370 data

Salvage expert David Mears, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

Change takes 'years' in the airline industry, says David Mears

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

Planes spotted two objects in the new search area

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

The backgrounds of the Malaysia Airlines pilots have been scrutinised

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

Captain Clayton Osbon had a psychotic episode in the cockpit

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Pilot suicide is the suspected cause of the 1997 SilkAir flight crash

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

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Missing Plane: Ship Arrives To Collect Objects

Missing Plane: Lessons May Take 'Years'

Updated: 1:47am UK, Saturday 29 March 2014

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

Salvage expert David Mears, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

12.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brit Found Dead Near Burning Boat In Caribbean

By Richard Williams, Sky News Online

A British man has been found dead near a burning boat in the Caribbean, prompting a police hunt for his Norwegian girlfriend.

Police in St Vincent told Sky News that 53-year-old John Edward Garner was discovered with head injuries just off the coast of the island after reports a yacht was on fire.

He was travelling with a Norwegian woman, Heidi Hukkelaas, who is believed to have been his girlfriend.

St Vincent police commissioner Michael Charles told Sky News "foul play" was a possibility but added: "At this stage we are certainly looking at all lines of inquiry."

Winston Simmons, who knew Mr Garner and his family, said he believed there had been an accidental explosion on the yacht caused by a gas bottle.

He said Ms Hukkelaas left the island on Tuesday to return the Norway, where the couple lived.

Mr Garner had permission to say in St Vincent until April 19

Diver Kay Wilson was one of the first to arrive at the burning yacht.

She told Sky News the flames had "completely engulfed the vessel" by the time she arrived.

"I was out with a group of divers," she said. "We'd gone out to do a dive trip and one of my crew members saw the smoke on the horizon.

"We made our way over there ... When we reached about a quarter of a mile off we saw a flashing light, which we would normally associate with a life jacket.

"We approached cautiously and we found somebody in the water, with the life jacket around their neck, approximately 150 to 200 feet away from the yacht at the time."

Mr Garner's body was found around 15 nautical miles west of Buccament, in the southwest of the island, on Wednesday afternoon.

He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, in Kingstown.

Mr Charles said Mr Garner and Ms Hukkelaas arrived on the island on January 19 and had secured permission to remain there until April 19.

The Foreign Office told Sky News they were aware of the death of a British national in St Vincent and were providing consular assistance to the family.

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Missing Malaysia Plane 'Was Travelling Faster'

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has shifted after data suggested it was travelling faster than previously thought.

Analysis of radar from before contact with flight MH370 was lost indicates the plane was burning up fuel more quickly and may not have travelled as far south over the Indian Ocean.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau described the data as the "most credible lead to where debris may be located".

Search teams have been relocated to scour an area 685 miles northeast of the zone they had been operating in.

Some 10 aircraft, including nine military planes, are involved and six ships are being sent to the region.

Experts will also trawl through satellite images of the new search zone to identify any possible crash sites.

The development comes after images from a Thai satellite showed 300 objects ranging from two to 15 metres in size scattered in the sea about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.

A French satellite spotted more than 120 objects floating in the ocean, while Japan is also reported to have captured aerial images of 10 items.

Search teams are using 10 planes in an attempt to find missing flight MH370

It is not known whether any of the objects are from the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The plane is thought to have crashed with the loss of all 239 people on board after flying thousands of miles off course.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, said events of the past week, which included telling passengers' relatives the jet had crashed in the Indian Ocean, had been "difficult for everyone".

"Ever since the disappearance of flight MH370, our focus has been to comfort and support the families of those involved and support the multi-national search effort," he said.

Investigators had been searching an area southwest of Perth

"We will continue to do this, while we also continue to support the work of the investigating authorities."

He added: "Whilst we understand there will inevitably be speculation during this period, we do ask people to bear in mind the effect this has on the families of all those on board.

"Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumour and with each false or misleading report."

The search for the missing plane resumed after it was suspended earlier this week because of poor weather off the coast of Australia.

Prayers and messages of support left on a wall at Kuala Lumpur airport

Heavy rain, strong winds and low cloud caused reduced visibility and forced aircraft to turn back.

Distraught relatives of the 150 Chinese passengers on board the plane continue to voice their anger and frustration at the speed of the investigation.

Some Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families, according to the state news agency.

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Domestic Abuse Victims Being Failed By Police

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

Police forces in England and Wales have been told their response to domestic violence is not good enough, and that substantial and urgent reforms are needed.

A review ordered by Home Secretary Theresa May found many victims of violence felt they were not believed, that some officers were unsympathetic or had a poor attitude, and the other crimes were treated as a higher priority. 

In a review of 600 cases, the report found that in half of incidents where the victim had received visible injuries, the police had failed to take photographs as evidence. 

The findings prompted one charity to call for a public inquiry into how the state deals with victims.

Mrs May called the report "disturbing" and has promised to chair regular meetings to ensure the recommendations are implemented.

The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found that in a 12-month period there were more than one million calls to the police for help in dealing with a domestic abuse incident, that six women were murdered every month by their partners or ex-partners, and that domestic violence made up 8% of all crimes committed. 

A third of victims say they felt no safer or less safe after calling police

But despite those shocking figures, the issue is not treated as a high enough priority by force commanders, or individual officers.

The report concluded that while senior officers will talk about it being a high priority, that view does not translate into action on the ground.

Zoe Billingham, the Inspector of Constabulary who wrote the report, said: "Police leaders told us that talking domestic abuse is important, but in the majority of forces it is a priority on paper only and not in practise. 

"It is deeply disappointing that the stated intent is not translating into an operational reality. Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for assistance relating to domestic abuse.

"We believe that the findings of this report should be a wake-up call for the police service; domestic abuse must no longer be the poor relation to other policing activity."

HMIC monitored police officers at work and spoke to victims. 

One woman told them: "Last year one officer came out and his radio was going and I heard him say, 'It's a DV (domestic violence), we'll be a few minutes and we'll go to the next job.' And I thought - thanks a lot, that's my life."  

Police responses to abuse are a 'lottery'

Another said: "They didn't take it seriously until something happened in public. That's what happened to me - me and my kids living in fear, being locked in rooms and stuff - police not taking it seriously until he hit me in a club in the middle of everybody. Then they were there like that and arrested him like that. It was no different to what we experienced behind closed doors."

Another contributor to the report told Sky News of her experience when she called to report that an ex-boyfriend had broken into her apartment and assaulted her. 

"The response I had from them, from their first officer onwards, was appalling. The officer had seen the perpetrator before me, and he gave them a false version of events, and by the time they came to see me they weren't interested in what I had to say. He showed total disinterest. They are supposed to be impartial, unbiased and he almost had it in for me.

"I said to him, I don't know why you're treating me like this. You haven't taken a statement from me. You haven't looked around. I had marks on my arm where I had been assaulted. And he walked out of my flat and slammed my door shut. That is how insensitive his approach was."

Another victim articulated her perception that the police were more likely to listen to a man, even if he is accused of being violent.

"Across all my experiences with the police, both positive and negative, one connecting factor is they listen to the man," she said. "Even when he is the perpetrator. They always listen to the man."

Although 79% of 500 victims who responded to an online survey said they were satisfied with the initial police response, 14% said officers were unhelpful, and a third said they felt no safer or less safe despite contacting the police.

Victims described a lack of empathy from those sent to investigate, and HMIC concluded that it was a "lottery" whether they got an officer who was properly trained to deal with the complaint.

Theresa May called the report 'disturbing'

Mrs May said the report was disturbing and demanded a response. 

She told Sky News: "It shows significant failings of visible police leadership. It shows a lack of the right attitude to victims and it also shows sadly police even failing to gather evidence of the crimes that were being committed. 

"So we need to see a change of police culture and that has to start from the top. It must be top-down throughout policing. What this report shows is that this is about the culture and attitude of the police. It is not good enough. 

"This is about people's lives. Too many women lose their lives as a result of domestic violence. The police attitude needs to change."

Men are victims of domestic violence as well as women, but 96% of cases deemed "high-risk" are women. 

HMIC say they found no evidence that female officers were better at dealing with the issue than their male counterparts. 

While Lancashire Constabulary was praised for its approach, four other forces were criticised and re-inspections ordered - Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire and Greater Manchester.

While most forces have a specialist domestic violence department, Bedfordshire Police employed just one individual with that specific responsibility. 

Sandra Horley, the chief executive of Refuge, said: "It is a national disgrace that decades after Refuge opened the world's first safe house for victims of domestic violence, the police are still not responding appropriately to women and children's cries for help."

Refuge says the wider investigation into how the police, local authorities and the Crown Prosecution Service deal with the subject should take the form of a public inquiry.

The HMIC report details 11 recommendations including a national oversight team to meet and report on progress every three months and for every force to publish an action plan on improving its approach.

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MH370 Search Suspended Due To Bad Weather

Australian officials have called off the hunt for wreckage from flight MH370 for the second time this week due to dangerous conditions.

International search teams set off early Thursday morning local time for an area of the southern Indian Ocean where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field.

But by early afternoon Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the hunt, said all planes and ships had to leave the search zone due to heavy rains, strong winds, low clouds and reduced visibility.

Neil Bennett, from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, had warned there would only have "a narrow window of opportunity" on Thursday.

The search was also called off earlier this week for 24 hours because of the conditions.

Another weather system is moving in to the search zone. Pic: bom.gov.au

Crews were racing to find any sign of the Malaysia Airlines plane before the weather deteriorated after a French satellite earlier spotted 122 objects, suspected to be debris, around 1,550 miles (2,500 km) southwest of Perth.

Malaysian officials said the items, between one metre and 23 metres in length, were in an area measuring around 155 square miles (400 sq km).

There have now been four separate satellite leads - from Australia, China and France - showing what could be debris.

But it is not currently known if any of the objects are connected to MH370, which disappeared on March 8 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said crews saw objects while searching on Wednesday, but the items were later lost.

New satellite images continue to provide clues in the hunt for MH370

"Three objects were spotted on Wednesday by two aircraft but were not able to be relocated despite several passes," it said.

"They were unrelated to the credible satellite imagery provided to AMSA."

The failure to zero in on any possible debris despite the visuals from crews and numerous satellite images highlights the logistical difficulties of the search area.

It has some of the deepest and roughest waters in the world, roiled by the "roaring forties" winds that cut across the sea.

The winds are named for the area between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees where there is no land mass to slow down gusts which create waves higher than six metres (19ft).

A Japanese P-3 Orion has been out searching for debris

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

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MH370 Search Teams 'Right To Call Off Operation'

Dangerous conditions have forced Australian authorities to call off the search for flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, which is affected by volatile weather at the best of times.

The international hunt was suspended late on Tuesday (early Wednesday local time) due to six-metre (20ft) waves, 50mph (80kph) gale-force winds and low-hanging clouds.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) hopes to restart the hunt later in the day as the conditions are forecast to improve.

Marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News that Tropical Cyclone Gillian, to the north of the search zone, has combined with a low-pressure system to cause the wild conditions in the search zone off the Western Australian coast.

Tropical Cyclone Gilian is affecting the search zone to the south

"The cyclone is a long way from the search area but unfortunately with these cyclones, they are such big beasts, they influence a vast area," said Dr Beaman, from Cairns James Cook University.

"What's happened is it's combined with a low-pressure system that's also sweeping in affecting the whole western coast of Western Australia. And it reaches far down south into the search area."

Former Australian Air Force crew member Mark Ryan has extensive experience flying the P-3 Orion aircraft being used in the search off the West Australian coast.

He told Sky News it was essential the search was suspended in such dangerous weather conditions.

"When the sea is so rough and you've got gale-force winds out there, mini tornadoes, or sea spouts, are whipped up," he said.

"They appear on radar as a radar contact so the crew get excited and the crew start honing in on one of these water spouts but you actually don't see it until the last minute."

The crew on board an Australian P3-Orion

The low-pressure system is expected to leave the area within a few days, but Cyclone Gillian, although weakening, will likely stay around for longer.

Dr Beaman said: "We can expect that once the low-pressure system that's causing the inclement weather in the search area moves to the east, behind it should be some better weather."

Surface currents are also being tracked to try and estimate the effect of the weather on the movement of any possible debris.

The region where the search zone lies is known for its huge swells and waves.

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," Dr Beaman said.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

Malaysian officials said they were now sure flight MH370 crashed in the remote Indian Ocean with the loss of all 239 people on board.

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Malaysia Airlines Defends MH370 Investigation

Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has said he will decide later whether to resign over the disappearance of MH370.

"This is a time of extraordinary emotions," Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said.

Malaysian Airlines held a news conference in Kuala Lumpur to say it was supporting the relatives of all those on board amid criticism of its handling of the crisis.

But it came as dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers clashed with police at Malaysia's embassy in Beijing.

Cyclone Gillian is hampering the search efforts

"Return our relatives," around 200 family members cried at the gates.

Scuffles broke out as uniformed security personnel attempted to block some of the relatives from reaching reporters, who were being kept in a designated area.

The protest came as the air and sea search for debris from the plane, which disappeared on March 8, was suspended due to bad weather and rough seas.

Chinese Air Force crew returned to the base after the search was suspended

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the hunt had to be called off for the day due to gale force winds, rain and big waves. 

"AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew," it said.

"Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions."

HMAS Success has left the search area due to rough seas

AMSA said the weather is expected to improve in the evening local time.

The Australian navy ship HMAS Success, which tried to find debris seen by a plane and satellite, has headed south of the search area to get out of the rough seas.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak earlier announced that after 17 days investigators were convinced the plane, with 239 people on board, went off course and crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

Families had been waiting since March 8 for news

He said satellite data provided by UK company Inmarsat showed MH370's last recorded position was in the middle of the ocean west of Perth, Australia.

Several satellite images of potential debris in that area had been picked up ahead of the announcement, with French, Australian, American and Chinese authorities all capturing images of possible debris.

Malaysia's PM Najib Razak announced that the plane crashed

Hopes had been high that wreckage would be found after two new objects - a green circular item and an orange rectangular one - were spotted by an Australian military plane on Monday.

This followed larger "white and square" objects seen by a Chinese plane.

Distraught relatives at a Beijing hotel

The search is a race against time as the battery life of the locator beacon in the black boxes may run out in the next two weeks.

The US military has sent a black box locator and a robotic underwater vehicle to help the hunt.

The mystery of why the plane, which was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, veered so far off course remains unsolved ahead of a press conference on Wednesday, when more details will be revealed.

Malaysia's police chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar, earlier reiterated that all the passengers had been cleared of suspicion.

But he said the pilots and crew were still being investigated.

He would not comment on whether officials had recovered the files that were deleted a month earlier from the home flight simulator of the chief pilot.

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Missing Jet: 'White And Square Objects Found'

Missing Plane Mystery: Pilot's Simulator 'Key'

Updated: 6:11am UK, Sunday 23 March 2014

The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane invested vast amounts of time and money in an ultra-realistic flight simulator that is being pored over by investigators trying to solve the mystery of the jet's disappearance.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah spent thousands of hours in the virtual cockpit of the machine playing flying games and boosting its capabilities.

The state-of-the-art setup is a key part of the investigation into flight MH370, which has been missing for more than two weeks.

There is no evidence Mr Zaharie was responsible for the loss of the jet, and it is not uncommon for pilots to enjoy flying so much they have simulators at home.

In a post on an online message board in 2012 he posted a picture of his finished simulator, calling it "awesome" and adding it was his "passion".

The simulator was seized from the 53-year-old's home west of Kuala Lumpur by police last week, and its capabilities are extraordinary.

Mr Zaharie's simulator setup included a motion controller, which made the chair pitch and turn like in a real cockpit in order to simulate the climbs, descents and banked turns of a real plane.

There was also a centre pedestal, where aircraft controls are located, and an overhead panel.

The software would have allowed him to practise landing at more than 33,000 airports, on aircraft carriers, oil rigs, frigates and helipads on top of buildings.

Mr Zaharie would also have been able to use the internet to fly with friends and simulate "a lot of malfunctions, emergencies, go-arounds, return-to-base or divert with fairly exact procedures", said Naoya Fujiwara, a flight simulator expert from Japan.

Mr Fujiwara added he could have simulated weather conditions and even downloaded real weather, wind and temperature information from a professional server.

One thing he could not have simulated was evading radar. There has been speculation the jet could have flown as low as 5,000ft using "terrain masking" to try to avoid radar, claims Malaysian authorities have rejected.

Investigators are looking at the games he was running, including Microsoft's "Flight Simulator" series and the latest "X-plane" title.

"Looking through the flight logs in these simulator games is a key part of the investigation," an official with direct knowledge of the investigation said.

"X-plane 10 was interesting to investigators because it was the latest thing Zaharie bought. Also it is the most advanced out there and had all sorts of emergency and combat scenarios."

The authorities in the country have also asked the FBI for help with memory recovery after discovering some data was deleted from the simulator on February 3.

Given the large amount of memory computers have, it is unclear why this happened. It could have been part of a regular maintenance routine or to help improve the simulator's performance, other users say.

The exact cost of Mr Zaharie's simulator is not known, but a rough estimate puts the sum at several thousands of pounds.

Costs vary on the parts used. A replica Boeing-737 seat from Flight Simulator Centre, a website which sells simulators, costs almost £3,000 ($5,000). An overhead panel listed on another website costs £400 ($800).

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Russians Seize Base As Troops Amass On Border

Russian troops have seized a Ukrainian naval base in Crimea amid growing fears of a fresh Russian incursion into Ukraine.

The base, in Feodosia, was one of the last few military facilities flying a Ukrainian flag after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

A Ukrainian military spokesman told Reuters the Russian soldiers forced their way in with the help of helicopters.

Russian troops violently flushed out other remaining pockets of Ukrainian military influence in Crimea on Saturday, smashing armoured vehicles through the walls of Belbek air force base in a swift takeover.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the Belbek air base

As G7 leaders are prepare to discuss the crisis at a summit, Nato's top commander in Europe has warned that Russia's military force massing on Ukraine's border was "very, very sizeable and very, very ready".

General Philip Breedlove said he was worried the Russian military could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," he said.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land to Ukraine's southwest, already has a Russian military presence and most people there favour a union with the country.

General Breedlove is concerned about the size of Russia's troop build-up

White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken echoed the suggestion that President Putin could be plotting further action.

"It's deeply concerning to see the Russian troop build-up on the border," he told CNN.

"It creates the potential for incidents, for instability. It's likely that what they're trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they're preparing to move in."

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed papers making Crimea part of Russia, saying it was complying with international agreements and had no plans to invade.

There are fears Russian forces are eyeing Ukraine's Transdniestria region

It has also called the soldiers who took over Ukrainian bases in Crimea "self-defence forces".

Most experts agree there is no way of winning back Crimea from Russia.

Today leaders of the G7 nations will hold emergency talks on the crisis on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in The Hague.

The US and European Union have already targeted some of Mr Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if his forces encroach on other parts of Ukraine with large Russian-speaking populations.

Germany, which has close trade ties with Moscow, said the EU was united in its readiness to impose sanctions on Russia if necessary.

"None of us wants to escalate, but if Russia changes things unilaterally, then it must know that we won't accept it and that relations will be bad," German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Crimea landgrab 'cannot be won back', say experts

Prime Minister David Cameron has even suggested that Russia could be expelled from the G8 bloc of nations.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but said the annexation set a "bad precedent".

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said European powers had not done enough to help his country.

"The US is more resolute in their actions and words. We appreciate what Europe is doing (but) we would have liked a more aggressive approach," said Mr Khandogiy.

"If I'm asked if Europe has done enough I would say no."

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Missing Plane: 'Criminal Act' Behind Mystery

Missing Plane Probe 'May Provide No Answers'

Updated: 5:10pm UK, Thursday 20 March 2014

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

One of the world's top air crash investigators has said finding a possible human cause for the disappearance of flight MH370 may be the only way of solving the mystery.

Thomas Anthony, a former security chief with the Federal Aviation Administration, told Sky News finding the aircraft, which disappeared nearly a fortnight ago with 239 people on board, is vital to solving many of the unanswered questions.

It comes after an American scientist who found the wreckage of an Air France plane, which crashed in 2009, claimed investigators may "never find out what happened".

"If the aircraft breaks, the technical investigation will likely disclose the causes," Mr Anthony said.

But he warned: "If the human breaks, the technical investigation may actually provide no answers to what caused the accident, incident or crash."

His comments come as the FBI is brought in to help analyse files deleted from a flight simulator belonging to Malaysia Airlines pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Records of simulations were deleted on February 3, although investigators insist Mr Zaharie is innocent until proven guilty.

Mr Anthony, director of the world renowned Aviation Security and Safety Programme at the University of Southern California (USC), criticised officials for failing to speak with a "single investigative voice".

He also said he believes Malaysian authorities failed to prepare for a major air disaster.

As news of a possible sighting of debris was announced, the US also offered to help in any way it can.

Officials from both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are in Malaysia to assist with the investigation.

Most air accident investigators will at some point turn to the USC's crash lab.

Sky News was given access to its vast warehouse in eastern Los Angeles, where the wreckage of numerous aircraft is stored.

Project specialist Daniel Scalese said: "The answers are all here. It does look like a bunch of twisted wreckage but the answers are all here if you know where to look and what to look for."

The USC team said aviation has benefited from the public attention on air disasters as safety continues to improve.

They point to figures showing only 0.4 of every one million flights result in a crash.

Generally, they claim, a chain of five or six factors lead to an accident and discovering just one of those can lead to huge advances.

Mr Anthony said: "We don't have to wait for the final analysis to learn some lessons."

The investigation into the disappearance of flight MH370 is looking at a number of theories, including hijacking, sabotage and terrorism, as well as a fault with the plane, such as a fire in the cockpit.

Authorities believe someone on board intentionally switched off two vital pieces of communication equipment and deliberately diverted the aircraft.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours after it was turned back across Malaysia towards the Strait of Malacca.

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Malaysia Airlines Plane Debris Search Resumes

The hunt for objects that could be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has entered a third day in the southern Indian Ocean.

Saturday's search will involve six aircraft and cover 13,900 square miles (36,000 square kilometres) of ocean south west of Perth in western Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "It's about the most inaccessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the Earth, but if there is anything down there, we will find it.

A plane embarks on Saturday's search

"We owe it to the families and the friends and the loved ones of the almost 240 people on Flight MH370 to do everything we can to try to resolve what is as yet an extraordinary riddle."

The plane disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing two weeks ago with 239 people on board, the majority of them from China.

Authorities face a race against time to locate the plane's black box voice and data recorder, which only transmits an electronic signal for 30 days before running out of battery.

After that it will be much harder to locate the piece of equipment that is likely to hold the key to solving the mystery of what happened to the plane.

Three Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion aircraft, a New Zealand P3 RAAF Orion aircraft and two ultra long-range commercial jets with 10 volunteer observers on board make up the latest search team scouring an area 1,200 miles (2,000km) from the Australian mainland.

The jets and the P3 Orion left Perth at 9am local time (10pm UK time) and took four hours to reach the search area.

The vast distance only allows the Orions two hours of search time before they must head back to Perth. The jets will be able to stay for five hours.

The two objects that could be debris from the missing plane

Two merchant ships are currently in the area, and are due to be joined by the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success later on Saturday afternoon.

Two Chinese aircraft are expected to arrive in Perth on Saturday, followed by two Japanese planes on Sunday. A flotilla of Chinese ships is making its way to the southern Indian Ocean, although it is still several days away.

Potential pieces of debris from the Boeing 777 were spotted by satellite last Sunday, but were only revealed on Thursday after analysis.

One object is thought to be 24 metres (72 feet) in length and the other about five metres.

The sightings have been deemed the most credible lead in the search to date, but some experts have warned the larger of the two objects could be a shipping container.

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss has also admitted the objects could have sunk by now.

A Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion returns from Friday's search

Poor weather hampered the first day of the search on Thursday, but conditions are expected to be good on Saturday.

The planes are expected to fly low under cloud cover rather than rely on radar, a repeat of the procedure followed on Friday.

The US is considering a request from Malaysia for underwater surveillance equipment to help in the search.

The Pentagon says it has spent $2.5m (£1.5m) providing ships and aircraft for the hunt, and has budgeted for a further $1.5m (£900,000).

Despite the focus of the search shifting south, authorities are renewing their search of the Andaman Sea between India and Thailand.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the country welcomed "all assistance to continue to follow all credible leads" in what was a "long haul" operation.

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Flight MH370: Latest Developments At A Glance

The search for possible debris of missing flight MH370 has entered its second day.

This is what we know:

:: Five aircraft will be involved in today's search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

:: Three Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orions, a civil Gulfstream jet and a US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft are being used.

:: Due to the distance to and from the target area, the aircraft involved have approximately two hours of search time.

:: One merchant vessel is currently in the search area.

:: A second merchant vessel is due to arrive tonight.

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Missing Malaysian Jet: Search For Debris Resumes

The search for two large objects that may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet has resumed in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said Friday's operation would involve five aircraft, including three RAAF Orions, and a US Navy P8 Poseidon.

The planes are scouring a remote area of 8,800 sq miles (23,000 sq km).

A Norwegian merchant ship - the first vessel to reach the vicinity - has been using searchlights through the night to try to locate the objects.

The area where the search will concentrate on today

They were spotted by a satellite last Sunday and could potentially be debris from flight MH370.

One is thought to be 24 metres in length and the other about five metres.

Thursday search was hampered by strong winds, cloud and rain.

The sightings have been deemed "credible" and a "potentially important development" by authorities - as the search for the passenger plane enters its 13th day.

Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which is capable of retrieving debris, is also en route to the search area but is some days away.

Satellite images show the possible plane debris

A British naval survey ship, HMS Echo, is also heading to the region.

There has been no trace of the aircraft since it vanished from radar a short distance into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

Wider searches, including of a northern corridor from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, are set to continue until investigators are certain they have located the plane. Some 18 ships and 29 aircraft are taking part.

Those areas were targeted after faint electronic "pings" picked up by one commercial satellite suggested flight MH370 flew on for at least six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens.

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Missing Plane: 'Objects May Be MH370 Debris'

Two objects possibly related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been spotted, the Australian Prime Minister has said.

Tony Abbott said potential debris from the Boeing 777 had been spotted on satellite imagery in the south Indian Ocean.

There is no indication of what the objects might be, although an Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokesman said the objects were of a "reasonable size", with one about 25 metres in length.

In a statement to MPs, Mr Abbott said a Royal Australian Air Force jet and three further aircraft have been "tasked with a more intensive follow-up search".

Mr Abbott briefs MPs about the sighting of two potential objects from MH370

He described the reported sighting, about 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth, as "credible" and a "potentially important development".

But he warned: "The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out they are not related to search for MH370."

The search for the missing plane has been focussed on two specific corridors, one of which extends towards the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Military planes from Australia, the US and New Zealand have been scouring the vast area, which was halved in size to 118,000 sq miles (305,000 sq km) on Wednesday.

Australian search teams have been scouring the Indian Ocean

There has been no trace of the aircraft since it vanished from radar a short distance into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Investigators believe two vital pieces of communication equipment were intentionally switched off and the aircraft deliberately diverted, potentially taking it thousands of miles off course.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours after it was turned back across Malaysia towards the Strait of Malacca.

Aviation expert Captain Jon Cox told Sky News that if the objects are confirmed as debris from flight MH370, they are likely to include seat cushions and items of baggage that would float for a considerable amount of time.

Relatives of missing passengers are led away by Malaysian officials

The development comes after a news conference was interrupted by relatives frustrated at a lack of information from officials.

There were chaotic scenes as two women were bundled out and shut in another room before being led away.

Investigators are considering a number of theories about what happened to the aircraft, including hijacking, sabotage and terrorism.

However, background checks on all foreign passengers bar three from Ukraine and Russia have yielded "no information of significance", Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Files from a flight simulator used by the plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, are being examined by experts at the FBI, after it was revealed data was deleted last month.

The pilot is considered innocent until proven guilty and members of his family are co-operating with the the investigation, Mr Hishammuddin said.

More follows...

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Missing Plane Probe 'May Provide No Answers'

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

One of the world's top air crash investigators has said finding a possible human cause for the disappearance of flight MH370 may be the only way of solving the mystery.

Thomas Anthony, a former security chief with the Federal Aviation Administration, told Sky News finding the aircraft, which disappeared nearly a fortnight ago with 239 people on board, is vital to solving many of the unanswered questions.

It comes after an American scientist who found the wreckage of an Air France plane claimed investigators may "never find out what happened".

"If the aircraft breaks, the technical investigation will likely disclose the causes," Mr Anthony said.

But he warned: "If the human breaks, the technical investigation may actually provide no answers to what caused the accident, incident or crash."

His comments come as the FBI is brought in to help analyse files deleted from a flight simulator belonging to Malaysia Airlines pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Records of simulations were deleted on February 3, although investigators insist Mr Zaharie is innocent until proven guilty.

Mr Anthony, director of the world renowned Aviation Security and Safety Programme at the University of Southern California (USC), criticsed officials for failing to speak with a "single investigative voice".

He also said he believes Malaysian authorities failed to prepare for a major air disaster.

As news of a possible sighting of debris was announced, the US also offered to help in any way it can.

Officials from both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are in Malaysia to assist with the investigation.

Most air accident investigators will at some point turn to the USC's crash lab.

Sky News was given access to its vast warehouse in eastern Los Angeles, where the wreckage of numerous aircraft is stored.

Project specialist Daniel Scalese said: "The answers are all here. It does look like a bunch of twisted wreckage but the answers are all here if you know where to look and what to look for."

The USC team said aviation has benefitted from the public attention on air disasters as safety continues to improve.

They point to figures showing only 0.4 of every one million flights result in a crash.

Generally, they claim, a chain of five or six factors lead to an accident and discovering just one of those can lead to huge advances.

Mr Anthony said: "We don't have to wait for the final analysis to learn some lessons."

The investigation into the disappearance of flight MH370 is looking at a number of theories, including hijacking, sabotage and terrorism, as well as a fault with the plane, such as a fire in the cockpit.

Authorities believe someone on board intentionally switched off two vital pieces of communication equipment and deliberately diverted the aircraft.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours after it was turned back across Malaysia towards the Strait of Malacca.

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Budget 2014: New £1 Coin Is Blast From The Past

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

George Osborne will use his Budget to announce a major change for the nation's pockets, with a new pound coin to be introduced in 2017.

The new coin, aimed at stamping out forgeries and counterfeits, will replace the £1 coin introduced more than 30 years ago and resemble the pre-decimalisation 12-sided 'threepenny bit'.

According to the Treasury, the new coin will be the most secure in the world.

It is backed by organisations including the Automatic Vending Association, which said the cost for adapting existing machines would be "minimal".

The new £1 coin will have 12 sides and is due to enter circulation in 2017

Kelvin Reynolds, of the British Parking Association, added: "Parking operators have long expressed concerns about a rise in counterfeit £1 coins and the inconvenience this causes to motorists when coins are rejected by parking payment machines and the losses incurred as a result."

The current £1 coin has been in circulation for much longer than the normal life cycle of a modern British coin.

Its technology is no longer suitable for a coin of its value, leaving it vulnerable to ever more sophisticated counterfeiters.

The Royal Mint estimates about 3% of all £1 coins - around 45 million in total - are now forgeries, although in some parts of the UK, the number is as high as 6%.

The Queen's head will continue to feature on one side of the coin

Around two million counterfeit £1 coins are removed from circulation annually - a direct cost to the banks and cash handling centres, as well as the economy.

The new coin will be revealed in a Budget the Chancellor hopes will provide the springboard for a Tory victory at next year's General Election.

Mr Osborne will raise the rate at which people start paying income tax to £10,500, which he claims will benefit all but those on incomes of over £100,000.

But he will reject calls from senior Tories to cut the rate at which people start paying tax at 40p in the pound, already due to rise to £42,286 next year.

Mr Osborne hopes this year's Budget will win over voters

The Budget comes in a week in which two senior Conservatives, Michael Gove and Baroness Warsi, have attacked the influence of old Etonians in David Cameron's inner circle.

And so the Chancellor will have to respond to Labour's charges that the Tories are out of touch, ordinary families are racing a cost of living crisis and only the rich are benefiting from the economic recovery.

Mr Osborne will go on the attack against Labour, claiming the opposition was to blame for the economic crisis when in Government and has been proved wrong in opposing the Coalition's austerity measures.

"This will be a Budget for a resilient economy," a Treasury source told Sky News.

"The Government's long term economic plan is providing economic security by dealing with our record deficit and helping businesses create new jobs at record rates.

"As a country, we have held our nerve, the plan is working, but the job is very far from done. Britain is still borrowing too much.

"We have to invest more and export more, and support growth in every region of our country and all parts of our economy."

As with all British coins, the new-look £1 piece will feature the Queen's head on one side.

A public competition will be held to decide the design for the reverse, or 'tails', side.

Introduced in 1937, the threepenny bit was in the first group of coins ever to feature the portrait of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

It was the first British coin to use a 12-sided shape which enhanced its popularity during the Second World War, as its distinctive size and shape made it the easiest coin to recognise during the blackout.

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Missing Plane: Air France Families 'Dismayed'

By Sarah Hajibagheri, Sky News Producer

The families of the Air France 447 crash victims have written a touching letter to the relatives of those on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, offering their support.

In the open letter, published by a German Association of family members of those killed, they express their "sympathy and compassion in these days of utmost anxiety".

The letter is critical of the handling of the disappearance by authorities investigating the disappearance of flight MH370.

"We are completely dismayed about the vague and partially contradicting information policy by the Malaysian government," the families say.

Relatives of those on flight MH370 have faced an agonising wait for news

They also urge the relatives of passengers, who hail from 14 different countries, to approach their respective national governments to put pressure on the Malaysian military and civil authorities to speed up their investigations and quickly release their findings.

The letter was shared on Facebook by the Families and Friends of American Eagle Flight 4184, a group set up after a plane crash in Indiana in 1994 killed all 68 people on board.

But it is the Air France tragedy which has so far drawn most comparisons with the Malaysia Airlines mystery.

It has been five years since the Airbus A330 took off from Rio de Janeiro, bound for Paris.

Debris from Air France flight AF447 was pulled from the Atlantic in 2009

On June 1, 2009, the plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 passengers on board.

Just like MH370, the jetliner disappeared from radar and a daunting search and rescue operation ensued.

Bodies and debris from the flight emerged in the days and weeks following the crash but investigators took nearly two years to retrieve the main wreckage and black box recorders.

The final report into the disaster found the flight was doomed by a combination of ice build up, mechanical failure and pilot error.

Malaysian officials have been accused of offering limited information

Aviation experts who were involved in the search for the Air France plane have arrived in Malaysia to help with the investigation.

It is hoped they might be able to help provide answers for the families of the 239 passengers and crew who, 12 days on, are still missing.

Some 26 countries are searching an area larger than Australia for any sign of the aircraft.

As China joined the hunt, angry relatives of the 154 people from the country who were on the plane have threatened to go on hunger strike unless they are given more information from authorities.

A major search involving 26 countries is under way to locate the aircraft

Investigators have not uncovered any evidence suggesting there was a plot to hijack or bring down the aircraft, although both theories remain a possibility.

Authorities believe someone on board the flight intentionally switched off two vital pieces of communication equipment and deliberately diverted the aircraft.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours.

The backgrounds of pilots Zaharie Ahmad Shah and Fariq Abdul Hamid are being checked, as are those of ground engineers who worked on the aircraft before it took off.

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