Searchers are "very confident" that signals detected in the hunt for missing flight MH370 are from the plane's black box, Australia's prime minister says.
Tony Abbott told reporters during an official visit to China that authorities have "very much narrowed down the search area" in the southern Indian Ocean.
"We are very confident that the signals that we are detecting are from the black box," Mr Abbott said.
"Nevertheless, we're getting into the stage where the signal from what we are very confident is the black box is starting to fade.
"We are hoping to get as much information as we can before the signal finally expires."
The search is currently focussed on an 18,000-square-mile search area after a fifth ping was detected around 1,400 miles off Perth, in western Australia.
The signal was captured on Thursday by an Australian Air Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane, which has been dropping sonar buoys into the ocean.
Zhang Zhiliang looks at photos of his fiancee, who was on board the flight However, Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston says an initial assessment of the latest signal indicates it is not related to an aircraft's black box.
Speaking from Perth, Sky's Nick Martin said there were "mixed messages" from Australia this morning as the hunt for the plane continued.
Mr Abbott was first quoted as saying he was confident the black box had been found, and then later said he was confident signals picked up by search teams were from a black box.
"Either he's been misquoted or he has slightly jumped the gun," said Martin.
Twelve military aircraft, three civil planes and 13 ships have joined the search today. The Royal Navy vessel HMS Echo is also part of the operation.
The focus of the hunt has been narrowed to 18,035 square miles in a stretch of ocean north-west of Perth, in Western Australia.
Authorities have been racing to locate the plane's data and cockpit recorders, as the ping-emitting beacons are expected to fade.
Joint Agency Coordination Centre chief Angus Houston No floating debris from the Malaysia Airlines aircraft has yet been found, JACC said, despite the major multinational air and sea operation.
The renewed search operation comes as Malaysia's acting transport minister admitted that mistakes were made in how authorities treated the victims' families.
Hishammuddin Hussein said the missing plane had posed an "unprecedented situation without benchmark".
Talking to Sky News in a Kuala Lumpur city centre hotel, he said the criminal investigation remains live.
"Everyone on board remains under suspicion as it stands," he said.
"As we look into the black box, we look into new facts. It isn't just MI6 involved in the investigation, it is Chinese intelligence, it's also the FBI."
The Malaysia Airlines plane went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board.
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