Latest developments:

• Ocean Shield detects signals consistent with black boxes.

 

Indonesian air space claim 'not from official sources'.

Ex-US ambassador slams Utusan for 'CIA did it' claim.

Growing calls to make planes 'tamper proof'.

Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

8.16pm: "Being the moderator is not easy," Jagjit Singh Sarjit Singh, the moderator of the MH370 daily media conference attended by journalists from all over the world, tells the national news agency.

However, it did not stop the assistant information officer from the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia from doing a job of the task and trust given, adds Bernama .

Since he became the moderator on March 10 at Hotel Sama-Sama, KLIA, Jagjit's face has become familiar to television viewers who catch the live media conference.

Jagjit tells the news agency that it was not easy to handle a media conference attended by more than 600 media people from 33 countries involving 281 news agencies.

"There is no room for error. Before the media conference starts, I made a lot of preparation and have to remember the names and posts of those present.

"I have to take questions from journalists, control and cut out questions made after the conference ends," he is quoted as saying.

5.30pm: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein leads today’s press briefing on the status of the ongoing search for MAS Flight MH370 at the Royale Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Here are some of the highlights:

• The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) confirms that the Australian vessel Ocean Shield detected two separate signals some 1,650 kilometres northwest of Perth.

 

This comes after Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 also detected similar signals, twice, some distance away.

 

Hishammuddin urges all parties to be responsible and give the authorities time and space to verify this information.

 

The Malaysian government is "cautiously hopeful" there will be positive developments, if not within the next few hours, then within the next few days.

"I am more optimistic than some of the leads we have had and I would like everybody to pray. This (signal) is something much more positive than others (evidences) but even so, I am cautious to say more," Hishammuddin says.

 

The plane's last satellite “handshake” was taken into account when determining the area in which the ships are now searching.

 

While satellite images and leads have so far indicated no survivors, the government continues to "hope against hope" and pray for survivors.

 

The government is working at identifying the true next-of-kin of passengers and crew on board Flight MH370, and says the families will be flown to Perth only after the wreckage is found.

 

Report that the plane skirted Indonesia was denied by Indonesia's chief of defence after he was contacted by his Malaysian counterpart.

 

Three ministerial committees are established in order to streamline and strengthen ongoing probe - Next of Kin committee led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamzah Zainuddin, Technical committee led by Deputy Minister of Transport Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, as well as Deployment of Assets committee led by Deputy Minister of Defence Abdul Rahim Bakri.

 

Efforts to appoint an independent investigator in charge to lead the investigation team are underway, based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

Under this, a further three groups have been established on airworthiness, operations and on medical and human factors.

They are also in the process of identifying accredited countries to join this investigation team.

 

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) says based on the experiences of other airlines, it will take six months for an airline to recover its reputation in the market after such incidents, but MAS plans to take less time. Even so, it acknowledged that it has “a lot of work to do” and must get itself together.

Sultan, Singapore PM express sympathies

3.24pm: Bernama reports that both Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today expressed their sympathies over the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370.

The national news agency first quotes the sultan saying: “I pray that the search will have a definite and satisfying answer for all parties, especially to those who are still waiting for news.”

Lee, in an earlier report, is quoted as saying that the neighbouring nation of Malaysia and “stand ready” to render further aid to Malaysia in the next phase of the investigation.

Ocean Shield's lead 'most promising' to date

2:14pm: Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), gives a briefing on ongoing search operations. Here are some of the highlights:

• Over the last 24 hours, the towed pinger locator deployed by Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Ocean Shield detected signals consistent with those emitted by aircraft black boxes.

 

It was detected in the northen part of the defined search area. The first detection was held for 2 hours 20 minutes before contact was lost when the ship did a turnaround to re-acquire the signal.

 

Upon the return leg, Ocean Shield then held the detection for 13 minutes, in which time it caught two distinct pinger returns, consistent with transmission from flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

 

He says this is the most promising lead and “best we have had” to date but warns that it will take some days before information is available to enable them to verify if indeed the signal is from MH370.

 

Ocean Shield will remain in the area until contact is re-established, after which Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) such as the Bluefin-21 on board the vessel can be deployed.

He says the signals were detected in an area with a depth of  4,500metres, which is the limit of capabilities of the AUV.

 

He stresses that sighting of the wreckage must first be found for an "unequivocal determination" to be made.

 

They are considering the option of employing a remotely operated underwater vehicle , as while capable of carrying one, the Ocean Shield does not currently have one on board.

 

He says the research done by the team of experts in Kuala Lumpur enabled them to come up with the underwater search area that is the focus of the search.

 

DCA: Indonesia air space claim unverified

11.23am: Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says the report that Flight MH370 skirted Indonesian air space to avoid detection are "unverified".

"The report is not verified or corroborated and is not from official sources," he is quoted as saying by The Rakyat Post .

However, he does not confirm nor deny the assertion.

Yesterday, CNN quoted unnamed Malaysian military sources saying information from Indonesian radars showed the aircraft flew around the country before heading to the Indian Ocean.

Mid last month, Indonesian air force spokesperson Hadi Tjahjanta denied the country had detected Flight MH370 based on two radars in western Indonesia.

"Had the plane entered Indonesian territory, the two radars must have detected it," he was quoted as saying by Wall Street Journal .

DAP joins candlelight vigil for MH370

10.52am: To mark a full month since MH370's disappearance, DAP national leaders, including Lim Kit Siang, Tan Kok Wai, Teresa Kok, Tony Pua, will join in the candlelight vigil tonight at 11pm at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, says Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng.

A concurrent event is taking place in Penang at the Speaker's Corner at the Esplanade.

Possible update on pings

10.40am: The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief coordinator, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston will hold a press conference at 12pm.

This is likely to be regarding the status of ongoing search at the south Indian Ocean.

Reuters reporter Jan Wardell claims in a tweet that the US Navy’s 7th Fleet has an update on pings recorded by Ocean Shield.

M'sia walking tight rope on M'sia-China ties celebrations

10.36am: Prime minister's political secretary Wong Nai Chee admits the MH370 incident will affect Najib Abdul Razak's visit to China next month.

"We have to be sensitive towards the feeling of the families, and large-scale celebration seems not very possible.

"Without the missing flight incident, we could have (had) the celebrations in a different manner," he is quoted as saying by South China Morning Post yesterday.

Najib will visit China next month to celebrate the 40 years of bilateral ties.

Will Najib let Utusan off the hook?

9.36am: Former US ambassador John Malott ( right ) slams Utusan Malaysia after its assistant editor Ku Seman Ku Hussain, in a commentary yesterday, speculated the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was behind the disappearance of Flight MH370.

"It is yet another example that Utusan has become the laughing stock of Malaysian journalism, given to fabrication, conspiracy theories, paranoia, extremism, and racism.

Mallot queries if Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will allow the Umno-owned daily to get away with the "absurd statement" ahead of US president Barack Obama's visit this month, warning that "Washington certainly will take note”.

Read his comments here .

'Make shutting off communications impossible'

9.11am: Following Flight MH370 incident, there are growing calls to make commercial planes “tamper proof”, with essential systems impossible to turn off by flight crew or passengers, reports Wall Street Journal .

"The primary goal is to make it practically impossible for flight crews or passengers to turn off electrical power to these devices in midair by removing circuit breakers now normally accessible in the cockpit," says the report.

However the report notes this will be a costly exercise. "(It will be extra cost) In addition to aircraft rolling off assembly lines," Aviation Partners Inc chief executive officer Joe Clark was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that US-based Air Line Pilots Association has called on the aviation industry to implement satellite-based communications system, already in some modern aircraft.

The calls come after investigators determined someone on board Flight MH370 deliberately turned off the transponder and Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (Acars) to cut communications with tower controllers before diverting the plane to an unknown trajectory.

Good weather expected as search gets underway

6am: Day 31 of search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 commences with nine military planes, three civil planes and 14 ships going through a 234,000 square kilometres area in the Indian Ocean.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (Jaac) expects good weather albeit showers in the afternoon, but does not expect it to hamper search efforts.

HMS Echo ( left ), meanwhile, arrives at the location of China's Haixun 01, which on Saturday picked up a pulse signal some 1,700km north west of Perth. They will attempt to verify if it came from the black box of the missing aircraft.

Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield, which has a dedicated black box pinger locater hydrophone, continues to investigate in its own location where it also picked up a signal but some 300 nautical miles (556km) apart from Haixun 01.

Background

• The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.

• Authorities have determined the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.

 

Its whereabouts have now been narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat.