Piece of board found by one of seven relatives who flew to Indian Ocean island to raise awareness of need to hand in debris thought to be from plane 
 
 A Chinese man who travelled to Madagascar in search of answers to the disappearance of his mother on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has found a possible piece of debris from the plane during a search of the country’s beaches. 
 
 Jiang Hui, 44, is one of seven relatives who flew to the Indian Ocean island on Saturday to raise awareness of the debris that has been washing up on its beaches in ever-increasing amounts and conduct preliminary searches. 
 
 ​The man on a solo mission to find ​the wreckage o​f​ flight MH370 Read more 
 
 He found a small white and sand-coloured piece of board in a rocky cove at the end of Riake beach on north-eastern Île Sainte-Marie, where a significant amount of the debris thought to be from MH370 has already been discovered. “I felt excited but at the same time it was saddening,” he said. “It is a small piece and will not really be able to show what happened to the plane but I hope so much that the authorities of Malaysia, China and Australia will try to find more so they can find out.” 
 
 The piece has been handed to an official from the Malaysian investigation, said Blaine Gibson, a Seattle lawyer who has found 16 pieces of debris thought to be from the plane in Mozambique and Madagascar. 
 
 Following Jiang’s discovery, Gibson said he had stumbled upon a larger object in the same area. He said both pieces appeared to be from the cabin of a large airliner. 
 
 “[The find] just shows how important it is that these beaches are checked daily, and that local people keep their eyes open,” Gibson said. “It also shows how important this visit by the families is for raising awareness.” 
 
 
 
 Jiang lost his 73-year-old mother, Jiang Cuiyun, on the flight and has been prominent in the relatives’ campaign amid a lack of openness – and seemingly of action – from the Malaysian-led official inquiry. 
 
 Relatives of those who were on MH370, which disappeared while flying to Beijing on 8 March 2014, have criticised the Malaysian investigation for failing to collect debris found on Madagascar six months ago. Malaysia is now sending investigators to Madagascar but insists the timing is a coincidence. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Relatives of some of the passengers on MH370 who are searching for debris from the plane in Madagascar. Photograph: Stringer/Reuters 
 
 Jiang spoke briefly at a press conference held in the capital, Antananarivo, on Sunday as the relatives began their search. “In order to look for my mum, I have come here but my English is poor,” he said, before switching to Chinese to appeal for help in finding more evidence of the plane. 
 
 Grace Nathan, spokeswoman for the Voice370 campaign group, said the discovery of debris potentially from the plane brought “mixed feelings” for the whole group. 
 
 What happened to MH370? Malaysia Airlines flight 370, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished on 8 March 2014. There was no trace of the plane until a flaperon washed up on Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 2015. Several pieces of debris found around east and south Africa have since been assessed to be from the missing aircraft. A seabed search led by Australia, backed by Malaysia and China, is due to continue until early 2017. Theories – all unproven – have ranged from crew involvement or hijacking to onboard fire or catastrophic technical failure. 
 
 “First time a piece was found by one of us. Such mixed feelings now for all of us – pain, sadness, confusion, hope,” she wrote on a Facebook page where the relatives share updates with others bereaved by the incident. 
 
 It is thought unlikely the small fragment found by Jiang would ever be definitively linked to MH370, but Gibson said it was washed up on the same part of the beach where he found items including a seat back – complete with coat hook and frame for an in-flight television screen. 
 
 The find comes after the families divided into three groups to visit the stretches of coastline where current and wind analysis has predicted most debris could wash up. 
 
 In Nosy Be, Tamatave and Île Sainte-Marie, they have met local officials, tourism and fishery associations as well as journalists to raise awareness about the need to pick up and hand in potential debris. 
 
 One local boat owner lent his vessel for free to Nathan and her father so they could search offshore islands. Homemade fliers she printed showing what the debris looked like and how it should be preserved have run out and had to be reprinted. 
 
 Ghislain Wattrelos, a French national who lost his wife and two teenage children, said the relatives had been moved by the outpouring of public sympathy. 
 
 “It was the right move to come,” he said. “We have had a very nice response from everyone, we have been very well-received.” ||||| Story highlights Australian Prime Minister: "If this mystery is solvable, we will solve it" 
 
 Search for plane resumes; 10 aircraft and 10 boats involved 
 
 No confirmed plane debris sightings, though four interesting orange objects are seen 
 
 Australian crew calls new objects one of their "most promising leads" 
 
 New hope, more frustration. 
 
 As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 turned up fresh potential clues, dozens of anguished Chinese relatives on Sunday demanded that Malaysia provide them with evidence on the fate of their loved ones aboard the missing Boeing 777. 
 
 Ideal weather conditions gave one Australian aircraft crew the opportunity to detect many objects in the water west of Perth. 
 
 It spotted four orange items of interest, took photos and sent the coordinates, but Flight Lt. Russell Adams said the crew couldn't determine whether the objects were from the airliner, which officials believe went down in the southern Indian Ocean. 
 
 The items were more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) long, he said. 
 
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 Photos: The search for MH370 Photos: The search for MH370 Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 43 of 43 
 
 Authorities will analyze the images and then decide whether to send a ship to the debris location. 
 
 Adams called the discovery of the four objects one of the "most promising leads" searchers have come across. 
 
 The search resumed Monday, with 10 aircraft and 10 boats set to look for signs of the missing plane. 
 
 "We are searching a vast area of ocean, and we are working on quite limited information. Nevertheless, the best brains in the world are applying themselves to this task. ... If this mystery is solvable, we will solve it," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters Monday. 
 
 Speaking from the Royal Australian Air Force base where search teams have been headquartered, Abbott said he wouldn't set a time frame for how long the hunt for the missing plane could take. 
 
 "We can keep searching for quite some time to come. We will keep searching for quite some time to come. ... The intensity of our search and the magnitude of our operations is increasing, not decreasing," he said. 
 
 Search efforts Sunday ended with no confirmed sightings of debris from the plane, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. 
 
 Objects picked up by ships on Saturday turned out to be fishing equipment and other items, officials said. 
 
 'We want truth' 
 
 The family members arrived in Kuala Lumpur and held a news conference at their hotel, imploring officials to be more transparent. 
 
 "We want evidence, we want truth and we want our family," said Jiang Hui, the families' designated representative. The crowd chanted the same words. 
 
 "We are here to call for the following three things," he said. "First, the Malaysian side should provide us with timely and comprehensive evidence and answer the families' questions." 
 
 He also asked Malaysia to apologize for releasing confusing information and for announcing on March 24 that the plane had crashed even though there was no "direct evidence." 
 
 Relatives wore white T-Shirts with the words " Pray for MH370 ... return home safely." Some wept. 
 
 "We are here struck with sadness and urgency," Jiang said. "The meetings recently in China were not fruitful with (Malaysia Airlines) officials." 
 
 Mixed messages 
 
 Family members have accused Malaysian officials of withholding information since the plane vanished more than three weeks ago. 
 
 Of the 239 people aboard the doomed jetliner, 154 were Chinese. 
 
 Last week, relatives were told everyone aboard had died. But Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transportation minister, told reporters Saturday he had not closed the door on the hope that there could be survivors. 
 
 Frustrating search 
 
 Beijing has publicly slammed Malaysia's efforts to find the Boeing 777, which went missing March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. 
 
 And as the frustrating three-week search resumed Monday, China was among the countries scouring the choppy waters of the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the plane. 
 
 Ten aircraft were set to fly over the search area about 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers) west of Perth, Australian officials said. 
 
 Ten ships were also involved in the search, including the Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which was fitted with a "black box" detector and an autonomous underwater vehicle. 
 
 On Saturday, crew members aboard a Chinese plane dropped buoys to mark three suspected debris sites, China's state-run CCTV reported. It later said Sunday an orange "suspicious object" spotted by a Chinese plane Saturday turned out to be a dead jellyfish. 
 
 Amid the confusion, Malaysia said it has done its best with what it has. 
 
 "History will judge us as a country that has been very responsible," Hishammuddin said. 
 
 Relatives said they hope to meet the transport minister in Kuala Lumpur. They also asked Malaysia to plan meetings with the various companies involved, including Boeing, the plane's manufacturer. 
 
 Race against time 
 
 Experts said the clock is ticking. 
 
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 The batteries on the flight data recorder, commonly referred to as the black box, are designed to last about 30 days. The plane disappeared March 8 -- 22 days ago. 
 
 "We certainly have our challenges in front of us," said Cmdr. Mark Matthews of the U.S. Navy. 
 
 "What we're trying to find is an acoustic emission from one of the pingers on the flight data recorder (and) the cockpit voice recorder. Typically these last, the batteries last about 30 days, usually they last a little bit longer, and that's what we're trying to find. But what is critical is that the teams that are out there searching for the surface debris, they get good position data on that and they feed it back to the oceanographers, to help us determine a probable point of impact for where the aircraft went in." 
 
 An American pinger locator and undersea search equipment were loaded onto the Ocean Shield. The ship is set to depart by Monday morning, and will take up to three days to reach the search area. 
 
 U.S. Navy Cmdr. William Marks told CNN's "State of the Union" that his team really needs a conclusive piece of debris to narrow down the search area, due to the range of the pinger locator. 
 
 "We have to be careful not to send it in the wrong place, but we also wanted to get it out there as close as we can to what we believe is the right place," he told CNN's Candy Crowley. 
 
 He said if the batteries on the recorders aboard the missing plane run out, the search would require side-scan sonar, one of which has been loaded on a search ship. 
 
 "But like I said, without good visual confirmation of debris, which we really have not had yet, it is tough to even go in the general direction," he said. 
 
 'They're still alive' 
 
 In Beijing on Saturday, some of the relatives of the missing vented their anguish in the streets. 
 
 "They're all still alive, my son and everyone on board!" yelled Wen Wancheng, 63, whose only son was among the passengers. "The plane is still there, too! They're hiding it." 
 
 He held aloft a banner that read: "Son, Mom and Dad's hearts are torn to pieces. Come home soon!" 
 
 Relatives implored Hishammuddin to redouble efforts to find the plane. 
 
 "What they want is a commitment on our part to continue the search, and that I have given," Hishammuddin said. "For me, as the minister responsible, this is the hardest part of my life, at the moment," he told reporters. 
 
 "Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise, and that is the hope that the families want me to convey -- not only to the Malaysian government, MAS (Malaysia Airlines), but also to the world at large," he said. 
 
 Sea objects 
 
 The latest data analysis shows Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ended up in the southern Indian Ocean. 
 
 But officials have offered different assessments of exactly where it could have gone down. 
 
 Investigators shifted the search area Friday after concluding that the plane had been traveling faster and burning fuel faster than they previously had thought. 
 
 The new search area is closer to Australia's coast, so it takes less time to reach, meaning more area can be searched. It's also marked by calmer waters. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Dutch vessel Fugro Equator is the only ship still involved in the search operation 
 
 The one remaining ship still looking for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has begun what is likely to be its final search. 
 
 Dutch-owned Fugro Equator left the Australian port of Fremantle on Monday. 
 
 Several ships have combed the seabed of a vast search area in the Indian Ocean since the plane disappeared in 2014. 
 
 The Fugro Equator is expected to finish scouring the final portion of the search area by early 2017. 
 
 Officials say they will suspend the search if the plane is not found by then. 
 
 Not a single piece of wreckage or any clues to the whereabouts of the plane have been found so far by the operation. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption The search for the Malaysia Airlines plane is due to end in early 2017 
 
 "It has been an heroic undertaking but we have to prepare ourselves for the prospect that we may not find MH370 in the coming weeks, although we remain hopeful," Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester told the West Australian newspaper. 
 
 Several countries including Australia and China have taken part in the underwater search. 
 
 Earlier this month the Chinese vessel Dong Hai Jiu 101 completed its mission and is returning to Shanghai, leaving the Fugro Equator as the last ship scouring the vast 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) search area. 
 
 Whether the Fugro Equator's voyage is the ship's final month-long deployment would depend on the weather, the office of Mr Chester told AP news agency. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Passengers' families looked for clues on Madagascar's beaches last week 
 
 MH370 was carrying 239 people when it disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Many of the passengers were Chinese. 
 
 Last week family members of some passengers journeyed to Madagascar to look for clues on the plane's whereabouts. 
 
 A few aeroplane fragments confirmed to be from MH370 had been found by members of the public on the East African and Madagascan coasts in recent months. 
 
 The location of the debris is in line with drift modelling patterns based on the theory that MH370 went down in a part of the Indian Ocean near Australia. 
 
 The families have expressed frustration at the lack of concrete evidence turned up by the official search, and have called for a coordinated effort to search beaches for debris.
– A Pennsylvania-sized patch of the Indian Ocean has been combed in a $150 million search effort for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370—and that search is now coming to a close with the mystery still unsolved. The last boat still looking for the plane left the Australian port of Fremantle on Tuesday to scan areas that might have been missed during the initial search because of sonar issues or too-deep water, reports Perth Now. If no fresh evidence or trace of the plane has been found once its month-long mission wraps up, no future search missions will likely follow, reports NBC News. Though officials "remain hopeful," Australia's transport minister says that "we have to prepare ourselves for the prospect" that MH370, which disappeared in March 2014, will not be found, per the BBC. Relatives of MH370's 239 victims plan to continue hunting for evidence of what happened to their loved ones, however. Frustrated by a lack of activity from Malaysian officials, family members from Malaysia, China, and France have banded together to search for debris, including on remote beaches in Madagascar, where Jiang Hui, 44, of China says he recently found a possible plane part. "I felt excited but at the same time it was saddening," he tells the Guardian. "It is a small piece and will not really be able to show what happened to the plane, but I hope so much that the authorities … will try to find more." Relatives have also handed out brochures in three languages that explain to locals what to do if plane parts are found, per the BBC. (Here's what debris has revealed so far.)