The latest UK satellites investigation followed reports by an Australian crew over the weekend of a floating wooden pallet and strapping belts
in an area of the icy southern Indian Ocean that was identified after satellites recorded images of potential debris.
The black boxes - the ****pit voice recorder and flight data recorder - record what happens on board planes in flight.
The U.S. Navy is flying in its high-tech black box detector to the area. Commander Chris Budde, U.S. Seventh Fleet Operations Officer, stressed that bringing in the black box detector, which is towed behind a vessel at slow speeds and can pick up 'pings' from a black box to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet, was a precautionary measure.
At crash sites, finding the black boxes soon is crucial because the locator beacons they carry fade out after 30 days.
JAPAN & CHINA JOIN FORCES TO HELP AUSTRALIA RETRIEVE DEBRIS FOUND ON SUNDAY 23 MARCH & MONDAY 24 MARCH
' Australia's HMAS Success remains in the search area. A number of Chinese ships are en route to the search area to assist in the location of objects possibly related to the search.'
Two Russian made Ilyuchin IL-76 aircraft deployed by the Chinese government flew from Pearce airbase to Perth airport and off to the target area early Monday.
Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said the Ilyuchins, which were used by Australian forces in Afghanistan to deliver supplies and ordnance, needed the longer Perth international runway for take-off once they were fully loaded with fuel for maximum flight capacity.
'The IL-76s will use Perth airport as their take-off point for the length of this search,' he said.
The Ilyuchin planes are also designed as airborne refueling craft, and have been used by China as emergency response planes, evacuating Chinese citizens out of Libya in 2011.
Wingwalker: Aircrew walk on the wing of a Japanese Air Force AP-3C Orion after it landed
at RAAF Pearce Base to join the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 debris
Working together: Disaster relief team leader Masahiko Kobayashi (left) greets Japanese Air Force
Commander Hidetsugu Iwanasa after his AP-3C Orion landed at RAAF Pearce Base in Perth to join the search for MH370
Planes and ships were scrambling today looking for a pallet and other debris
to determine whether the objects were from the missing jet.
The pallet was spotted by a search plane yesterday, but has not been closely examined. Wooden pallets are commonly used in shipping, but can also be used in cargo containers carried on planes.
Mike Barton, chief of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's rescue coordination centre, told reporters in Canberra that the wooden pallet was spotted by a search aircraft yesterday.
He added that it was surrounded by several other objects, including what appeared to be strapping belts of different colours.
The objects, described as a 'grey or green circular object' and an 'orange rectangular object', were spotted about 2,500 km west of Perth on Monday afternoon, said Abbott, adding that three planes were also en route to the area.
'HMAS Success is on scene and is attempting to recover these objects,' Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said in a statement
China has diverted its icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, toward the location where the debris was spotted. A flotilla of other Chinese ships are also steadily making their way south. The ships will start to arrive in the area on Tuesday.
Over 150 of the passengers on board the missing plane were Chinese.