Vietnamese authorities have sent four aircraft to investigate a floating object which they suspect is a piece of debris from the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

 Suspicious floating object

At 6:30pm on March 9, a floating object was spotted by Vietnamese rescue authorities about 80km south by southwest of Tho Chu Island. At midnight, two Vietnamese ships went to check on the location, but were unable to find anything in the darkness. This morning, four aircraft were sent to check out the location.

Flights to areas of interest 

Vietnamese rescue forces have expanded the search area toward the northwest, and Malaysian rescue forces will continue to search toward the south. Singaporean authorities will focus on the area between Vietnam and Malaysia.

At 10:15am, seven vessels were sent to the first reported location, but they have not reported anything unusual in the area so far. Meanwhile, two other aircraft are continuing search and rescue operations around the spot where the aircraft first went missing.

 Vietnamese aircraft at Phu Quoc International Airport

Deputy minister of Transport, Pham Quy Tieu, led an investigative team to Phu Quoc Island and he will arrive in the area where the plane is suspected to have gone missing this morning. It is estimated that 23 aircraft and 39 ships from Vietnam, Malaysia, China, US, Philippine and Singapore are joining in the search efforts.