Crews searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 off the western coast of Australia have discovered an unexpected old shipwreck.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said Wednesday that the shipwreck was found by sonar equipment on board a search vessel, and a camera was sent
down to get a closer look, The Associated Press reported.
“It’s a fascinating find, but it’s not what we’re looking for,” Peter Foley, the ATSB’s Director of the Operational Search for Flight 370, said in a statement. “We’re not pausing in the search for MH370, in fact the vessels have already moved on to continue the mission.”
The Boeing 777 vanished on March 8, 2014.
The previously uncharted shipwreck was of a cargo ship built in the mid-to-late 19th century, the AP said. Identifying the ship would be difficult as hundreds of ships were lost during that time in voyages across the Indian Ocean.
"Obviously, we're disappointed that it wasn't the aircraft, but we were always realistic about the likelihood. And this event has really demonstrated that the systems, people and the equipment involved in the search are
working well," Foley said, according to CBS News. "It's shown that if there's a debris field in the search area, we'll find it."
Debris from MH370 would be roughly 10 times as big as that of the shipwreck,
search director Paul Kennedy told The New York Times.
Officials agreed last month to extend the search area for the missing jet. They said total area of 46,000 square miles could be searched, with an area of about 23,100 square miles considered the most likely location for finding the airplane, The Times said. The jet was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished last year. Flight data indicate it tracked south over the Indian Ocean, and investigators believe it fell into the sea after running out of fuel.
Twitter users expressed fascination and frustration about the find.