KUALA LUMPUR/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - A Chinese patrol ship hunting for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner detected a pulse signal in the south Indian Ocean on Saturday, the state news agency Xinhua reported, in a possible indicator of the underwater beacon from a plane's "black box".
A black box detector deployed by the vessel Haixun 01 picked up the "ping" signal at around 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, according to Xinhua.
It has not been established whether the ping is related to Flight MH370, which went missing four weeks ago with 239 people aboard shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.
Xinhua further said a Chinese air force plane spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area.
Australian search authorities also said they had yet to verify whether the pulse signal was related to MH370.
A family member of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines MH370 takes a nap during a regular meeting a …
Malaysia said earlier on Saturday it had begun a formal investigation into the jet's March 8 disappearance that would comprise experts from around the world, while the huge hunt for the Boeing 777 airliner intensified in the Indian Ocean.
