Detected 'pings' in search unlikely from MH370

WASHINGTON - Four acoustic pings detected during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are not likely from the plane's black boxes, CNN quoted a US navy official as saying on Wednesday.

US authorities now almost universally believe the pings did not come from the onboard data or cockpit voice recorders, but instead came from some other man-made source unrelated to the jetliner, Michael Dean, U.S. Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering, told CNN.

MH370 disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and has not been found. Of the 239 people onboard, 154 were Chinese.

When meeting with visiting Malaysian Defense Minister Hishamuddin Hussein on Tuesday, Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said China hopes Malaysia will work with all sides concerned to continue searching for MH370.

Fan gave a positive evaluation of Malaysia's efforts in searching for the missing jet, but added, "We are highly concerned about the missing passengers, including Chinese passengers" and that search and investigation should not stop until the truth comes out.