Metal found in search for missing jet

AN Indonesian navy ship has detected metal on the ocean floor that may be the wreckage of a jetliner that disappeared one week ago with 102 people on board, a top officer said yesterday.

A more sophisticated US Navy ocean mapping ship assisting in the search for the Boeing 737 was heading to waters off Sulawesi Island’s coast to do a more detailed survey, said Gatot Sudijanto, a commodore in the Indonesian navy.

“If that metal turns out to be what we are looking for, then thanks be to God,” he said, adding that it was found in three locations within a several-mile radius.

The plane left Java for Sulawesi on January 1, but experienced 80mph winds and storms after an hour’s flight.

The pilot never issued a mayday or reported technical problems.

With no emergency location signal to the searchers, teams have fanned out over a 30,000 square mile area.