Australia probes \\\'encouraging\\\' signals in MH370 hunt

PERTH, Apr 06 (AFP):  Ships searching the vast Indian Ocean for a Malaysian airliner have detected three separate underwater signals, and more ships and planes were diverted Sunday to investigate whether they could have come from its "black box".
Angus Houston, head of the Australian search mission, said the detections were being taken "very seriously" as time ticked down on the battery life of the black box's tracking beacons.
He said China's Haixun 01 has twice detected an underwater signal on a frequency used for the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- once for 90 seconds on Saturday and another more fleeting "ping" on Friday a short distance away.
A third "ping" was also being scrutinised, 300 nautical miles away in the Indian Ocean.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard vanished on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
"This is an important and encouraging lead but one which I urge you to continue to treat carefully," Houston told reporters.
"We are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area."
"Speculation and unconfirmed reports can see the loved ones of the passengers put through terrible stress and I don't want to put them under any further emotional distress at this very difficult time."
Britain's HMS Echo and the Australian ship Ocean Shield -- both equipped with black box locators -- and Australian air force planes were being diverted to the area to help discount or confirm the Chinese signals, Houston said.
Ocean Shield was also investigating the signal it detected on Sunday in its current location, about 300 nautical miles north of Haixun 01, in waters far off Australia's west coast.
Houston said the Chinese finding was more promising.
"I think the fact that we've had two detections, two acoustic events in that location, provides some promise which requires a full investigation," he said.