Searchers are racing to determine if faint underwater noises they detected came from Flight 370's black box

Search crews hunting for missing Flight 370 heard three faint noises in the southern Indian Ocean that may have come from the plane's flight recorder, raising hopes that the plane may yet be found. A Chinese ship picked up two quiet blips, one on Friday and another on Saturday, and an Australian ship picked up a third signal elsewhere in the ocean on Sunday.

Australian Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, who is leading the search operation, said the discoveries were "important and encouraging," though he cautioned that it had yet to be determined if the signals came from Flight 370. "It does not confirm or deny the presence of the aircraft locator on the bottom of the ocean," he said of the noises, adding that the deep water made it possible search crews had only picked up echoes or "false indications."

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