A man travelling on a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was a young Iranian who has no links to terrorists.
A man travelling on a stolen passport on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was a young Iranian who has no links to terrorists. Reuters

The larger piece of the two objects spotted by an Australian satellite in the southern Indian Ocean could possibly be the tail of the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 jet.

John Young, general manager of emergency response for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said that the large piece is about 24 metres long or 79 feet. David Gallo, co-leader of the search for Air France Flight 4447 which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, believes a piece of an aircraft that big is probably its tail section.

According to CNN, the height of a Boeing 777 jet's tail is 60 feet.

Mr Young said at a press conference in Canberra on Thursday afternoon that the objects, spotted by an Australian satellite about 2,250 kilometres or 1,400 miles off the coast of Perth, are relatively indistinct.

Mr Young and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who broke the news of the discovery - possibly a breakthrough in the 13-day search for the missing aircraft - said more analysis is needed to determine if the objects are from the ill-fated plane which disappeared on Saturday, March 8 after it left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

But Mr Young admitted that an analysis mission would be difficult because of the poor visibility in the area. He said better data could be secured if commercial satellites would take more images of the two objects.

A P-3 Orion aircraft is in the area to attempt to take a closer look at the objects and three more jets are on their way to assist.

Despite the discovery of the two objects, Malaysia Airlines said it would not sent yet representatives or family members to Perth unless there is confirmation it is plane debris.

Hishmuddin Hussein, the acting Malaysian transport ministers, said there is a need to very first, but added that with every lead, there is hope.

He said, quoted by NBC, "As I have been doing from day one, we follow every single lead. Let's just hope this is a positive development."