AIRLINER LATEST – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  Given journalism's record on this story, every report must be greeted very skeptically.  We're now told that satellites picked up some large objects in the ocean, some 1,400 miles southwest of Perth, Australia.  The objects could not be identified, but search aircraft are being sent.  From CNN:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) -- Two objects spotted by satellite in the southern Indian Ocean may be debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australian authorities said Thursday, fueling cautious hopes of a breakthrough in an international search of unprecedented scale.

A Royal Australian Air Force search plane dispatched to the remote spot was unable to find either object amid rain, clouds and limited visibility Thursday afternoon, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Twitter. A U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft also searched the area and found nothing, a Navy official said.

A Norwegian merchant ship had also reached the site, its owner confirmed Thursday. But as darkness fell over the region, it seemed unlikely further information would come until Friday.

Authorities cautioned the objects could be something else -- shipping containers that fell off a vessel, for instance. But they said they represent the best lead so far in the search for the missing airliner, which vanished 13 days ago with 239 passengers and crew aboard.

COMMENT:  We'll follow it, but the news coverage of the missing plane is coming under increasing criticism and ridicule – hours of "discussions" and "inside" reports that seem to fade away. 

The last big deal was a report that the pilot, who had a "flight simulator" at home, had erased some data from the device's computer.  But people erase data from computers all the time, just to clear space.  The simulator turned out to be a rudimentary device, more akin to a video game, but the FBI is trying to recover the erased data.  So far, no real story.

March 20,  2014