Missing Plane Found? Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 Search Latest - Images of Possible Resting Place?

For the first time, high-definition and three-dimensional images of the possible resting place of the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have been released by Australian authorities.

The images, released on Sept. 26, show remnants of now-extinct volcanoes, rugged ridges up to 300 meters high and trenches some 1,400 metres deep on the seabed of the southern Indian Ocean.

"The recently acquired high-resolution bathymetry (underwater survey) data has revealed many of these seabed features for the first time," the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the agency leading the search, said in a statement.

"It is also revealing finer-scale seabed features that were not visible in the previous low-resolution, satellite-derived bathymetry data."

The images were taken by experts mapping the underwater terrain of the MH370 search area far off Western Australia as part of the search for the missing jet, which is presumed to have crashed into the sea on March 8 carrying 239 people, many of them Chinese passengers.

The plane went missing during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australian officials are conducting an intensive survey of the seabed where the plane is thought to have gone down before an underwater probe can begin.

Australia has vowed to do all it can to find the missing MH370, using technical data to pinpoint its most likely resting place ahead of next month's underwater search.

Suicidal pilot

Meanwhile, an aviation expert has been quoted as saying that MH370 was deliberately crashed by its pilot in an apparent suicide.

In a recent report, Ewan Wilson, who runs Kiwi Airlines, told experts that in his personal assessment, MH370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately de-pressurized the plane, killing all the people on board due to lack of oxygen.

After locking himself in the cockpit, Shah then proceeded to crash the plane, Wilson said.

Objects detected

Some hard objects "inconsistent with the region" have been detected in the latest search for the missing plane, news.com.au has reported.

The objects were identified with satellite-tracking data and flight-simulation analysis, the website said.

However, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said they were not sure if the objects were the wreckage of the aircraft, adding that they could be rock formations.

Experts from Australia, Britain and the US have narrowed the likely resting place of the missing plane to a 60,000 sq km arc in the Indian Ocean, 1,800km off the coast of Western Australia.

China turns hostile

Six months after MH370 went missing, several relatives of the plane's passengers say Chinese authorities have become openly hostile towards them.

In interviews, they disclosed that they had been detained and physically abused by Chinese police, apparently in retaliation for publicly pressing Chinese and Malaysia Airlines authorities to provide more information on the search for the missing plane.

"In the beginning, Beijing police were protecting us, but their attitude has completely changed," said Cheng Liping, 38, whose husband was on the flight. "I can't fathom why they're doing this. I feel so incredibly disappointed."

Police have beaten at least two people whose children were on the flight, a report said. In one case, a woman in her fifties was hospitalized for three days after she was beaten.

"I went to see her in hospital, I could see the injuries on her head and body," said Zhang Yongli, 64, whose daughter was on the flight. "The way the police acted was very extreme, it's wrong to treat us this way."

Beijing police have also detained some people for inquiring on the fate of their missing loved ones. The detentions, lasting for about 24 hours, were ordered for varying reasons, including a rule against large gatherings.

In at least two other cases, relatives told Reuters that the police went to family members' homes before dawn to detain them without a reason.