Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority said on its website that a helicopter had located and retrieved the object, “identified as a moss-covered cap of a cablereel,” according to the Reuters news agency. The statement didn’t confirm whether the item could still have been from a plane, but it seemed to quash hopes sparked by reports that a possible life raft was spotted.
The civil aviation group in Vietnam said the object was seen by a plane out of Singapore, which relayed the information to Vietnamese authorities.
Earlier Monday, the man heading up Malaysia’s investigation said searchers hadn’t spotted any debris from the plane.
“Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft. As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft,” said Department of Civil Aviation Director General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
The Aviation Authority also confirmed Monday than an oil slick seen on the water over the weekend — often a tell-tale sign of a plane crash — was not believed to be linked to Flight 370, leaving investigators with no clues at all.
Ships from about a dozen nations were taking part in the search, he said. On Monday, the U.S. military announced that USS Kidd had joined USS Pinckney in the search efforts.
Among items of particular interest was a rectangular object spotted Sunday afternoon that might have been one of the plane’s doors.