Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 probe branded 'debacle' by underwater scientists

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was playing politics when he prematurely announced black box pingers from the missing MH370 had been found.

Calling the search for the missing jet a debacle, underwater scientists said the four crucial signals detected by a US pinger locator were from another man-made source and not the Malaysian Airlines plane's black boxes.

Scientists said the detailed analysis of the signals was not conducted before Abbott went public in China on April 11.

According to news.com.au, the acoustic experts, on conditions of anonymity, insisted that the signals were in the wrong frequency and detected too far apart to be from the boxes.

One scientist said as soon as he saw the frequency and the distance between the pings he knew it couldn't be the aircraft pinger.

Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said that the signals were 'likely' sourced from electronic equipment and were "believed to be" consistent with the Flight Data Recorder, the report said.

The JACC has refused a request to release recordings of the signals for independent analysis and it did not release the exact location or precise depth of the signals.

Agency head retired defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said the signals were still being analysed to ensure nothing was overlooked, the report added.