Recovery of flight 370 wreckage in Indian Ocean would be 'no easy job'

Finding the main wreckage and black boxes of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 would require Herculean efforts, state-of-the-art technology and no small amount of luck.

Two large objects were spotted floating in a remote part of the Indian Ocean yesterday, raising hopes that the mystery of the missing Boeing 777 could finally be solved.

But experts quickly cautioned the public about expectations. Even if investigators confirmed that the two objects were from the missing jet, it would take a while to salvage the wreckage and the black boxes - or flight-data recorders - that would most likely have plunged to the ocean floor.

The Indian Ocean is 3,900 metres deep on average, with some parts twice that depth.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transport minister, acknowledged the size of the task at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, comparing the search to the extended hunt for Air France flight 477 in 2009 that took nearly two years.

"The conditions in the Indian Ocean are very similar to that of the Atlantic Ocean. It will be very challenging," Hishammuddin said.