Missing MH370 'pings go silent' raising fears jet may never be found

Missing Malaysian plane MH370 may never be found as black box pings have gone silent.

After a week of optimism and other four underwater signals believed to be coming from the missing Malaysian plane, the sea has gone quiet.

According to news.com.au, no new electronic pings have been heard since April 8, and the batteries powering the locator beacons on the plane's black box recorders may have been dead.

They only last about a month, and that window has already passed.

Once officials are confident no more sounds will be heard, a robotic submersible will be sent down to slowly scour for wreckage across the deep water, the report added.