A metal object that washed ashore on Australia 's coast was n't from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , officials said . Detailed pictures of the object were enough to convince investigators that it was n't a lead in the search for the missing plane , the Australian agency leading the search for the aircraft said on Thursday . Officials had previously called the piece of metal , which appeared to have rivets on one side , an `` object of interest '' in the search . Police picked it up near Augusta , Australia , roughly 1,000 miles away from the suspected crash site , after many futile days of searching for the missing plane . Authorities have n't said what they think the object could be . Possible promising leads have turned out to be false alarms for weeks in the lengthy search for the missing plane , which disappeared mid-flight on March 8 with 239 people aboard . One major challenge that 's complicated the search : the ocean is full of garbage . Other objects search teams have spotted in the Indian Ocean turned out to be trash , jellyfish and fishing gear . Bad weather grounded planes searching for signs of debris on Wednesday . And a high-tech underwater drone found no sign of the Boeing 777 jetliner . If nothing turns up in the Bluefin-21 's underwater search , the investigation will move into a new phase that could involve new equipment and an expanded search area . And as the search came up empty again , a key question loomed : Are they looking in the right place ? `` They have been searching for more than a month . All of the ships , the planes , the satellites they 're using , not even a small piece of the plane was found , '' Steve Wang , whose mother was aboard the aircraft , told CNN 's `` The Lead with Jake Tapper '' on Thursday . Abbott : 'We may rethink the search , but we will not rest ' Up to 11 military aircraft and 11 ships are set to search for the plane on Thursday . And there 's still ground left to cover . The Bluefin-21 has scanned more than 90 % of the underwater search area set out by investigators and began its 12th mission on Thursday . `` We will continue with the search operation until we fully cover the search area , '' Hishammuddin Hussein , Malaysia 's acting transport minister , said Wednesday . Despite the search efforts for MH370 repeatedly coming up empty during the 48 days since it started , there 's no suggestion the hunt in the southern Indian Ocean is anywhere close to ending . Quite to the contrary , according to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott , whose country is heading up the search for the missing aircraft . `` We are not going to abandon ... the families of the 239 people who were on that plane by lightly surrendering while there is reasonable hope of finding something , '' he said Wednesday . `` We may well rethink the search , but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery . '' What comes next ? Malaysian and Australian authorities are already mapping out a long-term strategy for the search , which could go on for months or years , if the two-year search for Air France Flight 447 is any guide . Guidelines drafted by Malaysia raise the possibility of a significantly wider search area should the current underwater search fail to turn up evidence of the plane . The document discusses how best to deploy resources , including new underwater search assets . If the underwater search comes up empty , it could ground the air search as well , CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien said . `` If it does n't pan out , then all the equations that have been put in the mix to determine where debris might be ... all of that is for naught , '' he said . The next logical step after the underwater search is to `` rethink all of the information we have at hand , '' ocean search specialist Rob McCallum told CNN . An expanded search area might include the last 370 miles of the plane 's flight path , perhaps 15 miles on either side , he said . He also said it would make sense to turn to deep-towed sonar , which provides less resolution than the Bluefin-21 but about 10 times the range . If the search changes tacks , that does n't mean investigators did the wrong thing by looking where they did for the plane , said CNN analyst David Gallo , who co-led the search for Air France Flight 447 . Satellite and fuel consumption data , and possible pings from the plane 's flight data recorders led searchers to the part of the Indian Ocean they 're combing now , he said . `` It 's the place they had to look . ... Everything pointed to this area , '' he said . Going forward , he said , investigators may double or triple the size of the search area while using sonar to map the ocean floor `` so you see where every pebble is . '' `` I just do n't know how you leave this place before you take that area of the seafloor apart completely , '' he said . What happens if data recorders are found ? Investigators would love to find the flight data recorders from Flight 370 , a potential treasure trove of information into what happened to the jetliner and the 239 passengers and crew on board . If found , the `` black boxes '' probably would go to the Australian Transport Safety Board 's accident investigation lab . But the investigation is officially Malaysian , so that country 's officials would decide where the boxes would go . Australia is just one of a handful of countries that have the capability and technical know-how to decipher what 's inside a black box . The investigation into Flight 370 's disappearance is Malaysia 's responsibility . Australia is leading the search for the missing aircraft and participating in the investigation as an accredited representative . The Malaysian Cabinet approved the appointment of an international investigation team to look into the disappearance of Flight 370 , Hishammuddin said . The names of the members will be announced next week , he added . He also said the team will not be looking at the criminal aspects of the investigation , which remain under the Royal Malaysian Police . `` The main purpose is to evaluate and determine the cause of the accident , '' Hishammuddin said . Malaysia has completed a preliminary report on the incident , as required by the International Civil Aviation Organization , but has not released it publicly , he said . Inside a black box investigation lab . The latest in the search . Australia : What 's next . Sad , angry relatives in agonizing limbo .
The Bluefin-21 begins 12th mission after scanning more than 90 % of search area . Analysis of photos shows an object found near Augusta is n't a lead in the search . Passenger 's family member asks : Are they searching in the right place ? Comment: Search area is `` the place they had to look ''