Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Update: Philip Wood's Family Remain Hopeful But Prepared for Worst

Mar 20, 2014 01:52 PM EDT

It's been more than 10 days since the Malaysia Airlines flight 370 carrying 239 people disappeared. Investigators said Thursday that satellites have found two objects that may be from the missing plane, but officials stressed caution, saying the objects will be difficult to find in the vast Indian Ocean and might not be related to Flight 370.

Meanwhile, families of the missing plane have been waiting for any news since the plane disappeared on March 8. Philip Wood, a 51-year-old IBM exectuive, was one of the 239 passengers on board Flight 370. His family, who live in Keller, posted a message on Facebook following the latest lead by Australian search officials, asking for continuous prayers and positive thoughts for the passengers.

Because of the many falso leads and sightings, the Woods said they are not going to believe anything until receiving confirmation from an official.

"So we're hopeful, we remain hopeful. Of course, this is another new twist," said Philip's mother, Sondra Wood, 76, according to NBC Dallas Fort Worth 5 .

Nicholas Wood, Philip's older son, 24, said, "Nothing has been found, they've stopped searching for the night and they haven't located anything. There's been so many false leads, so many false sightings, that we don't know what to think until they actually confirm something."

Even if the debris lead to the discovery of a tragic end to Flight 370, Sondra Wood is prepared for the worst.

"I want to know. One way or the other, I want to know." Sondra Wood told NBC 5. "As a mother I want closure. And if indeed this is something that's happening, we'll be grateful to know that they found this plane. We're hopeful. Still hopeful that Philip could be found."

In an earlier interview with PEOPLE, Nick's younger brother, Christopher Wood, 20, a sophomore serving in Texas A&M's elite Corps of Cadets, had also shared their strong sense of hope that their father would be found alive.

"Until we have a definitive answer on his whereabouts and those of the plane and its passengers, we will refuse to believe that my father has passed away. He is and always will be a member of our family, and most importantly my father, and I wouldn't give up hope so easily," he told PEOPLE.

James Wood, Philip's younger brother, said he, too, hasn't given up. He added that, regardless of the outcome, the family finds comfort in knowing that his brother, a brilliant technical executive for IBM in Malaysia, raised two amazing sons, who both attended A&M and served in the cadet program.

"He poured all of his strength into raising good sons, and it makes me proud to be their uncle," James Wood, 41, an engineer in Oklahoma, tells PEOPLE. "I see how they handle themselves: they're composed, they're gentle, they're kind and they're strong."

Philip Wood Missing Malaysian Flight MH370
The sons have posted photos on Facebook of themselves in full uniform, standing with their father, who smiles broadly with his arms around their shoulders. (Christopher Wood/Facebook)

Since the flight's disapperance, the Wood's family have been huddling together and trusting God.

"We're putting it in God's hands," Aubrey Wood, Philip's father, told USA TODAY on Mar. 19. "I personally feel he's still alive. ... We believe they're somewhere on land. And we're going to find him."

Aubrey Wood said she had shared a Bible verse with other family members. It was from Psalm 46:10 of the Old Testament: "Be still, and know that I am God."

Faith and strength of family is what has kept them going, she said, despite feeling devastated at first.

"I'm at peace about it," said Philip Wood's father. "If he passed on, he's with the Lord. We'll see him again either way."

Flight 370 disappeared on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next.