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Satellites Again Spot Debris in Search Area for Flight 370 Satellites Again Spot Debris in Search Area for Flight 370
(about 5 hours later)
PEARCE AIR FORCE BASE, Australia — The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner entered in its third week on Sunday, as images from a French satellite added to signs the plane may have fallen into the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, where a multinational search for clues has expanded. PEARCE AIR FORCE BASE, Australia — The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet entered in its third week on Sunday, as data from a French satellite buttressed the theory that the plane might have fallen into the southern Indian Ocean, far off the west coast of Australia, where a multinational search for clues has expanded. The day ended without any possible wreckage being found.
Australia and China have already released satellite images of blurry objects floating in a portion of those seas that officials said might be wreckage from the Boeing 777-200, which disappeared on March 8 after leaving Kuala Lumpur for a routine night flight to Beijing. Now a French satellite has also spied objects in the southern Indian Ocean that might be related to the missing Flight 370, the Malaysian Ministry of Transport said in an emailed statement. Australia and China have already released satellite images of blurry objects floating in the sea, and officials said those might be wreckage from the Boeing 777-200, which disappeared on March 8 after leaving Kuala Lumpur for a routine night flight to Beijing. Now a French satellite has also spied objects in the southern Indian Ocean that might be related to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Malaysian Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
“Australia, China and France have now released satellite images that show potential objects, which may be related to MH370, in the vicinity of the southern corridor,” said the statement. “All this information has been forwarded to Australia, as the lead country in the area of concern.” France’s ministry of foreign affairs said the possible debris was spotted using satellite-based radar, but gave no other details about the image or its precise location. Yet the announcement appears likely to reinforce a belief that the plane probably fell into the ocean far off of Western Australia after veering sharply from its planned route. Investigators say they believe military radar and satellite signals indicate the plane cut across Peninsular Malaysia, headed west over the Indian Ocean and then possibly headed south toward where Australia has organized a search involving New Zealand and the United States. Britain, China and Japan have also sent military planes and ships to aid the hunt.
The ministry gave no other details about the image or its precise location. But the announcement appears likely to reinforce a belief that the Malaysia Airlines plane probably fell into the ocean off Western Australia after departing radically from its planned route. Investigators believe military radar and satellite signals indicate the plane cut across peninsular Malaysia, headed west over the Indian Ocean, and then possibly struck south toward where Australia has organized a search involving New Zealand and the United States. Britain, China and Japan have also sent military planes and ships to aid the hunt. Flight Lt. Russel Adams, the pilot of an Australian P-3 military aircraft that spent more than 10 hours on Sunday searching for debris, said weather conditions had deteriorated in parts of the search zone.
The search is focused on an area about 2,500 kilometers, or 1,550 miles, southwest of Perth, and on Sunday eight aircraft, including a United States Navy P-8 Poseidon, were to patrol that area, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement. Two Chinese transport aircraft were standing by for an assignment to search, said Ma Zhaoxu, China’s ambassador to Australia, according to a report on Chinese state television’s website. Australian search organizers said in a separate note that the Chinese planes would not be ready to fly out before Monday. Two Japanese patrol planes were also joining the effort. “There was cloud down to the surface,” he told reporters minutes after landing at the base here, which is 50 kilometers north of the western Australian city of Perth.
A statement by the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy said that the weather in the southern Indian Ocean was much clearer on Sunday than the previous few days, allowing for full use of electronic and visual search tools. The P-8 aircraft would have about three hours of search time before flying back to base in Perth, the statement said. But the search area is vast, and a statement by the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy said that the overall weather conditions in the southern Indian Ocean were much clearer on Sunday than the previous few days, allowing for full use of electronic and visual search tools.
On Saturday, the Chinese government said one of its satellites had spotted an “unusual object” on Tuesday in an area where Australia had already organized a search. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Chinese planes and ships would try to reach the area and look for the whitish object, about 74 feet by 43 feet. It was spotted about 65 nautical miles southwest of the spot where, two days earlier, another satellite captured similar images of floating objects, which the Australian government said might be wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The search is focused on an area about 2,500 kilometers, or 1,550 miles, southwest of Perth, and on Sunday eight aircraft, including a United States Navy P-8 Poseidon, were to patrol that area. Two Chinese transport aircraft that arrived here Saturday will join the search operations on Monday, Australian authorities said. Two Japanese patrol planes were also joining the effort.
Experts on satellite imagery and open-ocean recovery said the two sightings may be of the same object or objects, and that might give the search teams more information with which to calculate ocean currents and drift speeds, turn back the clock and estimate where Flight 370 may have struck the ocean some time after 8 a.m. Malaysia time on March 8. On Saturday, the Chinese government said one of its satellites had spotted an “unusual object” on Tuesday in an area where Australia had already organized a search. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country’s planes and ships would try to reach the area and look for the whitish object, about 74 feet by 43 feet. It was observed about 65 nautical miles southwest of the spot where, two days earlier, another satellite had captured similar images of floating objects, which the Australian government said might be wreckage from Flight 370.
David Mearns, director of Blue Water Recoveries, a British marine salvage company, said that “if you are assuming that the object seen by the satellites on March 16th and the 18th is debris from this aircraft, we can calculate the drift of that object over that period of time.” His company has been involved in several high-profile searches for aircraft that crashed at sea, including the 2009 Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean. Experts on satellite imagery and open-ocean recovery said the two sightings might be of the same object or objects, and that might give the search teams more information with which to calculate ocean currents and drift speeds, turn back the clock and estimate where Flight 370 might have struck the ocean sometime after 8 a.m. Malaysia time on March 8.
David Mearns, director of Blue Water Recoveries, a British marine salvage company, said, “If you are assuming that the object seen by the satellites on March 16th and the 18th is debris from this aircraft, we can calculate the drift of that object over that period of time.” His company has been involved in several high-profile searches for aircraft that crashed at sea, including the 2009 Air France crash in the Atlantic Ocean.
Such calculations might enable investigators to estimate where the debris would have gone since and direct the search accordingly, Mr. Mearns said.Such calculations might enable investigators to estimate where the debris would have gone since and direct the search accordingly, Mr. Mearns said.
There is no evidence yet that the debris from either Indian Ocean sighting is from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200. On Saturday, a New Zealand P-3 Orion patrol plane flew over the area and reported sighting only “clumps of seaweed,” the Australian authority said in its statement. Early search efforts were plagued by sightings of debris that turned out to be false leads, including a satellite image from the South China Sea released by the same Chinese agency that released the new picture Saturday. There is no evidence that the debris from either Indian Ocean sighting is from the missing airliner. On Saturday, a New Zealand P-3 Orion patrol plane flew over the area and reported sighting only “clumps of seaweed,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the search, said on Sunday. Early search efforts were plagued by sightings of debris that turned out to be false leads, including a satellite image from the South China Sea released by the same Chinese agency that released the new picture on Saturday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, who was on a trip to Papua New Guinea, said Sunday that the Chinese images were consistent with the images he announced in the Australian Parliament on Thursday. “Obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen,” Mr. Abbott was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying. Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, who was on a trip to Papua New Guinea, said on Sunday that the Chinese images were consistent with the images he announced in Parliament on Thursday. “Obviously, we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen,” Mr. Abbott was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying.
“It looks consistent with what the Australian picture shows,” said Sean O’Connor, a former United States Air Force intelligence officer who is a consultant to IHS Jane’s for imagery analysis, after comparing the pictures released by both governments. Currents may have pushed the object to a new location during the intervening time period, he said. “It looks consistent with what the Australian picture shows,” said Sean O’Connor, a former United States Air Force intelligence officer who is a consultant to IHS Jane’s for imagery analysis, after comparing the pictures released by both governments. Currents may have pushed the object to a new location during the intervening period, he said.
The coordinates provided with the Chinese satellite images are highly consistent with the location of the last recorded “ping” that Inmarsat, a satellite communications company, detected from the missing plane, according to one person familiar with the coordinates that Inmarsat submitted to Malaysian investigators. Inmarsat declined to comment. The coordinates provided with the Chinese satellite images are consistent with the location of the last recorded “ping” that Inmarsat, a satellite communications company, detected from the missing plane, according to a person familiar with the coordinates that Inmarsat submitted to Malaysian investigators. Inmarsat declined to comment.
Flight 370 was about 40 minutes into a six-hour night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it stopped communicating with air traffic controllers and turned far-off course, cutting back across Peninsular Malaysia toward the Indian Ocean. Onboard were 239 people, including two infants. Flight 370 was about 40 minutes into a six-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it stopped communicating with air traffic controllers and changed course, cutting back across Peninsular Malaysia toward the Indian Ocean. Onboard were 239 people, including two infants.
Signals that the plane transmitted to a satellite – the last one at 8:11 a.m., more than seven hours after the jet took off — allowed investigators to say that the plane took one of two broad paths, one south to the current focus of search operations, the other northward across the Asian continent. Signals that the plane transmitted to a satellite — the last one at 8:11 a.m., more than seven hours after the jet took off — allowed investigators to say that the plane took one of two broad paths, one south to the current focus of search operations or the other north across the Asian continent.
On Saturday, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein of Malaysia said that seven countries — China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar and Pakistan — had seen nothing to suggest the plane took the northerly route.On Saturday, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein of Malaysia said that seven countries — China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar and Pakistan — had seen nothing to suggest the plane took the northerly route.
“Based on preliminary analysis, there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radars,” he said at a news conference in a hotel at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.“Based on preliminary analysis, there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radars,” he said at a news conference in a hotel at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
More than two dozen countries are on the hunt from land, air, space and sea for any visible sign of the plane. Investigators from law enforcement and aviation safety agencies from across the world have combed through the backgrounds of all the passengers, and so far have revealed no potential suspects. The Malaysian police are investigating the backgrounds of the plane’s pilot and first officer. So far, there is no proof that the plane’s disappearance was caused by human intervention, nor is there any conclusive evidence showing that it was caused by a mechanical malfunction or an onboard accident, such as an electrical fire. More than two dozen countries are on the hunt from land, air, space and sea for any visible sign of the plane. Investigators from law enforcement and aviation safety agencies from around the globe have combed through the backgrounds of all the passengers, and so far have revealed no potential suspects. The Malaysian police are investigating the backgrounds of the plane’s pilot and first officer. So far, there is no proof that the plane’s disappearance was caused by human intervention, nor is there any conclusive evidence showing that it was caused by a mechanical malfunction or an onboard accident, such as an electrical fire.
Locating the wreckage of the missing aircraft and, most importantly, the black box that recorded information about its operations during its final hours would be crucial to determining what happened on Flight 370, and putting to rest a flood of rumor and speculation, said Simon Bennett, the director of the Civil Safety and Security Unit at the University of Leicester in Britain, who studies aviation safety and risk management. Locating the wreckage of the missing aircraft and, most important, the black box that recorded information about its operations during its final hours, would be crucial to determining what happened on Flight 370, and putting to rest a flood of rumor and speculation, said Simon Bennett, director of the Civil Safety and Security Unit at the University of Leicester in Britain, who studies aviation safety and risk management.
“In all likelihood, we may never ascertain what happened to MH370, which is a real shame, because then the speculation will simply accelerate and mount up,” he said in a telephone interview. “What actually needs to happen is that we need to find the hull, find the flight recorders, and then carefully deconstruct what happened. But in the middle of all that is this blizzard of insane conjecture.”“In all likelihood, we may never ascertain what happened to MH370, which is a real shame, because then the speculation will simply accelerate and mount up,” he said in a telephone interview. “What actually needs to happen is that we need to find the hull, find the flight recorders, and then carefully deconstruct what happened. But in the middle of all that is this blizzard of insane conjecture.”