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Chinese search plane spots ‘suspicious objects’ in hunt for missing Malaysian jet Chinese search plane spots ‘suspicious objects’ in hunt for missing Malaysian jet
(about 3 hours later)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Observers on a Chinese search plane on Monday spotted some “suspicious objects” in the southern Indian Ocean — two large floating objects and many white smaller ones — as the search for the missing Malaysian Airline flight entered its third week. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Observers on a Chinese search plane on Monday spotted some “suspicious objects” in the southern Indian Ocean — two large floating objects and many smaller white ones — as the search for the missing Malaysian Airline flight entered its third week.
The sighting, reported by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua and confirmed by the Australians leading the search, could be the biggest breakthrough in days, as those searching have been unable so far to find any of the debris that has been seen only on satellite images. Separately, crew on an Australian plane were able to see two objects, one circular and one rectangular, in another section of the 42,500-square-mile stretch of the southern Indian Ocean where observers have tried for days to find some sign of the vanished passenger jet.
A Chinese ship is en route to the area, which is 1,353 miles southwest of Perth, to investigate further, according to Xinhua. The Chinese have also asked for the Australians to send more planes to the area to look. Until now, possible plane debris has only been seen on satellite images, making Monday’s developments a potentially significant breakthrough for the massive search-and-rescue operation, one of the largest in aviation history.
The development is just the latest in a search that has been gaining momentum in recent days as various satellites have seen signs of debris in the remote area of the southern Indian Ocean being searched. The mission has been daunting. On Monday, just as soon as objects were spotted by the Chinese, they disappeared again. A U.S. Navy ship sent to investigate the spot 1,353 miles southwest of Perth was unable to relocate the debris.
France announced Sunday that it had new satellite data showing possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the latest images to raise hopes of finding the jet. A Chinese ship is also en route to the spot where the debris was seen, according to state news agency Xinhua. The Chinese have also asked the Australians to send more planes to the area.
On Monday morning, the search was set to expand to the area pinpointed by the French data, as two Chinese planes joined the Australian-led mission. It was unclear Monday whether any of the objects spotted by observers were the same as those picked up by various satellite images, including one from the Chinese over the weekend showing a grainy image of a “suspicious floating object” 74 feet long and 43 feet wide. Large shipping containers are also often found drifting in the same waters being scoured for the plane, a part of the world where strong currents constantly move objects around with changing speeds and directions. Those leading the search hope to get close enough to the items and dredge them out to inspect further.
The French images are the third set of satellite information issued in the past week that depict what could be wreckage from the plane that disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board. Finding the debris field is critical for locating the missing aircraft’s cockpit recorders, which will emit tracking signals for 30 days. The plane was lost on March 8, meaning there are only about a dozen days left to find the black box containing two recorders: one with the last two hours of audio from the cockpit, and the other with detailed flight data.
The object seen by a French satellite was 528 miles north of the current search area, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in an interview with ABC Radio, Australia’s national public broadcaster. The French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite had indicated the presence of debris in the ocean about 1,400 miles from the Australian coastal city of Perth but gave no direction or date. On Monday, the U.S. Navy ordered a black box locator to be moved into the area being searched. The Navy’s technology can locate black boxes to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet. The Indian Ocean’s depth ranges between 3,770 feet and 23,000 feet.
After more than a week of dead ends spanning from Kyrgyzstan to the South China Sea, authorities have steadily zeroed in on a desolate, Texas-sized area in the southern Indian Ocean. Five aircraft were scouring the area with two more planes on the way Monday morning, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
Monday’s search was meant to build on the most recent available satellite data -- information provided by the French on Sunday.
The object seen by a French satellite was 528 miles north of where planes and ships had been looking over the weekend, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in an interview with ABC Radio, Australia’s national public broadcaster.
The French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite had indicated the presence of debris in the ocean about 1,400 miles from the Australian coastal city of Perth, but gave no direction or date.
“We still don’t know for certain that the aircraft is even in this area,” Truss said in the interview. “We are just clutching at whatever little piece of information comes along to try and find a place where we might be able to concentrate the efforts.”“We still don’t know for certain that the aircraft is even in this area,” Truss said in the interview. “We are just clutching at whatever little piece of information comes along to try and find a place where we might be able to concentrate the efforts.”
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Monday expanded the search once again, in light of the most recent sightings, with a total of 10 aircraft scouring two areas covering more than 42,500 square miles. To make the search even more difficult, the weather in this area of the ocean can also be extreme. There were fears recently that a cyclone that hit Christmas Island over the weekend would be headed towards the search parties. AMSA said Monday, though, that the search area should not be affected.
Finding the debris field is critical for being able to look for the missing aircraft’s cockpit recorders, which will emit tracking signals for 30 days. The plane was lost on March 8, meaning there is only about a dozen days left to find the black box containing two recorders: one with the last two hours of audio from the cockpit, and the other with detailed flight data.
The U.S. Navy has ordered a black box locator to be moved into the area being searched. The Navy’s technology can locate black boxes to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet. The Indian Ocean’s depth ranges between 3,770 feet and 23,000 feet.
The hunt for the plane — which vanished while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing — is one of the broadest aviation search-and-rescue operations in history.
Low fog hampered the search early Sunday, but John Young, general manager of the Australian maritime agency’s emergency response division, said weather conditions in the remote part of the Indian Ocean appeared to be improving.
AMSA said Monday the search area will not be affected by a cyclone that hit Christmas Island over the weekend and was feared to be headed towards the corner of the ocean being scoured for the plane.
The grainy satellite photograph of a “suspicious floating object” issued by the Chinese was taken about 75 miles southwest of the debris sighting announced by Australia last week. The photograph was dated March 18, two days after the images from Australia were released.
The Australian maritime agency said the Chinese image was “consistent” in size and location with the other images. It said its planes had passed over the area identified in the Chinese image Saturday without spotting anything.
The object spotted by the Chinese was 74 feet long and 43 feet wide. That is too wide to have come from a plane “unless it is the root of the wing,” said Peter Marosszeky, an aviation expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “It is a possibility, though unlikely.”
A Boeing 777-200 is 209 feet long, with a wingspan of 199 feet and a tail height of 60 feet above the ground. Its body is 20 feet in diameter.
Even if empty fuel tanks inside the wing were filled with air, some experts said they doubted a fragment of that size could stay afloat for 10 days.
Mike Barton, the rescue coordination chief at the Australian maritime agency, said the biggest challenge was the search area’s “remoteness from anywhere.” That meant search planes were operating at the limits of their fuel supply, prolonging the search, he said.Mike Barton, the rescue coordination chief at the Australian maritime agency, said the biggest challenge was the search area’s “remoteness from anywhere.” That meant search planes were operating at the limits of their fuel supply, prolonging the search, he said.
Satellites have the advantage of passing directly over an object, “but actually determining what it is from an aircraft at a lot lower altitude, looking into the sun, with haze and all the rest of it, is proving difficult,” Barton said.Satellites have the advantage of passing directly over an object, “but actually determining what it is from an aircraft at a lot lower altitude, looking into the sun, with haze and all the rest of it, is proving difficult,” Barton said.
If planes can find any of the floating objects or any new ones of interest, the next step will be to get a ship to the area and fish them out of the water. “Until we find them and have a good look at them, it’s hard to say if they have anything to do with the aircraft,” Barton said at a news conference in Canberra, the capital.If planes can find any of the floating objects or any new ones of interest, the next step will be to get a ship to the area and fish them out of the water. “Until we find them and have a good look at them, it’s hard to say if they have anything to do with the aircraft,” Barton said at a news conference in Canberra, the capital.
An Australian naval vessel is in the area, and a small flotilla of Chinese ships is heading to the search zone in the coming days. Merchant ships that had been involved in the search have been released, the Australian maritime agency said Sunday. Meanwhile, there is still the mystery of what caused the plane to divert from its flight path in the first place.
Japan and India were sending more planes, and two Chinese Ilyushin aircraft have arrived in Perth and are due to join the search Monday, the Australian agency said. The Malaysian government said Monday it had interviewed 100 people, including members of the pilots’ families, as part of its investigation.
Young said the search area was being constantly refined to make it as accurate as possible. So far, there has been no indication that the pilots deliberately sabotaged the flight. Malaysian officials on Sunday rejected recent U.S. media reports that the passenger jet had been pre-programmed to turn sharply westward before it vanished from radar. Those reports, citing unidentified U.S. officials, said the plane’s last transmission through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, at 1:07 a.m. on March 8, indicated the shift in route, casting suspicion on the two pilots.
On Sunday, the Malaysian government denied recent U.S. media reports that the passenger jet had been pre-programmed to turn sharply westward before it vanished from radar. Those reports, citing unidentified U.S. officials, said the plane’s last transmission through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, at 1:07 a.m. on March 8, indicated the shift in route, casting suspicion on the two pilots.
This was not true, Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement. “The last ACARS transmission, sent at 1:07 a.m., showed nothing unusual,” it said.This was not true, Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement. “The last ACARS transmission, sent at 1:07 a.m., showed nothing unusual,” it said.