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| New Satellite Images Said to Be ‘Credible Lead’ in Jet Search | New Satellite Images Said to Be ‘Credible Lead’ in Jet Search |
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| KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s defense minister announced on Wednesday evening that Airbus Defense and Space, Europe’s main commercial satellite company, had forwarded images taken on Sunday of 122 objects floating southwest of Australia and said that his country had asked Australia to check if they were debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. | KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s defense minister announced on Wednesday evening that Airbus Defense and Space, Europe’s main commercial satellite company, had forwarded images taken on Sunday of 122 objects floating southwest of Australia and said that his country had asked Australia to check if they were debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. |
| While the objects might turn out to be unrelated to the missing aircraft, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, “this is still the most credible lead that we have.” | While the objects might turn out to be unrelated to the missing aircraft, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, “this is still the most credible lead that we have.” |
| The objects are up to 75 feet, or 23 meters, in length, and are visible through gaps in clouds over an area of 154 square miles, or 400 square kilometers, he said. Some of the objects are bright, he noted without elaboration. Metal objects that had recently entered the ocean might be reflective. | |
| Malaysia forwarded the information to Australia on Wednesday afternoon, and it was unclear if the floating objects can be checked before dark or if an inspection may need to wait until Thursday, Mr. Hishammuddin said. | Malaysia forwarded the information to Australia on Wednesday afternoon, and it was unclear if the floating objects can be checked before dark or if an inspection may need to wait until Thursday, Mr. Hishammuddin said. |
| The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement that it had resumed search operations after a one-day halt for bad weather on Tuesday and that at least four aircraft were scheduled to be searching on Wednesday night. | The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement that it had resumed search operations after a one-day halt for bad weather on Tuesday and that at least four aircraft were scheduled to be searching on Wednesday night. |
| The floating objects are 1,589 miles, or 2,557 kilometers, southwest of Perth. If the debris turns out to be from the missing plane, the next step would be to figure out how far it might have drifted from where the aircraft might have splashed down, to begin an undersea search, Mr. Hishammuddin said. | |
| The United States Navy has sent an undersea listening device and a sonar device. But each needs to be towed far underwater behind a ship traveling scarcely faster than a person walking on land. | The United States Navy has sent an undersea listening device and a sonar device. But each needs to be towed far underwater behind a ship traveling scarcely faster than a person walking on land. |
| The listening device could pick up signals from the plane’s data recorders before they stop transmitting pings in two to three weeks but needs to be towed within a mile of them for reliable detection. The sonar will work even after the data recorders go silent but needs to be even closer to detect wreckage on the seabed. | The listening device could pick up signals from the plane’s data recorders before they stop transmitting pings in two to three weeks but needs to be towed within a mile of them for reliable detection. The sonar will work even after the data recorders go silent but needs to be even closer to detect wreckage on the seabed. |
| Finding floating debris from the plane might help provide closure for the families and friends of the passengers and crew, but may prove of limited use in locating the data recorders, oceanographers cautioned. The debris could have drifted hundreds of miles in the 18 days since the plane disappeared, said Jianping Gan, an oceanographer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who has done research aboard a Chinese icebreaker in the waters around Antarctica. | Finding floating debris from the plane might help provide closure for the families and friends of the passengers and crew, but may prove of limited use in locating the data recorders, oceanographers cautioned. The debris could have drifted hundreds of miles in the 18 days since the plane disappeared, said Jianping Gan, an oceanographer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who has done research aboard a Chinese icebreaker in the waters around Antarctica. |
| Jason Ali, an earth sciences professor at Hong Kong University who has studied currents in the Indian Ocean, said that “even if you’ve got floating material, if it has been floating for two and a half weeks, it’s not going to have much relation to the wreckage” on the seabed. | Jason Ali, an earth sciences professor at Hong Kong University who has studied currents in the Indian Ocean, said that “even if you’ve got floating material, if it has been floating for two and a half weeks, it’s not going to have much relation to the wreckage” on the seabed. |
| Mike Purcell, a senior engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, who led two underwater search expeditions for the wreck of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic in 2010 and 2011, said that the current search zone for Flight 370 was far more remote than the location of the Air France wreckage and that the seas and weather conditions were known to be considerably rougher. | Mike Purcell, a senior engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, who led two underwater search expeditions for the wreck of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic in 2010 and 2011, said that the current search zone for Flight 370 was far more remote than the location of the Air France wreckage and that the seas and weather conditions were known to be considerably rougher. |
| “That can slow down your progress considerably, because it makes it more difficult to operate, to get the vehicles in and out of the water,” he said. And bad weather can mean days of waiting to resume the search. | “That can slow down your progress considerably, because it makes it more difficult to operate, to get the vehicles in and out of the water,” he said. And bad weather can mean days of waiting to resume the search. |
| Mr. Purcell estimated that there were fewer than a dozen underwater search vehicles in the world equipped with the sonar and imaging technology required for a deepwater search of this scale. These are operated by a handful of private companies and oceanographic institutes as well as by the United States Navy, he said. | Mr. Purcell estimated that there were fewer than a dozen underwater search vehicles in the world equipped with the sonar and imaging technology required for a deepwater search of this scale. These are operated by a handful of private companies and oceanographic institutes as well as by the United States Navy, he said. |
| Mr. Purcell said one advantage was that the sea floor in the southern Indian Ocean was relatively flat compared with the highly varied terrain of the mid-Atlantic. The depth of the water is comparable, however, at more than 10,000 feet. | Mr. Purcell said one advantage was that the sea floor in the southern Indian Ocean was relatively flat compared with the highly varied terrain of the mid-Atlantic. The depth of the water is comparable, however, at more than 10,000 feet. |
| Military submarines have sophisticated equipment for listening for ships or other submarines. But unlike towed sonar like the Bluefin-21, which the United States Navy is sending and which can descend to 14,700 feet, or a towed pinger detector, which can plunge 20,000 feet, military submarines are designed to operate within a few hundred feet of the surface. That limits their ability to detect pings from far below the surface in water of different densities, moving at different speeds and at different temperatures. | Military submarines have sophisticated equipment for listening for ships or other submarines. But unlike towed sonar like the Bluefin-21, which the United States Navy is sending and which can descend to 14,700 feet, or a towed pinger detector, which can plunge 20,000 feet, military submarines are designed to operate within a few hundred feet of the surface. That limits their ability to detect pings from far below the surface in water of different densities, moving at different speeds and at different temperatures. |
| For now, aircraft from Australia and other countries have been looking in an area the size of the western and southwestern United States, where the plane is believed to have disappeared after its last signals to a satellite. They have not extended the search to all the places where debris might have drifted. But because the area of the aircraft’s disappearance is so far from land, roughly a four-hour flight in each direction, planes can spend only a couple of hours searching. | For now, aircraft from Australia and other countries have been looking in an area the size of the western and southwestern United States, where the plane is believed to have disappeared after its last signals to a satellite. They have not extended the search to all the places where debris might have drifted. But because the area of the aircraft’s disappearance is so far from land, roughly a four-hour flight in each direction, planes can spend only a couple of hours searching. |
| Making matters worse, oceanographers said, is that currents in the southern Indian Ocean are less well understood than in more heavily trafficked seas. A violent storm on Tuesday, one of many in the region as the southern hemisphere’s winter approaches and days become shorter, has further churned the waters. | Making matters worse, oceanographers said, is that currents in the southern Indian Ocean are less well understood than in more heavily trafficked seas. A violent storm on Tuesday, one of many in the region as the southern hemisphere’s winter approaches and days become shorter, has further churned the waters. |
| And any debris sticking up out of the water will have been pushed by the wind in directions that may be different from prevailing currents. “With any wind, it’ll act like a sail,” Mr. Ali said. Waves may also have pushed objects in unpredictable directions, making it hard to calculate the movements of any debriss. | And any debris sticking up out of the water will have been pushed by the wind in directions that may be different from prevailing currents. “With any wind, it’ll act like a sail,” Mr. Ali said. Waves may also have pushed objects in unpredictable directions, making it hard to calculate the movements of any debriss. |
| Even finding the data recorders, although extremely difficult, may not be enough to explain what happened to Flight 370. The cockpit voice recorder stores only the two most recent hours of sounds in the cockpit before the aircraft ceases operating. Investigators have been most interested in why the plane turned around over the Gulf of Thailand roughly seven hours before it is believed to have run out of fuel over the southern Indian Ocean. | Even finding the data recorders, although extremely difficult, may not be enough to explain what happened to Flight 370. The cockpit voice recorder stores only the two most recent hours of sounds in the cockpit before the aircraft ceases operating. Investigators have been most interested in why the plane turned around over the Gulf of Thailand roughly seven hours before it is believed to have run out of fuel over the southern Indian Ocean. |
| The separate data recorder for various aircraft instruments and controls would have saved information from the plane’s sharp turn, but might not reveal the intent of whoever was in the cockpit or if the turn was deliberate, as the Malaysian authorities have suggested. | The separate data recorder for various aircraft instruments and controls would have saved information from the plane’s sharp turn, but might not reveal the intent of whoever was in the cockpit or if the turn was deliberate, as the Malaysian authorities have suggested. |