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Authorities Cast Doubt on Signal in Jet Search Authorities Cast Doubt on Signal in Jet Search
(about 2 hours later)
SYDNEY, Australia — The Australian authorities searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane said Friday that the latest potential signal was probably not from the flight recorders, despite hopes raised the previous day. SYDNEY, Australia — The Australian authorities searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane said Friday that the latest potential signal was probably not from the flight recorders, despite hopes raised the previous day.
A sensor dropped into the sea by a Royal Australian Air Force plane had detected an acoustic signal in the same area of the ocean where a search vessel had earlier detected signals that might have come from flight recorders of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Australian search authorities said Thursday. A sensor dropped into the sea by a Royal Australian Air Force plane had detected an acoustic signal in the same area of the ocean where a search vessel had earlier detected signals that might have come from flight recorders of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Australian search authorities said Thursday.
The latest potential clue to the whereabouts of the aircraft came in the same seas off Western Australia where the Ocean Shield, an Australian ship, had already collected four sets of signals — two on Saturday, two on Tuesday — that could have come from beacons attached to the plane’s two flight recorders. The latest potential clue to the whereabouts of the aircraft came in the same seas off Western Australia where the Ocean Shield, an Australian ship, had already collected four sets of signals — two on Saturday, two on Tuesday — that could have come from beacons attached to the plane’s two flight recorders.
Yet Angus Houston, the retired air chief marshal overseeing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said in an emailed statement on Friday that “an initial assessment of the possible signal detected by a R.A.A.F. AP-3C Orion aircraft yesterday afternoon has been determined as not related to an aircraft underwater locator beacon.” Yet Angus Houston, the retired air chief marshal overseeing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said in an emailed statement on Friday that “an initial assessment of the possible signal detected by a R.A.A.F. AP-3C Orion aircraft yesterday afternoon has been determined as not related to an aircraft underwater locator beacon.”
“The Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Center has analyzed the acoustic data and confirmed that the signal reported in the vicinity of the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield is unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes,” Mr. Houston said.“The Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Center has analyzed the acoustic data and confirmed that the signal reported in the vicinity of the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield is unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes,” Mr. Houston said.
He discounted expectations of an impending announcement on the recorders, which are crucial to determining what caused the plane to disappear on March 8. “On the information I have available to me, there has been no major breakthrough in the search,” Mr. Houston said. The Ocean Shield, he added, would continue seeking to “locate further signals that may be related to the aircraft’s black boxes.” He discounted expectations of an impending announcement on the recorders, which are crucial to determining what caused the plane to disappear on March 8. “On the information I have available to me, there has been no major breakthrough in the search,” Mr. Houston said. The Ocean Shield, he added, would continue seeking to "locate further signals that may be related to the aircraft’s black boxes.”
“It is vital to glean as much information as possible while the batteries on the underwater locator beacons may still be active,” he said.“It is vital to glean as much information as possible while the batteries on the underwater locator beacons may still be active,” he said.
Speaking in China, however, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, appeared confident that previous signals detected by the Ocean Shield did come from the flight recorders’ beacons.Speaking in China, however, the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, appeared confident that previous signals detected by the Ocean Shield did come from the flight recorders’ beacons.
“We have very much narrowed down the search area, and we are very confident the signals are from the black box,” Mr. Abbott said, according to the Australian ABC news network.“We have very much narrowed down the search area, and we are very confident the signals are from the black box,” Mr. Abbott said, according to the Australian ABC news network.
The Joint Agency Coordination Center, which is overseeing the search, said the possible signal had been detected by a sonar buoy, or sonobuoy, dropped from the Orion; the buoy’s radio transmits data back to the plane. The flight recorders may be crucial to determining what caused the plane, a Boeing 777-200, to disappear on March 8 with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. The Joint Agency Coordination Center, which is overseeing the search, said the possible signal had been detected by a sonar buoy, or sonobuoy, dropped from the Orion; the buoy’s radio transmits data back to the plane. The flight recorders may be crucial to determining what caused the plane, a Boeing 777-200, to disappear on March 8 with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
Locating and seeking to retrieve the recorders would require using a Bluefin robotic submersible vehicle to scour the ocean floor, which Mr. Houston said was about 14,800 feet below the surface, putting it at the limit of the Bluefin’s reach. Locating and seeking to retrieve the recorders would require using a Bluefin robotic submersible vehicle to scour the ocean floor, which Mr. Houston said was about 14,800 feet below the surface, putting it at the limit of the Bluefin’s reach.
The batteries on the recorders’ signal beacons have been consuming power for more than 30 days — their standard operating life — and each extra day of signals could prove important to homing on in the recorders.The batteries on the recorders’ signal beacons have been consuming power for more than 30 days — their standard operating life — and each extra day of signals could prove important to homing on in the recorders.
David Griffin, an oceanographer advising the Australian government on the search, is trying to track debris based on water and wind currents. He said several factors, including a false start in the wrong area, had seriously set the searchers back.David Griffin, an oceanographer advising the Australian government on the search, is trying to track debris based on water and wind currents. He said several factors, including a false start in the wrong area, had seriously set the searchers back.
The coordination center said in an email that the main search zone, which had been narrowed down to about 23,000 square miles on Thursday, would be reduced again to two separate areas on Friday totaling about 18,000 square miles. Up to 12 military planes, three civilian aircraft and 13 ships would take part in the hunt on Friday, the center said. The coordination center said in an email that the main search zone, which had been narrowed down to about 23,000 square miles on Thursday, would be reduced again to two separate areas on Friday totaling about 18,000 square miles. Up to 12 military planes, three civilian aircraft and 13 ships would take part in the hunt on Friday, the center said.
The area where Ocean Shield is now trawling for acoustic pings is about 1,000 miles northwest of Perth, and several hundred miles east of the main search area, where investigators believe that any plane debris is likely to have drifted.The area where Ocean Shield is now trawling for acoustic pings is about 1,000 miles northwest of Perth, and several hundred miles east of the main search area, where investigators believe that any plane debris is likely to have drifted.
Mr. Houston said Friday that a decision when to send down the Bluefin submersible vehicle to hunt for the flight recorders and any wreckage “will be made on advice from experts on board the Ocean Shield and could be some days away.”  A British navy survey ship, the HMS Echo, has joined the Ocean Shield in searching the area, the Australian Join Agency Coordination Center confirmed in an email Friday. The Center did not give details of how the two ships would divide up tasks. It also said the Haixun 01, a Chinese maritime administration vessel, continued to search another area. On Saturday, Chinese state media said crew of the Haixun 01 had detected what might be signals, but there has been no confirmation of the authenticity of the signals, and nor have other possible signals been reported in the area where the Haixun 01 has operated.
Mr. Houston said Friday that a decision when to send down the Bluefin submersible vehicle to hunt for the flight recorders and any wreckage “will be made on advice from experts on board the Ocean Shield and could be some days away.”