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| Scanning of New Area Begins in Malaysia Jet Search | |
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| CANBERRA, Australia — A commercial vessel under contract from the Australian government has begun mapping the floor of the southern Indian Ocean in preparation for a renewed search for Malaysia Airlines’ missing Flight 370, but that search has been complicated by a complete lack of satellite images of the new search area from the week after the plane disappeared. | CANBERRA, Australia — A commercial vessel under contract from the Australian government has begun mapping the floor of the southern Indian Ocean in preparation for a renewed search for Malaysia Airlines’ missing Flight 370, but that search has been complicated by a complete lack of satellite images of the new search area from the week after the plane disappeared. |
| The Fugro Equator, a commercial survey ship on a three-month lease, is moving slowly around an area that is 500 miles southwest of the region where the ocean floor was searched in April and early May, according to commercially available data from a satellite locator beacon aboard the vessel. The new search area is 960 miles northwest of Perth, Australia. | The Fugro Equator, a commercial survey ship on a three-month lease, is moving slowly around an area that is 500 miles southwest of the region where the ocean floor was searched in April and early May, according to commercially available data from a satellite locator beacon aboard the vessel. The new search area is 960 miles northwest of Perth, Australia. |
| Martin Dolan, the chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said in an email response to questions on Wednesday afternoon that “Fugro Equator has been assigned to an area consistent with the provisional results of our search area analysis.” | Martin Dolan, the chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said in an email response to questions on Wednesday afternoon that “Fugro Equator has been assigned to an area consistent with the provisional results of our search area analysis.” |
| Tim Farrar, a satellite communications consultant in Menlo Park, Calif., one of a group of satellite experts who have been conducting their own independent analysis of clues to the final resting place of Flight 370, expressed surprise that the search area had not been moved even farther southwest. The plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people aboard during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. | Tim Farrar, a satellite communications consultant in Menlo Park, Calif., one of a group of satellite experts who have been conducting their own independent analysis of clues to the final resting place of Flight 370, expressed surprise that the search area had not been moved even farther southwest. The plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people aboard during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. |
| The new location is consistent with the plane having traveled south at a speed of about 380 knots after it disappeared from Malaysian radar while over the northern end of the Strait of Malacca, Mr. Farrar said. The area of the sea floor that was checked in April and May, after United States Navy contractors thought they had heard acoustic pings from the aircraft’s “black boxes,” was consistent with a plane limping along at only 325 knots. | The new location is consistent with the plane having traveled south at a speed of about 380 knots after it disappeared from Malaysian radar while over the northern end of the Strait of Malacca, Mr. Farrar said. The area of the sea floor that was checked in April and May, after United States Navy contractors thought they had heard acoustic pings from the aircraft’s “black boxes,” was consistent with a plane limping along at only 325 knots. |
| But Mr. Farrar said that the group of independent experts with whom he was working had assumed a speed of 460 to 470 knots. “We are unclear about why they are driving to a relatively slower solution,” he said. | But Mr. Farrar said that the group of independent experts with whom he was working had assumed a speed of 460 to 470 knots. “We are unclear about why they are driving to a relatively slower solution,” he said. |
| Two possible explanations are that the authorities believe the plane traveled farther west before turning south, or that the plane did not follow a straight path on its trip south, Mr. Farrar said. The international search effort and the group in which Mr. Farrar participates are both relying on data from a series of electronic “handshakes” between the plane and a satellite over the Indian Ocean, operated by the company Inmarsat, to calculate arcs for the plane’s final location. | Two possible explanations are that the authorities believe the plane traveled farther west before turning south, or that the plane did not follow a straight path on its trip south, Mr. Farrar said. The international search effort and the group in which Mr. Farrar participates are both relying on data from a series of electronic “handshakes” between the plane and a satellite over the Indian Ocean, operated by the company Inmarsat, to calculate arcs for the plane’s final location. |
| One complicating factor for the investigation is that an exhaustive search of military, intelligence and commercial satellite imagery from around the world has produced no images of the plane in flight, of any impact or of any explosion, investigators said. Nor are there any images of the ocean surface in the new search area from the first week after the plane disappeared — images that, if they existed, might have been checked for signs of floating debris. | One complicating factor for the investigation is that an exhaustive search of military, intelligence and commercial satellite imagery from around the world has produced no images of the plane in flight, of any impact or of any explosion, investigators said. Nor are there any images of the ocean surface in the new search area from the first week after the plane disappeared — images that, if they existed, might have been checked for signs of floating debris. |
| That lack of images should not be surprising, investigators said, because satellites do not routinely squander their finite capacity for taking and transmitting photos on nearly empty oceans. The satellites use the limited electricity gathered by their solar arrays for taking pictures in fairly small, carefully chosen areas. | That lack of images should not be surprising, investigators said, because satellites do not routinely squander their finite capacity for taking and transmitting photos on nearly empty oceans. The satellites use the limited electricity gathered by their solar arrays for taking pictures in fairly small, carefully chosen areas. |
| The first images of the southern Indian Ocean were not taken until March 15, a week after the plane disappeared, because it took a week for the search to shift there. Objects would need to be at least a meter long, but probably considerably bigger, to have been reliably identified in those images, and objects that big were unlikely to keep floating for a week in the large waves of the Indian Ocean, investigators said. | The first images of the southern Indian Ocean were not taken until March 15, a week after the plane disappeared, because it took a week for the search to shift there. Objects would need to be at least a meter long, but probably considerably bigger, to have been reliably identified in those images, and objects that big were unlikely to keep floating for a week in the large waves of the Indian Ocean, investigators said. |
| Asked about the availability of satellite images, Mr. Dolan wrote in his email, “The A.T.S.B. is confident it has received all available information that might inform its assessment and determination of the search area.” | Asked about the availability of satellite images, Mr. Dolan wrote in his email, “The A.T.S.B. is confident it has received all available information that might inform its assessment and determination of the search area.” |
| Mr. Farrar said that the explanation for the lack of images of the Indian Ocean was plausible, and that satellites tend to take most of their photos of land except when there is a need to do otherwise. | Mr. Farrar said that the explanation for the lack of images of the Indian Ocean was plausible, and that satellites tend to take most of their photos of land except when there is a need to do otherwise. |
| The Australian government has said that it will announce the new search area by the end of this month. It is in the process of seeking a commercial operator to tow up to three deep-sea submersibles over the ocean floor for as long as a year, using sonar in the murky depths to scan for debris. | The Australian government has said that it will announce the new search area by the end of this month. It is in the process of seeking a commercial operator to tow up to three deep-sea submersibles over the ocean floor for as long as a year, using sonar in the murky depths to scan for debris. |
| The Fugro Equator is mapping the sea floor first, with particular attention to finding any previously undetected mountains and hills at the bottom of the ocean that a deep-sea submersible might hit while being towed, which could wreck the submersible. | The Fugro Equator is mapping the sea floor first, with particular attention to finding any previously undetected mountains and hills at the bottom of the ocean that a deep-sea submersible might hit while being towed, which could wreck the submersible. |
| Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian official in charge of that country’s search efforts, said on Tuesday that the Australian government would announce the new search area on Thursday. But as of early Wednesday evening, Australian officials were still declining to confirm that a news conference was planned. | Hishammuddin Hussein, the Malaysian official in charge of that country’s search efforts, said on Tuesday that the Australian government would announce the new search area on Thursday. But as of early Wednesday evening, Australian officials were still declining to confirm that a news conference was planned. |
| Mr. Hishammuddin’s own portfolio of responsibilities changed Wednesday as part of a cabinet reshuffle in Malaysia, triggered by a desire by the government there to broaden its political base. He had been holding two posts, those of defense minister and acting transport minister, since before the plane disappeared. | Mr. Hishammuddin’s own portfolio of responsibilities changed Wednesday as part of a cabinet reshuffle in Malaysia, triggered by a desire by the government there to broaden its political base. He had been holding two posts, those of defense minister and acting transport minister, since before the plane disappeared. |
| Liow Tiong Lai, the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, was named transport minister Wednesday, with Mr. Hishammuddin remaining the defense minister. But Mr. Hishammuddin had indicated earlier this week that he would continue to play a leading role in the search even after his ministerial responsibilities changed. | Liow Tiong Lai, the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, was named transport minister Wednesday, with Mr. Hishammuddin remaining the defense minister. But Mr. Hishammuddin had indicated earlier this week that he would continue to play a leading role in the search even after his ministerial responsibilities changed. |
| The handling of the flight’s disappearance by Mr. Hishammuddin and by the Malaysian government has frequently been contentious, particularly the government’s decision to have an international flotilla of ships and planes search the Gulf of Thailand for the plane even though the Malaysian military had tracked the plane as it did a U-turn and flew in the opposite direction. | The handling of the flight’s disappearance by Mr. Hishammuddin and by the Malaysian government has frequently been contentious, particularly the government’s decision to have an international flotilla of ships and planes search the Gulf of Thailand for the plane even though the Malaysian military had tracked the plane as it did a U-turn and flew in the opposite direction. |
| But Malaysian communications about the incident did become clearer and more consistent after Mr. Hishammuddin began holding daily briefings himself, instead of having a frequently changing group of Malaysian aviation and police officials try to handle them. | But Malaysian communications about the incident did become clearer and more consistent after Mr. Hishammuddin began holding daily briefings himself, instead of having a frequently changing group of Malaysian aviation and police officials try to handle them. |