Breaking Update:
Both the New York Times and Washington Post are reporting on an announcement by the prime minister of Malaysia that there is no longer any doubt that the missing Malaysian Airlines jetliner, Flight 370, crashed in the Indian Ocean and that the new data shows the plane’s last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia, far from any possible landing strip.
The prime minister bases his conclusion on what the Times says is:
…new analysis of data from an automated satellite system on the plane, performed by Inmarsat and the British national aviation safety agency. The analysis narrowed down the possible paths the Boeing 777 aircraft could have taken as it kept flying for hours after contact with ground controllers was lost on March 8, and it ruled out that the plane could have gone anywhere but the remote waters southwest of Australia, where there is no place the plane could have landed safely.
“It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” Mr. Razak said according to the Times.
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UPDATE:
The Guardian reports that bad weather is hindering the search for potential debris of the Malaysian airliner sighted now by three satellites: “Poor weather conditions, in some of the most inhospitable seas on Earth, have further complicated the search mission and will make the job of observers on the search vessels more difficult.”
Flight Lieutenant Russell Adams of the Royal Australian Air Force told the Associated Press that Sunday’s search was frustrating because “there was cloud down to the surface and at times we were completely enclosed by cloud.” according to the Guardian.
The Guardian adds this note:
Satellite and meteorology experts have expressed doubts about the prospect of finding the objects in the Indian Ocean believed to be linked to the missing flight, flagging the possibility that the debris could have drifted hundreds of miles since it was first detected, due to strong currents.
In the meantime, U.S. legislators are expressing frustration over what they perceive is lack of communication and “openness” by the Malaysian government and what should be more and better involvement by U.S. agencies.
Read more here
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Original Post:
After the release of the first set of images on a Chinese government web site of what was thought to be possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 floating in the South China Sea proved to be useless in the search for the missing airliner, three more satellite “sightings” have now been released.
First, Australia last week released commercial satellite imagery that showed two large floating objects in the South Indian Ocean that could have come from the missing plane. One of the objects was approximately 80 feet long and the other 15 feet long.
The objects were spotted by the satellite in an area about 1,550 miles southwest of Perth and the area has been heavily patrolled by several aircraft including Australian and New Zealand P-3 Orions and other aircraft and a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon.
On Saturday, China announced that a Chinese satellite had spotted a floating object about 74 feet long and 43 feet wide about 75 miles southwest of where the Australians sighted the possible aircraft debris. Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia said that the Chinese images are “consistent” with the Australian satellite images. Aircraft from Britain, China and Japan are now joining the search. China is also sending ships to investigate.
According to the New York Times, a person familiar with the coordinates that Inmarsat submitted to Malaysian investigators claims that 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.
Now a French satellite using “satellite-generated radar echoes” has ‘spotted’ objects in the South Indian Ocean that might be related to the missing Boeing 777-200.
France provided new satellite data Sunday showing possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet…The new information given to Malaysia’s government and forwarded to searchers in Australia shows “potential objects” in the same part of the ocean where satellite images previously released by Australia and China showed objects that could be debris from the plane, Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement without providing further details.
And:
…a Malaysian official involved in the search mission said the French data consisted of radar echoes captured Friday and converted into fuzzy images that located objects about 575 miles north of the spots where the objects in the images released by Australia and China were located.
One of the objects located was estimated to be about the same size as an object captured Tuesday by the Chinese satellite that appeared to be 72 feet by 43 feet, said the official, who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media. It was not possible to determine precise dimensions from the French data, the official said.
New data from a French satellite shows potential debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, France’s foreign ministry says.
Radar echoes had picked up several objects about 2,300km (1,430 miles) from Perth, a statement added.
As to U.S. efforts in the search:
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to assisting in the ongoing search for the missing flight during a phone call with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
Hagel assured Minister Hishammuddin that he would assess the availability and utility of military undersea technology for such a task and provide him an update in the very near future.
According to the American Forces Press Service, the total cost for supporting the search for Flight 370 is now about $2.5 million and DOD has set aside $4 million to aid in the search, which, based on DOD’s current expenditures, should last “until sometime in the beginning of April.”
The U.S. has offered the P-8 [Poseidon] and the P-3 [Orion] that are participating, and President Obama and Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby have made it clear that “we’re providing everything that we can.”
The P-8 Poseidon aircraft (shown below over the Indian Ocean) has relocated to Perth, Australia, to join the southern search area, Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters.
“It is conducting a search in coordination with the Australians, 1,500 nautical miles west of Perth,” he said.
The P-8 can stay over its assigned search area for nine hours, Warren noted. “It is a vast area, … but the P-8 can search a tremendous amount of space,” he added.
Sailors attached to Patrol Squadron 16 conduct search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 while aboard a P-8A Poseidon over the Indian Ocean, March 16, 2014. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric A. Pastor.)
A P-8A Poseidon sits on the flight line at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. The Navy’s replacement platform for the P-3C, the P-8A Poseidon, is designed to secure the Navy’s future in long-range maritime patrol capability, while transforming how the Navy’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance force will man, train, operate and deploy. The P-8A provides more combat capability from a smaller force and less infrastructure while focusing on worldwide responsiveness and interoperability with traditional manned forces and evolving unmanned sensors. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Salt Cebe/)
Naval Aircrewman Operator 2nd Class Mike Burnett, an electronic warfare operator attached to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16, wipes down the camera lens on a P-8A Poseidon before a mission to assist in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 March 20. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eric A. Pastor)
Lead Image: Shutterstock.com
