Hisham: SAR at two corridors to proceed 4217 26 26 [More to follow] Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies, as we enter Day 13 of the MH370 search and rescue operations: 6.05pm: BBC reports that the Australian plane is dropping data buoys in the sea, near the suspected debris site, to track drift and mark area. However Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) tweets that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 crew is unable to locate possible debris as cloud and rain limits visibility of search efforts. But assures search will continue. 6.04pm: Discovery of any debris from Flight MH370 will help eliminite many theories currently shrouding the planes disapperance, says Sydney Morning Herald. This includes possible hijacking as there are no known airports along the southern flight path. 5.35pm: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein leads the daily briefing and press conference. Highlights from the briefing: Search operations will continue in both the southern and northern corridors, until it is confirmed that debris from the plane is found. He can confirm that Malaysia will send two aircraft to Kazakhstan while United Kingdom is sending a ship to the southern corridor. He says ships heading to the scene are equipped to recover any wreckage. In the southern search area, there are 25 aircraft and 18 ships looking for any sign of MH370. Hishammuddin says while there is a credible lead, it still needs to be verified, and while there is a lead, there is hope. Should debris be verified, he says the next step would be to locate the planes black box. Should that time arise, he says different assets would have to be deployed. Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says they were informed of the possible sighting of the debris earlier today but is uncertain as to the exact time the satellite images were taken. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of a catastropic event having taken place on board, causing decompression in the aircraft. PMs special envoy to China, together with Chinas ambassador to Malaysia, will lead a briefing for families from China today. A high-level team will leave for Beijing today to meet with family members of passengers there. Hishammuddin states the Malaysian government regrets yesterdays incident in which the distraught family members of Chinese passengers were forcibly removed from the press briefing room at Sama-Sama Hotel near KLIA, when trying to speak to the media. 5.20pm: NBC News reports that the US Poseidon, which is now searching the area where the two objects are said to be located, has not been able to confirm any sighting of possible debris. 5.10pm: According to BBC reporter Jonah Fisher, US Navys P-8 Poseidon is currently flying over the area where the objects are believed to be. 4.46pm: Here are views of experts interviewed by AFP regarding the new sighting. Anthony Brickhouse, associate professor of aerospace and occupational safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States: If you remember about a week ago the Chinese put out information that they have picked up information that they have picked up something on satellite and everybody got really excited about it and it turned out to be nothing. This seems a little more credible than what the Chinese found but until they can actually get down there and identify the wreckage as being part of MH370 we really dont know yet. David Kaminski-Morrow, air transport editor, Flight International: Its the best lead simply because, with so little information, its effectively the only lead. The key issue initially will be ensuring that the items seen can be located by search teams capable of making a closer examination. While a timeframe is hard to estimate, the inquiry needs to conduct its assessment as quickly as possible because the ocean is constantly shifting and, should the debris be significant, every hour of drift adds uncertainty to position data. Andrew Herdman, director-general, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines: I think it is quite significant that they decided to release the information through a statement from Prime Minister Abbott, they obviously think it is important and credible. But both the prime minister and Dr John Young exercised great caution not wanting the public to draw too much from the information. Young has significant experience in search and rescue, and if he is cautious, I think we have to be as well They keep talking about images from satellite but John Young used the word blob, meaning the image may not be high resolution. 4.26pm: The New Straits Times reports that Australias AP-3C Orion plane is the first to reach the scene. Also, it states that Malaysian authorities are to hold a briefing for families of Flight MH370 passengers and crew later today at Cyberview Lodge in Cyberjaya. 4.25pm: BBC quotes Air Vice Marshal Kevin Short, overseeing New Zealands search efforts, stating that their aircraft will carry out a radar and visual search. They will be flying at about 1,000ft (300metres) above sea level... Whatever imagery is actually taken will be sent back to the rescue coordination centre for analysis. 4.22pm: David Gallo, the US project leader in the search for a missing Air France flight in 2009, says based on the descriptions provided by officials, the discovery is sounding increasingly like a debris field. While debris would typically scatter, he states that ocean experts who study wind and waves have told him there is a pocket in the search area that has been fairly calm over the past few days, making it possible for the debris to have stuck closer together. According to CBC News, Gallo also predicts it could turn out to be a piece of the planes wing or fuselage. Assuming that the debris is that of MH370, Gallo says: It sounds like the plane was landed fairly gently. It wasn’t nose-dived into the surface of the ocean, if it is in fact the plane. 4pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak tweets that he is meeting with Chief of Defence Forces Mohd Zulkifeli Mohd Zin after receiving a call by Australian counterpart Tony Abbott about the possible sighting of MH370 debris. 3.55pm: The US Navy has clarifies that the radar hits reported by ABC reporter is most probably not linked to the two objects detected by satellite earlier today, but normal radar returns. 3:48pm: An oceanographer quoted by Sydney Morning Herald says attempt to recover the black box could prove to be “extremely difficult” as only ships and underwater vehicles can do the job of recover any wreckage, if there. This is complicated by the fact that, according to Chari Pattiaratchi of the University of Western Australia, that the debris had been located close to the a place known as Roaring Forties, one of the roughest part of the world. Read more here. 3.30pm: ABC reports that a US plane heading towards the site where the Australian government says satellite detected two objects, is getting radar hits of significant size. Its reporter David Wright, who is on board the US Navy P-8 Poseidon, reports that this indicates there is indeed something below the water’s surface of the southern Indian Ocean. It is yet, however, uncertain if these objects are part of the missing Boeing 777. 2.54pm: The Australian Department of Defence releases the satellite images of the two objects spotted, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. 1.37pm: Reuters releases the basic dimensions of the Boeing 777-200ER, used for MAS Flight MH370, as search teams rush to the location where satellite detected two floating objects off Western Australia.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:34:41 +0000
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