Latest 23.45 Here is the AMSA statement on the suspension of the search in full: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s search for any signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended for today due to poor weather conditions in the search area. Due to rough seas, HMAS Success departed the search area early this morning and is now in transit south of the search area until seas abate. A sea state ranging between 7 to 8 is forecast today with waves up to two metres and an associated swell of up to four metres. The area is also forecast to experience strong gale force winds of up to 80km/h, periods of heavy rain, and low cloud with a ceiling between 200 and 500 feet. AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew. Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions. AMSA has consulted with the Bureau of Meteorology and weather conditions are expected to improve in the search area in the evening and over the next few days. Search operations are expected to resume tomorrow, if weather conditions permit. HMAS Success will return to the search area once weather conditions improve. Last night, HMAS Success attempted to locate objects sighted by a RAAF P3 Orion aircraft. The objects were spotted visually in the search area by the RAAF P3 Orion about 2.45pm (AEDT). Drift modelling was undertaken to assist search efforts. HMAS Success was unable to relocate the objects. In light of the statement by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak overnight, AMSA offers its deepest sympathies to the families of the passengers and crew of flight MH370. AMSA intends to recommence search activities for any signs of the aircraft once weather conditions improve in the search area. 23.25 Some more detail on the bad weather: The AMSA statement said strong gale force winds of up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) were whipping the area along with heavy rain and low cloud with a ceiling between 200 feet (60 metres) and 500 feet. 23.15 Bad weather has forced the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to announce that the air and sea search for the missing plane has been suspended for the day. The deteroriating conditions come at a crucial time for the recovery mission, when a naval vessel was hoping to recover items spotted in the ocean over the past few days. AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew, a statement said. Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions. The search will resume tomorrow if weather permits. 23.00 Reuters reports the United States is sending an undersea Navy drone capable of exploring waters nearly 15,000 feet deep to potentially help search for any sunken wreckage. The Pentagon announced the US is pre-positioning the sonar-equipped Bluefin autonomous underwater vehicle in Australia to help pinpoint the plane. We have more than 200 families out there that are grieving right now. They just got some stark news today from the Malaysian government, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, adding the the whole world grieves with them. The Bluefin drone is just over 17 feet (5 meters) long and weighs 1,764 pounds (800 kg), according to a Navy factsheet. Kirby said it can operate for more than a day at slower speeds. The undersea Navy drone was flown out of a New York airport on Monday and were expected to arrive in Perth, Australia on Tuesday, the Pentagon said. Ten American civilian personnel and uniformed members of the military were also flying to Australia to operate or prepare the equipment, it said. But the Pentagon cautioned that the US technology would only be employed once the search area was significantly narrowed. In order for this technology to be useful, you have to have an identified area on the sea bottom that you want to go take a look at, Mr Kirby said. You have to be able to go give it some parameters - and right now were just not there. 22.25 Our reporters Gordon Rayner and Nick Collins explain how Britain finds itself at the centre of the blame game over crucial delays in the search for the missing plane. 22.04 The Wall Street Journal (£) has an interesting piece on the difficulties of searching for a black box at sea. 21.08 Our correspondent Jonathan Pearlman reports from Kuala Lumpur quoting well-placed sources that no malfunction or fire was capable of causing MH370’s unusual flight and it in fact went down over the southern Indian Ocean in an apparent suicide mission. Quote The team investigating the Boeing 777’s disappearance believe no malfunction or fire was capable of causing the aircraft’s unusual flight or the disabling of its communications system before it veered wildly off course on a seven hour silent flight into the sea. An analysis of the flight’s routing, signalling and communications shows that it was flown “in a rational way”. An official source told The Telegraph that investigators believe “this has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have had the detailed knowledge to do what was done ... Nothing is emerging that points to motive.” Asked about the possibility of a plane malfunction or an on-board fire, the source said: “It just does not hinge together..... [The investigators] have gone through processes you do to get the plane where it flew to for eight hours. They point to it being flown in a rational way.” 20.37 Blog post by the New Yorker entitled The End of the Beginning of the MH370 Mystery on the false closure experienced by the relatives of the dead. Quote We will no doubt hear that, for those whose loved ones vanished without explanation sixteen days ago, this moment represents some intimation of that elusive quantity known as closure, however painful its arrival. But that conclusion seems doubly false: too much about how and why their relatives died remains to be determined, and even that knowledge, when it eventually surfaces, will still feel insufficient to the scale of their losses. But, whatever closure consists of, it describes a process rather than a point; today, at least, that process can begin. 20.22 A video by the Guardian shows how Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has confirmed that a navy ship is on its way to recover the two new objects detected by a search plane. 20.13 According to the Daily Mail, an Australian horror film that sees China-bound flight crash into the ocean and survivors fight off giant sharks is shelved after MH370 tragedy. Quote Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation, weve decided to put it on pause for now, managing director Gary Hamilton said 19.33 The US Navy has said that it was moving a black box locator to the region in case a debris area was located. Quote The TPL-25 Towed Pinger Locator System is able to locate black boxes on downed Navy and commercial aircraft down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet anywhere in the world. Commercial aircraft pingers are mounted directly on the flight recorder, the recovery of which is critical to an accident investigation. The Pinger Locator is towed behind a vessel at slow speeds, generally 1-5 knots, depending on the depth. The tow array carries a passive listening device for detecting pingers that automatically transmit an acoustic pulse. 19.28 As Malaysia announced that flight MH370 crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, questions have emerged as to what will happen next. Our correspondent Henry Samuel endeavours to answer the six major ones here. 19.10 Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng has told Malaysias ambassador in Beijing that China was demanding Malaysia hand over all relevant satellite data analysis on the missing Malaysian airliner, the Foreign Ministry said. Xie met the ambassador after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, citing new satellite data, said Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. 18.50 Despite todays news, there will be no let up in efforts to locate the wreckage and the black box of the MH370. David Millward, Telegraph US correspondent, has this report on the US deployment of a towed pinger locator, excerpts of which are below: In the event a debris field is located, were moving some specialised locator equipment into the area,” said Cmdr. Chris Budde, US 7th Fleet operations officer. “The Towed Pinger Locator has some highly sensitive listening capability so that if the wreck site is located, we can hear the black box pinger down to a depth of about 20,000 feet. “Basically, this super-sensitive hydrophone gets towed behind a commercial vessel very slowly and listens for black box pings. This movement is simply a prudent effort to pre-position equipment and trained personnel closer to the search area so that if debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible since the battery life of the black boxs pinger is limited.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:51:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015