Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is Missing

Two objects possibly related to the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been sighted, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday.

Click to expand...

ABC News said:

Australian search planes have been diverted to find two objects in the southern Indian Ocean "possibly related" to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says it has received an expert assessment of commercial satellite imagery of objects it suspects may be debris from the flight.

AMSA spokesman John Young says the images indicate that one of the objects measures around 24 metres in length.

Mr Young emphasised the objects may be difficult to locate and they may not be related to the search.

"The objects are relatively indistinct on the imagery. I don't profess to be an expert in assessing the imagery, but those who are expert indicate they are credible sightings," he said.

"The indications to me is of objects that are a reasonable size and probably awash with water bobbing up and down under the surface."

Four aircraft have been reoriented to an area 2,500 kilometres south-west of Perth as a result of the information.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament this afternoon that he has spoken with his Malaysian counterpart but warned the objects may not be related to the search.

Flight MH370 has been missing since it disappeared en route to Beijing from Malaysia on March 8.

So far the investigation has focused on the possibility that the plane was deliberately diverted from its flight path.

The plane is thought to have travelled in either of two directions: north west into Asia or south west into the Indian Ocean.

Australia has been leading the search in the southern vector, specifically an area 3,000 kilometres south-west of Perth.

AMSA says the search zone covers 600,000 square kilometres of ocean and has been plotted using data based on the last satellite relay signals sent by the plane.

The search now encompasses an area stretching 7.7 million square kilometres - an area larger than the entire land mass of Australia.

Click to expand...

NineMSN said:

A RAAF aircraft arrived at the area just before 2pm (AEDT) and three more military aircraft, including two from the United States and New Zealand, are expected to reach the area later on Thursday.

An Australian Hercules will drop marker buoys in the area highlighted by the satellite imagery.

The marker buoys provided information about water movement to assist drift modelling.

"They will provide an ongoing reference point if the task of relocating the objects becomes protracted," AMSA said.

Weather conditions in the area are moderate but visibility is poor.

A merchant ship that responded to a shipping broadcast issued by Rescue Coordination Australia on Monday is expected to arrive in the area about 6pm (AEDT).

John Young, emergency response division general manager at AMSA, said the focus was to continue the search with all available ships and aircraft.

"The objects are relatively indistinct on the imagery," he said.

"The are objects of a reasonable size and probably awash with water."

Mr Young said the ocean in the area was thousands of metres deep.

The news of the discovery was announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott during parliament.

Mr Abbott said "new and credible information" had come to light in the search for MH370.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has received information based on satellite information of objects possibly related to the search," he said before question time.

"Following specialist analysis of this satellite imagery, two possible objects related to the search have been identified."

The prime minister said an Australian airforce Orion had been diverted to locate the objects and is expected to arrive in the area shortly.

"Three more aircraft will follow," he said. "They are tasked for (a) more intensive follow up search."

Mr Abbott said he has informed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak of the developments.

Click to expand...

T-U-P said:

.... the plane did not fly around the satellite keeping the same distance.

Click to expand...

... the arcs given are not potential flight paths, the plane did not fly around the satellite keeping the same distance. The only thing they know (or released to public) is the distance between the plane and the satellite when the plane pinged it for the last time. Using the location of the satellite and a distance they can draw a circle around it, presenting potential locations of the plane at the time of the ping. Using fuel constraints, and where the plane disappeared, they then limit this circle into those two arcs.

Click to expand...

Quickie said:

Not saying there is necessary a conspiracy here but you have no way of knowing this is intentional or not.



Yes, that is how I understand it to be. The analysis also take into account the slowest and fastest speed the plane can go.

The arc could as well be the flight paths of the plane if you assume the plane went to the farther part of the arc. My point is why would the plane fly around the area of the largest arc and not fly closer toward direction of the satellite, which would make the SAR possibly much easier. If the plane divert to the East, it could possibly go towards another geostationary satellite waiting to receive pings from it. Anyway, based on the direction of arcs, the plane would then seem to go tangent to both satellites. It could be just coincidence or maybe it could be something we haven't known yet, like maybe the conspiracy to intentionally lead astray the search to as wide an area as possible when the plane is known not to be there in the first place, meaning the latest search effort is just a diversion. But this is just another conspiracy.

Click to expand...

delft said:

The flight of the plane, its speed and direction, had nothing to do with the position of the satellite. It is just that from the timing of the pings people have been able to determine the distance of the plane to the satellite once or twice an hour. The arcs are those positions on the Earth at the distance to the satellite determined for the time of the last ping but excluding those positions the aircraft couldn't have reached in the time between the time of the last known position and that of the last ping.

Click to expand...

The flight of the plane, its speed and direction, had nothing to do with the position of the satellite.

Click to expand...