Still missing: 29 planes, 21 ships and six helicopters now involved in the exhaustive search for possible debris from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Indian Ocean •Five military aircraft have been dispatched from Perth •First RAAF Orion P3 aircraft has completed its second trip to the search area on Friday •Search party has swelled to 29 planes, 21 ships and six helicopters from 20 countries •China sends three extra vessels to join the search party, with a four icebreaker on standby •At 4pm (local time), US Navy Poseidon aircraft will fly out to make low swoops and release sonar buoys By Candace Sutton In Perthand Nathan Klein The exhaustive search operation for the MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean has been bolstered by extra military and commercial vessels and much clearer weather, with Australia-led air teams joined by ships and helicopters as officials scramble to cover the massive 600,000 square-kilometre search area. The first of Australias Orion P3 aircraft has completed its two-hour sweep of the search area, some 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles) south-west of Perth after American satellite imagery picked up two large objects – one up to 24 metres (78ft) in length. Officials are preparing for the worst possible news, with aviation experts still trying to unravel the enduring mystery of flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8. The Orion reported the fierce weather conditions which hampered Thursdays 10-hour search had vastly improved Friday, though some low cloud and rain would still pose a challenge for the growing search party that now includes 29 planes, 21 ships and six helicopters. China stepped up its assistance in the search, sending three warships to join the expanding fleet. A fourth Chinese vessel, an icebreaker currently docked at Perth, may also join the search. It comes as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott acknowledge the distinct possibility, as flagged by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday, that the massive objects may not belong to the missing plane. But he said the Australian-led search effort would continue to exhaust every avenue in the remote but hugely expansive search zone. Weve been throwing everything weve got at that area to try and learn more about what this might be, Mr Abbott said Friday. It could just be a container thats fallen off a ship – we just dont know, he added, referring to the announcement made by AMSA spokesman John Young on Thursday when he revealed the satellite images captured were credible. Mr Abbott said: We owe it to the family and friends of loved ones on board MH370 that we do everything we can. Five military aircraft including two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orions were dispatched a four-hour flight to the search zone. Chinese and Malaysian officers joined a team of Australian, US and British investigators gathering in Perth, as the search party amassing in and off the Indian Ocean was receiving input from more than 20 contributor countries. A civil gulfstream jet was due to leave at approximately 1pm Perth time (7am GMT). At 4pm, the giant US Navy Poseidon aircraft will fly on its second sortie to the remote target zone, which has been relocated 320km south of the original area, for a painstaking search of each square of a mapped grid of that section of ocean. The Poseidon will make low swoops of the ocean and release buoys to measure the rate of ocean drift since the two objects hoped to be part of MH 370 were spotted on satellite images yesterday at 11am (3am GMT). The 24m (80ft) piece, approximately the same length as a standard tennis court, is likely to be part of a wing or stabiliser. The other 5m (15ft) piece lying just under the ocean surface is subject to tidal pull in an area which has huge waves and rapidly changeable weather. The two RAAF Orions en route to the search area today each have a crew of 14 officers who are using both an electro acoustic system which sends a signal when it bounces off an object, and visual scans - through an open window of the plane. The target area has 3km waters and is being described as one of the most hostile environments on earth. Authorities involved in the search of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 wasted no time in dispatching an arsenal of vehicles when the debris was spotted yesterday. The satellite imagery depicted the objects as being 1,550 miles (4,000km) from Perth, off the west coast of Australia. Within the hour, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) had coordinated the dispatch of 25 aircraft and 18 ships to scour a vast 230,000 sq mile (600,000 sq km) area of ocean with the seemingly-impossible task of locating the 24m-long debris – approximately the same length as a standard tennis court. A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion, a US Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion and an RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft were some of the first assets to be deployed following the sighting. The four aircrafts were assigned to a search area of 9,000 sq miles (23,000 sq km) – the size of the English Channel - but were called off ten hours later at 9pm (1pm GMT) due to poor lighting and visibility. Norwegian car carrier, Hoegh St. Petersburg, which arrived late last night, continued searching during the dark. They are also hindered greatly by their limited fuel source – forced to fly four hours back to Perth after only two hours of searching. Nine merchant ships that responded to a broadcast to shipping issued by AMSA on Monday night were also involved in the search yesterday. A merchant ship that responded to a shipping broadcast arrived just after 6pm last night, well equipped to recover any objects located and proven to be from MH370. Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success is en route to the area but is still at least a day away from the target area. All vessels were called off the search last night when the treacherous conditions worsened, but have since returned to the area, halfway between Australia and the Antarctic, this morning. If they have a strong feeling or indication that the debris belongs to the aircraft, one of the first things authorities will do is drop sonar buoys in the water, officials said. If the black box is there, the buoys should be able to pick up the signals. The process could take up to 48 hours but it all depends on how near or far the ships and other assets are. Black boxes emit emergency signals for about 30 days
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 06:51:57 +0000
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