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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 missing!
- Thread starter hlo1
- Start date
He's probably posting them as a reference for people. I used Google Maps. Nothing to see, obviously...
Meh :/ unless you can paste it in tomnod, I dunno. Wonder if it's the same pic the Chinese Satellite picked up?
It brings more queries though: it fell in one piece, maintained structural integrity. So what made it burn?
NeonNinja
Neon Resident
How I wish there's one more twist... //cries out load.
This is far from confirmed, but the only reason I'm hoping for another outcome is that it would mean there was still hope for the passengers on board. Such a pity if this is the case, and such a pity that the families have had to go through this. It must be just awful to be in their position. I really feel for them...
Grant
Honorary Master
slight update to post #136 above
So much mystery still clouds the jet's disapearance. Why didn't the chinese come forward before concerning the satellite images of possible plane debris? Vietnam is now claiming the area where the images were taken has been thoroughly searched. Malaysia military believes the plane was showing on radar on Malacca Strait, several hundred kilometers from where Chinese spotted tbe debris on satellite.
In the meanwhile family, relatives and friends of the passengers are waiting in agony and holding out for some hope.
In the meanwhile family, relatives and friends of the passengers are waiting in agony and holding out for some hope.
No debris at spot shown on China images - Malaysia
Malaysia's civil aviation chief says no signs of the missing Malaysian jetliner have been found at a location where Chinese satellite images have shown what might be plane debris.
Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says planes searched the location Thursday. "There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Vietnamese officials previously said the area had already been "searched thoroughly" in recent days.
The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday.
The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Malacca Strait or beyond.
- Sapa
Malaysia's civil aviation chief says no signs of the missing Malaysian jetliner have been found at a location where Chinese satellite images have shown what might be plane debris.
Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman says planes searched the location Thursday. "There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Vietnamese officials previously said the area had already been "searched thoroughly" in recent days.
The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by false leads since it disappeared with 239 people aboard just hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early Saturday.
The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Malacca Strait or beyond.
- Sapa
Last edited:
NeonNinja
Neon Resident
Good and the mystery continues...
Apparently this place has up to date satellite imagery of the area. You can tag things to alert them of possible wreckage etc.
http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/malaysiaairsar2014/map/64051
That link shows a boat or something. Perhaps a search and rescue boat or a fishing trawler.
P.S. If you can't see it, the grid is 5x5 blocks. It is 4 across, 3 down, and in the top right of that block.
http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/malaysiaairsar2014/map/64051
That link shows a boat or something. Perhaps a search and rescue boat or a fishing trawler.
P.S. If you can't see it, the grid is 5x5 blocks. It is 4 across, 3 down, and in the top right of that block.
Here's another image which is similar to the Chinese image: http://www.tomnod.com/nod/challenge/malaysiaairsar2014/map/1231
Aim for the middle block, and then you'll see something floating in the top right again.
Aim for the middle block, and then you'll see something floating in the top right again.
The_Ogre
Honorary Master
404
Works this side. Their servers have been up and down though, presumably with the increase in traffic. Just refresh once or twice and it should come right.
The_Ogre
Honorary Master
Ah, thanks, got it working now
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
CHINA SURPRISES WITH FLIGHT SEARCH SATELLITE PHOTOS
Beijing was unusually open in revealing its satellite capabilities when it released photographs of possible debris from a missing airplane, despite taking four days to make the images public, analysts said Thursday.
China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) published three pictures late Wednesday of what it said were suspected large floating objects in the South China Sea.
The images were taken on Sunday, it said, raising questions as to why it took several days for them to emerge, and whether -- and if so, when --they had been passed to the Malaysian authorities co-ordinating the search.
China's space programme is military-run and normally shrouded in secrecy.
Malaysian and Vietnamese flights in the area of the photographs failed to spot anything, officials said.
But Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Australia, said Beijing's disclosure of the pictures was surprisingly open.
"Satellite imagery is a strategic tool that has military applications, and nations are usually very cautious in revealing how much these satellites can do and how much they can see," he told AFP.
"I am surprised that the Chinese have openly released this image because we don't normally see images of this quality."
According to SASTIND, the objects were approximately 13 by 18 metres, 14 by 19 metres and 24 by 22 metres in size.
The actual images "were probably of a much higher quality than the images they released to the media", Jones said. Authorities released them "to provide enough information to show something, but the image is degraded to hide the true capabilities of the actual satellite."
While China's abilities in space remain decades behind the US, it has made rapid technological leaps and aims to launch an independent space station by 2020, eventually sending a man to the moon.
It has deployed 10 satellites in the search for MH370, Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday.
The image data was obtained by the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA), an agency jointly overseen by SASTIND and China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Among the agency's goals is the creation of a national-level satellite data centre to provide high-resolution images for national defence as well as civilian purposes such as agriculture and disaster planning.
It started surveying the area after hearing of the disappearance on Saturday, it said in a statement, and by Tuesday morning, the satellites had gathered data covering a total of 120,000 square kilometres -- an area almost the size of Greece.
"The quality of the data images is rather good," it said.
An official with CRESDA told AFP on Thursday that the agency was still analysing the images but that no conclusions had been reached yet.
Jones said he did not find "anything suspicious at all" in the delay in releasing the pictures.
"There's a lot of time you go through between the time you get the images and the time you release them," he said.
"The satellite has to get into position, take the photo, then relay it to a ground station, then it has to be analysed. And keep in mind, the analysts on the ground are probably looking through a tremendous amount of data. So I would say there's absolutely nothing abnormal."
One of Beijing's milestones in satellite technology came in late 2012, when it announced that it had launched a domestic satellite navigation network to rival the US GPS global positioning system.
The Beidou system -- named after the Chinese term for the plough or Big Dipper constellation -- currently has 16 satellites, a number expected to grow to 30 by 2020, when the system is slated to reach global coverage.
China is investing more than 400 billion yuan ($65 billion) in the system, which is expected to "benefit both the military and civilians", according to Chinese state media.
Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 13 Mar 2014 09:15
Beijing was unusually open in revealing its satellite capabilities when it released photographs of possible debris from a missing airplane, despite taking four days to make the images public, analysts said Thursday.
China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) published three pictures late Wednesday of what it said were suspected large floating objects in the South China Sea.
The images were taken on Sunday, it said, raising questions as to why it took several days for them to emerge, and whether -- and if so, when --they had been passed to the Malaysian authorities co-ordinating the search.
China's space programme is military-run and normally shrouded in secrecy.
Malaysian and Vietnamese flights in the area of the photographs failed to spot anything, officials said.
But Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Australia, said Beijing's disclosure of the pictures was surprisingly open.
"Satellite imagery is a strategic tool that has military applications, and nations are usually very cautious in revealing how much these satellites can do and how much they can see," he told AFP.
"I am surprised that the Chinese have openly released this image because we don't normally see images of this quality."
According to SASTIND, the objects were approximately 13 by 18 metres, 14 by 19 metres and 24 by 22 metres in size.
The actual images "were probably of a much higher quality than the images they released to the media", Jones said. Authorities released them "to provide enough information to show something, but the image is degraded to hide the true capabilities of the actual satellite."
While China's abilities in space remain decades behind the US, it has made rapid technological leaps and aims to launch an independent space station by 2020, eventually sending a man to the moon.
It has deployed 10 satellites in the search for MH370, Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday.
The image data was obtained by the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA), an agency jointly overseen by SASTIND and China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Among the agency's goals is the creation of a national-level satellite data centre to provide high-resolution images for national defence as well as civilian purposes such as agriculture and disaster planning.
It started surveying the area after hearing of the disappearance on Saturday, it said in a statement, and by Tuesday morning, the satellites had gathered data covering a total of 120,000 square kilometres -- an area almost the size of Greece.
"The quality of the data images is rather good," it said.
An official with CRESDA told AFP on Thursday that the agency was still analysing the images but that no conclusions had been reached yet.
Jones said he did not find "anything suspicious at all" in the delay in releasing the pictures.
"There's a lot of time you go through between the time you get the images and the time you release them," he said.
"The satellite has to get into position, take the photo, then relay it to a ground station, then it has to be analysed. And keep in mind, the analysts on the ground are probably looking through a tremendous amount of data. So I would say there's absolutely nothing abnormal."
One of Beijing's milestones in satellite technology came in late 2012, when it announced that it had launched a domestic satellite navigation network to rival the US GPS global positioning system.
The Beidou system -- named after the Chinese term for the plough or Big Dipper constellation -- currently has 16 satellites, a number expected to grow to 30 by 2020, when the system is slated to reach global coverage.
China is investing more than 400 billion yuan ($65 billion) in the system, which is expected to "benefit both the military and civilians", according to Chinese state media.
Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 13 Mar 2014 09:15
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
US SUSPECTS MISSING PLANE FLEW ON FOR HOURS: WSJ REPORT
US investigators suspect a missing Malaysian airliner was in the air for four hours after its last confirmed contact, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, deepening the mystery surrounding the disappearance.
It said US aviation investigators and national security officials are basing their theory on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Rolls Royce engines, which suggested the Boeing 777 flew for a total of five hours.
The WSJ attributed the information to two unidentified sources "familiar with the details".
It could mean that the Malaysia Airlines flight, which had 239 people on board, travelled for hundreds of miles after its last contact with air traffic control at around 1.30 am Saturday (1730 GMT Friday) -- about an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.
Search teams are already covering a huge area comprising 27,000 nautical miles (more than 90,000 square kilometres), from the South China Sea to the waters west of Malaysia.
Investigators have made clear that they are still considering hijacking as one of their lines of inquiry and the CIA has said that a terror link has not been ruled out.
"US counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the jetliner's transponders to avoid radar detection," the WSJ reported, citing "one person tracking the probe".
It went on to say that the uncertainty over the plane's course and why its transponders were not working "has raised theories among investigators that the aircraft may have been commandeered for a reason that appears unclear to US authorities".
Officials had been told that investigators were pursuing the theory that the plane was diverted "with the intention of using it later for another purpose", the WSJ quoted one source as saying.
Frustration over the shifting focus of the search and apparent lack of concrete information on the flight path of the plane has led to accusations of a chaotic and confused response by the Malaysian authorities and the airline.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:31
US investigators suspect a missing Malaysian airliner was in the air for four hours after its last confirmed contact, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, deepening the mystery surrounding the disappearance.
It said US aviation investigators and national security officials are basing their theory on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Rolls Royce engines, which suggested the Boeing 777 flew for a total of five hours.
The WSJ attributed the information to two unidentified sources "familiar with the details".
It could mean that the Malaysia Airlines flight, which had 239 people on board, travelled for hundreds of miles after its last contact with air traffic control at around 1.30 am Saturday (1730 GMT Friday) -- about an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.
Search teams are already covering a huge area comprising 27,000 nautical miles (more than 90,000 square kilometres), from the South China Sea to the waters west of Malaysia.
Investigators have made clear that they are still considering hijacking as one of their lines of inquiry and the CIA has said that a terror link has not been ruled out.
"US counterterrorism officials are pursuing the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after intentionally turning off the jetliner's transponders to avoid radar detection," the WSJ reported, citing "one person tracking the probe".
It went on to say that the uncertainty over the plane's course and why its transponders were not working "has raised theories among investigators that the aircraft may have been commandeered for a reason that appears unclear to US authorities".
Officials had been told that investigators were pursuing the theory that the plane was diverted "with the intention of using it later for another purpose", the WSJ quoted one source as saying.
Frustration over the shifting focus of the search and apparent lack of concrete information on the flight path of the plane has led to accusations of a chaotic and confused response by the Malaysian authorities and the airline.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:31
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
PLANES FIND NO DEBRIS NEAR SITE CHINA SPOTTED OBJECTS: OFFICIALS
Search planes have found no trace of a missing Malaysian airliner near the site where Chinese satellites spotted floating objects, officials said Thursday.
Two Vietnamese aircraft sent to inspect areas nearby "have returned and we found nothing so far", Civil Aviation Authority deputy director Dinh Viet Thang told AFP on the sixth day of the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
A Malaysian plane dispatched to the area also saw nothing as of early afternoon Thursday, according to the Malaysian air force's director-general of operations, Affendi Buang.
"Nil sighting," he said in a text message to AFP.
The Chinese satellite images provided a new lead in the search for the Boeing 777, which vanished on Saturday with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The search has suffered several false alarms over suspected debris.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:16
Search planes have found no trace of a missing Malaysian airliner near the site where Chinese satellites spotted floating objects, officials said Thursday.
Two Vietnamese aircraft sent to inspect areas nearby "have returned and we found nothing so far", Civil Aviation Authority deputy director Dinh Viet Thang told AFP on the sixth day of the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
A Malaysian plane dispatched to the area also saw nothing as of early afternoon Thursday, according to the Malaysian air force's director-general of operations, Affendi Buang.
"Nil sighting," he said in a text message to AFP.
The Chinese satellite images provided a new lead in the search for the Boeing 777, which vanished on Saturday with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The search has suffered several false alarms over suspected debris.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:16
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
MALAYSIA AIRLINES RETIRES 'MH370' FLIGHT CODE
Malaysia Airlines said Thursday it would no longer use the flight codes MH370 and MH371 "as a mark of respect" to the 239 people on board its missing Beijing-bound passenger jet.
The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing service -- formerly MH370 -- will now take on the code MH318, while the return route will switch from MH371 to MH319.
"As a mark of respect to the passengers and crew of MH370 on 8 March 2014, the MH370 and MH371 flight codes will be retired," the national carrier said in a statement.
The airline said the changes would take effect from Friday.
"There are no changes to the frequency of our services, and we will continue to operate double daily services to Beijing," the airline added.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH370."
The search for the Boeing 777 entered its sixth day Thursday with Chinese satellite images showing possible debris in the South China Sea -- but Vietnamese planes found no trace of the objects, an official said.
The search for the missing airliner now encompasses an area of nearly 27,000 nautical miles (more than 90,000 square kilometres) -- roughly the size of Portugal.
Theories about the possible cause of the disappearance range from a catastrophic technical failure to a mid-air explosion, hijacking or even pilot suicide.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:14
Malaysia Airlines said Thursday it would no longer use the flight codes MH370 and MH371 "as a mark of respect" to the 239 people on board its missing Beijing-bound passenger jet.
The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing service -- formerly MH370 -- will now take on the code MH318, while the return route will switch from MH371 to MH319.
"As a mark of respect to the passengers and crew of MH370 on 8 March 2014, the MH370 and MH371 flight codes will be retired," the national carrier said in a statement.
The airline said the changes would take effect from Friday.
"There are no changes to the frequency of our services, and we will continue to operate double daily services to Beijing," the airline added.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of our colleagues and passengers of MH370."
The search for the Boeing 777 entered its sixth day Thursday with Chinese satellite images showing possible debris in the South China Sea -- but Vietnamese planes found no trace of the objects, an official said.
The search for the missing airliner now encompasses an area of nearly 27,000 nautical miles (more than 90,000 square kilometres) -- roughly the size of Portugal.
Theories about the possible cause of the disappearance range from a catastrophic technical failure to a mid-air explosion, hijacking or even pilot suicide.
Source : Sapa-AFP /lk
Date : 13 Mar 2014 08:14
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
CHINA TO SEARCH FOR PLANE 'AS LONG AS THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE'
China will keep up the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 "as long as there is a glimmer of hope", Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday.
The 239 people on board included 153 Chinese citizens, and Li told his once-a-year press conference: "Those people's families and friends are burning with anxiety."
"The Chinese government and the Chinese people are all deeply concerned about their safety," he said.
"We are all eagerly awaiting news about the plane, even the slightest piece of good news."
China had eight ships taking part in the search efforts, with a ninth on its way, and had deployed 10 satellites, he said.
He was speaking after it emerged that Chinese satellites had taken photographs on Sunday of possible floating objects in the sea around 200 kilometres from the flight's last known position.
The Boeing 777 plane vanished early Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and no confirmed trace of it has been found since.
"We will not give up on any suspected clue that has been found," Li said after the end of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's Communist-controlled legislature.
"The Chinese government has asked relevant parties to enhance coordination, investigate the cause, locate the missing plane as quickly as possible and properly handle all related matters," he added.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ns
Date : 13 Mar 2014 06:50
China will keep up the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 "as long as there is a glimmer of hope", Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday.
The 239 people on board included 153 Chinese citizens, and Li told his once-a-year press conference: "Those people's families and friends are burning with anxiety."
"The Chinese government and the Chinese people are all deeply concerned about their safety," he said.
"We are all eagerly awaiting news about the plane, even the slightest piece of good news."
China had eight ships taking part in the search efforts, with a ninth on its way, and had deployed 10 satellites, he said.
He was speaking after it emerged that Chinese satellites had taken photographs on Sunday of possible floating objects in the sea around 200 kilometres from the flight's last known position.
The Boeing 777 plane vanished early Saturday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and no confirmed trace of it has been found since.
"We will not give up on any suspected clue that has been found," Li said after the end of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's Communist-controlled legislature.
"The Chinese government has asked relevant parties to enhance coordination, investigate the cause, locate the missing plane as quickly as possible and properly handle all related matters," he added.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ns
Date : 13 Mar 2014 06:50
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
DETAILS ON SHIPS, PLANES SEARCHING FOR MISSING JET
Nearly every navy with a presence in Southeast Asia is involved in the extensive search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared early Saturday. Some details on the key responders and their capabilities:
UNITED STATES:
The U.S. Navy is easily the biggest and best equipped Navy in the Pacific and was fast to participate. Two San Diego-based destroyers are searching areas where they were directed by the Malaysian government. As of Wednesday, the USS Kidd was searching in the southwest section of the Gulf of Thailand and the USS Pickney was in the northeast area, between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The Kidd's two HM-60R Seahawk helicopters have been flying sorties from dawn to dusk in search of debris. According to the U.S. 7th Fleet, the helicopters can search a 400- to 600-square-nautical mile area during a typical 3½-hour sortie, depending on sea and weather conditions and the size of object it's trying to find. Its onboard sensors can detect small objects in the water, in addition to the crew using binoculars or the naked eye. The Seahawks also have forward-looking infrared cameras for night use.
A Navy P-3C Orion aircraft has been searching over both the Straits of Malacca and the Gulf of Thailand. The P-3C can search for extended periods and cover 1,000-1,500 square miles every hour. On-board sensors allow the crew to clearly detect small debris in the water.
CHINA:
Four Chinese naval vessels are joining the effort. The Jinggangshan is the largest in the Chinese navy and has a large flight deck capable of launching several helicopters. An air force plane was dispatched to search for signals from the flight's black box.
The People's Liberation Army Newspaper, run by the ruling party's military commission, said Beijing also sent four helicopters and four civilian search vessels. The Kunlunshan - another amphibious landing ship with two helicopters - arrived at the designated area in the Gulf of Thailand early Thursday morning.
China plans to expand the scope of its search in the northwest toward the Gulf of Thailand and to cover 5,000 square nautical miles (17,000 square kilometers) in the Gulf of Thailand, the military newspaper said.
"That is equivalent to a medium-sized city, and we must be meticulous in our work because of the higher demands to conduct the search in such a vast area," Liu Zhonghu, captain of Jinggangshan, told the newspaper.
On state-run China Central Television, PLA navy officers said the helicopters took off from the Jianggangshan and Kunlunshan to search, the ships were using underwater sonar and robots to detect the plane, and the crews have been surveying the sea.
THE PHILIPPINES & VIETNAM:
Despite its meager resources, the Philippine military immediately dispatched search and rescue vessels and aircraft into the South China Sea southwest of Manila within hours of the plane being reported missing Saturday.
The Philippines' largest and newest naval vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, was deployed on Wednesday to replace two smaller patrol boats that returned to port for refueling and resupply, said 1st Lt. Cherry Tindog, spokeswoman for the military's Western Command.
She said an air force Fokker 27 that searched on Saturday and Sunday was replaced by a navy Islander on Monday. A C-130 was deployed on Tuesday. The navy Islander and the Gregorio del Pilar were both searching on Thursday.
Tindog also said all fishermen and fishing boats in the area have been advised to help in the search.
Meanwhile, in Hanoi, Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of Vietnamese People's Army, told The Associated Press that Vietnam has dispatched for the first time a helicopter to scour jungles of U Minh in southern Vietnam after the massive sea search found no clues.
"We have instructed related regional military commands to deploy searches on land from the beginning," he said. "Now we use helicopters for searches in areas few people could access." He said the searches by helicopter will be widened to other jungles in the south central region.
MORE ON THE WAY:
Japan, which has been increasing its effort to participate in regional humanitarian missions, said it will deploy two C-130 transport planes and two P-3C aircraft to the area. A spokesman for Japan's Defense Ministry on Thursday said the transport aircraft are already on site and the P-3Cs will be deployed as soon as possible unless the situation changes.
Neighbors Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei have already provided ships, and Singapore is planning to add more aircraft. Thailand has contributed helicopters, while Australia has offered two P-3C aircraft and India is reportedly mobilizing coast guard vessels.
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 13 Mar 2014 11:12
Nearly every navy with a presence in Southeast Asia is involved in the extensive search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared early Saturday. Some details on the key responders and their capabilities:
UNITED STATES:
The U.S. Navy is easily the biggest and best equipped Navy in the Pacific and was fast to participate. Two San Diego-based destroyers are searching areas where they were directed by the Malaysian government. As of Wednesday, the USS Kidd was searching in the southwest section of the Gulf of Thailand and the USS Pickney was in the northeast area, between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The Kidd's two HM-60R Seahawk helicopters have been flying sorties from dawn to dusk in search of debris. According to the U.S. 7th Fleet, the helicopters can search a 400- to 600-square-nautical mile area during a typical 3½-hour sortie, depending on sea and weather conditions and the size of object it's trying to find. Its onboard sensors can detect small objects in the water, in addition to the crew using binoculars or the naked eye. The Seahawks also have forward-looking infrared cameras for night use.
A Navy P-3C Orion aircraft has been searching over both the Straits of Malacca and the Gulf of Thailand. The P-3C can search for extended periods and cover 1,000-1,500 square miles every hour. On-board sensors allow the crew to clearly detect small debris in the water.
CHINA:
Four Chinese naval vessels are joining the effort. The Jinggangshan is the largest in the Chinese navy and has a large flight deck capable of launching several helicopters. An air force plane was dispatched to search for signals from the flight's black box.
The People's Liberation Army Newspaper, run by the ruling party's military commission, said Beijing also sent four helicopters and four civilian search vessels. The Kunlunshan - another amphibious landing ship with two helicopters - arrived at the designated area in the Gulf of Thailand early Thursday morning.
China plans to expand the scope of its search in the northwest toward the Gulf of Thailand and to cover 5,000 square nautical miles (17,000 square kilometers) in the Gulf of Thailand, the military newspaper said.
"That is equivalent to a medium-sized city, and we must be meticulous in our work because of the higher demands to conduct the search in such a vast area," Liu Zhonghu, captain of Jinggangshan, told the newspaper.
On state-run China Central Television, PLA navy officers said the helicopters took off from the Jianggangshan and Kunlunshan to search, the ships were using underwater sonar and robots to detect the plane, and the crews have been surveying the sea.
THE PHILIPPINES & VIETNAM:
Despite its meager resources, the Philippine military immediately dispatched search and rescue vessels and aircraft into the South China Sea southwest of Manila within hours of the plane being reported missing Saturday.
The Philippines' largest and newest naval vessel, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, was deployed on Wednesday to replace two smaller patrol boats that returned to port for refueling and resupply, said 1st Lt. Cherry Tindog, spokeswoman for the military's Western Command.
She said an air force Fokker 27 that searched on Saturday and Sunday was replaced by a navy Islander on Monday. A C-130 was deployed on Tuesday. The navy Islander and the Gregorio del Pilar were both searching on Thursday.
Tindog also said all fishermen and fishing boats in the area have been advised to help in the search.
Meanwhile, in Hanoi, Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of Vietnamese People's Army, told The Associated Press that Vietnam has dispatched for the first time a helicopter to scour jungles of U Minh in southern Vietnam after the massive sea search found no clues.
"We have instructed related regional military commands to deploy searches on land from the beginning," he said. "Now we use helicopters for searches in areas few people could access." He said the searches by helicopter will be widened to other jungles in the south central region.
MORE ON THE WAY:
Japan, which has been increasing its effort to participate in regional humanitarian missions, said it will deploy two C-130 transport planes and two P-3C aircraft to the area. A spokesman for Japan's Defense Ministry on Thursday said the transport aircraft are already on site and the P-3Cs will be deployed as soon as possible unless the situation changes.
Neighbors Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei have already provided ships, and Singapore is planning to add more aircraft. Thailand has contributed helicopters, while Australia has offered two P-3C aircraft and India is reportedly mobilizing coast guard vessels.
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 13 Mar 2014 11:12