grumpyoldgeek
Quote:
"There is probably a significant likelihood" that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, a senior U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr Thursday, citing information Malaysia has shared with the United States."
And I submit that there is a significant likelihood that US subs or subhunters have picked up the underwater ping from the emergency locator transmitter.
If so, expect a breakthrough in the next 12-24 hours.
Unlikely. The ocean is very large, and submarines are very few. If the plane is in the Indian ocean, the pingers are likely too deep to be heard by a sub or sonobuoys unless nearly overhead. See:
Pinger Range, much of which could apply to this situation.
Edit: I should have mentioned, that reliable reception of these pingers, if they are deep, requires a deep (towed) receiver. That is why the US Navy has deep-towed pinger locators, which were used (unsuccessfully) to search for AF447.