Malaysian Airlines MH370 contact lost

[sardak]

Apr 14 Search Areas

Vinnie Boombatz

The sonobuoy portion of today's search, roughly a square 25 km on a side, is centered at roughly 26 S, 101.5 E:

http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/release...l/mr_021-4.jpg

That appears to fall on the blue arc representing the 0011 UTC "last ping" in the first set of charts published by AAIB:

http://www.inmarsat.com/wp-content/u...ern-Tracks.jpg

But it's well to the East of the other two arcs representing the 400 and 450 kt loci on the AAIB chart.

Today's sonobuoy search area is at/near where the Hai Xun 01 heard the pings on 05 April, and it's basically on the #7 arc.
The aerial search areas are on/near the Inmarsat 400 kt path (red) and one of the NTSB suggested paths. Overlay comparing the search areas: http://i.imgur.com/peWnXpJ.png

[500N]

Interesting comment re the bottom of the sea where they are.

They have obviously looked at previous data collected years ago
and his comment about a lot of silt on the bottom.

[mm43]

Ocean Shield AIS data Update

The TPL towing is complete and the Bluefin AUV is being prepared for launching.

An updated graphic is at Post #9950

[appster]

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston says it Day 38, 'we have not had a detection in six days. It is time to go underwater.' This is 40 m old @ 1:10 am US EST from Breaking news, latest news, and current events - breakingnews.com.

[The Old Fat One]

IF the plane was anywhere near the search area there would be FLOATING debris near the area
Not a sealed unit on the seabed emitting nothing No flotsam has been spotted

Actually, you can confidently state that there will be no floating debris anywhere near the datum.

Anything that came of the wreck and floated will by now be hundreds of miles away due to ocean drift.

[mm43]

Originally Posted by The Old Fat One

Anything that came of the wreck and floated will by now be hundreds of miles away due to ocean drift.

Any engine Lube Oil slowly leaking could well be still appearing on the surface relatively close to the aircraft's position.

[500N]

How far did Angus Houston say the oil slick was found from the Ping location ?

Was it 5 1/2 kms ?'

[rh200]

Pretty sure he said the oil slick was 5500 metres away.

That would be extremely close if coming up from around the 4000 meter mark at a slow but steady rate I would think!

[500N]

Thanks for confirming.

Pity it will take 3 or so days to get it (the 2 litres of oil) back to port.

It will be good if it is from MH370.

[Pontius Navigator]

While the plateau is up to 6000m deep, #9930 says it is more likely 3500-4500

[Sheep Guts]

Oil from a 777 what types?

I suppose we are looking at Engine oil or Hydraulic Fluid and or maybe fuel? Just looking at Marine Traffic, and HMAS Toowoomba is heading towards Ocean Shields position at 23knots 5 hours ago. She must be only 3 hours away by now and I am guessing off to Exmouth again maybe to drop the Oil sample and pick up supplies. Definitely a few days before analysis of the oil.

[oldoberon]

Bluefin will cover 40 sq km today and the total area size is 47000sq km, potential a very long search then, puts the 6 days ping searching with no result into context, a desperate atempt to reduce the search area size.

has to be hoped that the starting area of the few pings detected yields some clues

[aerobat77]

Not sure why that is as Angus Houston said in the press conference;

"Data from Chinese ship Haixum 01 has been analysed & discounted"

well, it sounded from first minute very odd and almost impossible that the chinese picked up a signal from +4000 meters depth with a simple cheap and small handheld locator . and its also very unprobable that the chinese patrol boat is equipped with a top secret state of the art underwater locator which outperforms the systems on hms echo or the towed locator on the ocean shield. no way.

i guess ocean shield and hms echo are the main force in underwater search, the other ships act as a support in visual search .

not sure ( because its classified ) what role the trafalgar class sub plays. little is known what real performance and what limitations its passive and active sonar has and if there is a theoretical chance it can pick up the wreck by active sonar now.

also not sure how much politics play a role. when the trafalgar class british sub searches in a known area i guess the chinese destroyer will make beyond the search also trials ans tests in locating and tracking the submarine for military reasons.

i guess the royal navy may not be amused to present the capability and limits of their nuclear powered subs.

[paultr]

Suggest that aerial reconnaissance will be of limited use for identifying debris on beaches unless the planes are equipped with very high resolution cameras and huge amounts of time are spent analysing the photos. Any coves and beaches which face the prevailing wind will be full of fishing debris and general rubbish - maybe a case for a crowd sourced effort.

[Blake777]

"Any coves and beaches which face the prevailing wind will be full of fishing debris and general rubbish..."

As this is my backyard, I have to comment here despite every other comment about WA coast being deleted.

Think extemely isolated, tiny population. There will be some rubbish, but this is not Asia or Europe. The biggest challenge is the isolation combined with the fact that the coast from Geraldton to Exmouth has many challenging areas of cliffs etc.

SAR operations need support services and there are some real practical obstacles to deal with in this region. That is why if someone who has SAR experience in this state has a professional viewpoint on this, I'd be interested to hear more.

It is obviously possible to conduct a search in littoral areas but as with every other aspect of the search for MH370 so far, it would be a tough assignment, depending on how narrowed down the focus area could be. Ideally if some debris were carried to a populated/serviced/accessible area, the job would be easier.

TOMNOD? If we are down to looking for seat coverings and life jackets, I'm not sure this would help from what I've seen of crowd-sourcing up till now. But why not if it gives people the chance to feel involved?

[iamajoat]

No Load Voltage

While that is proof the battery still is holding 3+ volts, once it is loaded there may be another story. I have tested many batteries over the years that tested good with a meter but were unable to function when placed into the circuit.

[Downwind Lander]

no-hoper says in #9998:

"Original 3V lithium battery from ULB.18 month overdue..."


lamajoat is right. My "O" level Physics tells me that just because the battery, on open circuit, shows a voltage, it does not mean that it will deliver a current when asked to do so.

It is a disgrace that CVR and FDRs are not equipped with batteries that will perform for a year. Designed for "transponder mode", even the existing battery would give a phenomenal life.

[underfire]

when blufin is deployed does ocean shield

a)remain stationary
b) sail along the intended bluefin course
c) sail to the expected surfacing posion

BF is autonoumous. You can input whatever programmed course you want, and let it go.
It has an IRU, and once underwater, GPS will not work. You may drop pingers bounding a larger area, this way, the fish will communicate and triangulate its exact position underwater.
You program it to surface at intervals, 1. to charge the batteries, and 2 to download information thru sat uplink, 3 to receive/change instructions.

You can also program it to surface if a pre-determined event happens, such as a significant anomoly on the mag.

There is a pre-programmed destination, so if all else fails, it will go there for pickup.
Typically, the batteries will last about 24 hours, depending on depth and currents.

I would try to have a mag, sidescan, and PL on the fish...

For the surface support vessel, it should just keep mowing the lawn. You would save time by meeting it at the surface location and swapping out batteries/data pack, rather than wait for the solar charge/uplink.

EDIT: Its only gonna go about 3-4kts, so you dont have to go too far in 12/24 hours

[Nemrytter]

So does that mean they're de-emphasizing the inferences from Doppler?

These were not inferences from doppler - the tracks used estimated (read: guessed) speeds. The actual g.s could be quite different - particularly when winds etc are accounted for. Constant airspeed != constant groundspeed.

[susier]

'i guess the royal navy may not be amused to present the capability and limits of their nuclear powered subs.'


That's why they're sending that particular sub. It's not the top spec apparently.