"Interesting to see the photos are taken 16-March at 0416Zulu"


I got the impression at the media conference that they had had these images for a short while even though they didn't admit it and they had analysed and re analysed them before releasing them.

Satellite pictures on ABC (Australia) website
 

This may help in understanding the situation. :E
http://pickeringpost.com/kyola/resou...icles/back.png

Thanks MMurray
 

They have better eyes than me then -it doesn't look like anything, even the white patterns at the side look similar.

You need to bring a magnifying glass to the image. If you have an Apple computer the glass is built in. Distinct formations in the image suggest it is something other than a container or junk. Especially a cross section in the rear of the object....the tail?

Having trouble seeing anything in those images ..other than its something...personally I would have kept it a low key finding until verified.

Hope they know more than us...and it is something tangible!

What is the approximate length of a B777 slideraft?

Three reasons I am hopeful this is real
1. They stressed there were multiple objects close by. That suggests they have not been in he water for that long. Over time objects will separate. There is not that much traffic in that part of the world. Wreckage from a tsunami will not still be floating in formation.
2. I continue to believe there was corroborating evidence that refined the Inmarsat data.
3. Aust PM has gone out on a limb. He has also put Malaysian PM under some pressure - if some theories are thrown into doubt, others become more likely. Not that this pressure on Malaysian PM was the purpose, but it is an inevitable consequence. So I believe he feels he is on strong ground.

I participated in an AP-3C SAR mission for a sailor overboard in the Indian Ocean (two decades back, he was found). It strikes me that the chances of finding a 24 metre long object are reasonable if it is still floating, they have some idea of surface currents, and the weather holds. A lone bobbing head, lifejacket, or seat cushion not so much, but a debris field of the smaller items should be detectable.

I hope it really is a wing or tail and floating detritus rather than a shipping container.

Translation of a dimension originally marked up as 80 feet (by a US analyst, possibly) would do that.

We see lots of that sort of thing in the UK, where the metric and imperial systems are co-existing in an unhappy marriage and are frequently quoted side-by-side. It's by no means uncommon to see a measurement which is clearly a rounded number in one system being unthinkingly translated to some ludicrously precise value in the other... From humble recipe books on up.

AMSA Satellite images
 

View the Satellite images here:

http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/inciden...0718_01_14.jpg

http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/inciden...0718_02_14.jpg

Yup! That's the beauty of how it works! Even putting a 4 instead of a 9 makes a difference too! So by using N E S W and 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 in various combinations you can go anywhere in the world!

It is a truly versatile system, just like writing in fact - you Ntupid, Nilly Sumpty!

CNN did show them quite a while ago. The anchor said they didn't look like much to him. My guess is the indistinct images don't make good TV so they're not showing them over and over.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/533...x2-700x467.jpg

If you have the focal length of the camera and the height of the aircraft then you have the (approximate) scale of the photo. Then you can calculate approximately the length of the object.

eg focal length 100mm flying height 1000 metres then scale is 0.1/1000. Or 1 to 10000.

You measure the length of the object on the photo say 2.4mm therefore actual length is 10000 times that or 24000 millimetres, 24 metres

As has been repeated many times already the longest shipping container is 40' or 12.2 metres or so.

They have stabilised camera on the nose with a powerful lens that can image visible spectrum and thermal images.
Not how I read the PM question Time and following press conference with SAR.

In fact I'de say he can't lose, the satellite image specialists see a target and military and civil SAR guys make the decision to have a look.
Civil and military guys appear on tv to be articulate and open, they will take the media flack and return it with interest.

PM says good luck and Godspeed as I hope we all do.

It is a good example of an agency getting its message out quickly and clearly so it can be propagated and dominate social media and the web, rather than in the absence of good info, let social media and the web make stuff up which gets propagated ad nauseam.


mickjoebill

Anybody have an informed opinion on how long it might take an fbi expert to recover deleted files off a computer?

Fuel Starvation Induced Descent Pattern
 

Edition12
Can aviation experts make an educated guess regarding the descent pattern followed by a fully loaded B777 as a result of fuel starvation. Does the typical nose up, one wing pointed down, corkscrew rotation hold in such cases. Might explain what kind of debris can be expected at the crash site. Where would be the center of gravity of a fully loaded B777 with empty fuel tanks? Any estimate of terminal velocity ?

My assessment, agree?
 

I positioned a B777 against the AMSA find... what do you think?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BjJ32UFCcAA2REm.jpg

I'm surprised they held a PC so soon, but I wonder if the item was in fact already identified (logo visible?), they're just not admitting that yet, perhaps to "ease" the family into the news of their loved ones fates?

Seafloor
 

The sea floor in the area where the debris was discovered is around 3000 metres and flat and featureless.

3000 metres is well with range of ROV's.

I have a marine chart image of the seabed from a screenshot. How do I post that?