The search and rescue for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 enters its 17th day today, amidst warning of tropical cyclone Gillian striking vessels and aircraft participating in the operation.
Presently there have been three sightings from satellites, asFrance, too, yesterday announced that satellite picked up sighting of possible debris from the plane in the southern Indian Ocean. This comes after Australia and China also made similar announcements.
Following this, The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) have asked Malaysia to provide them with a copy of the cargo listor manifest carried by Flight MH370 after sightings of wooden pallets and strapping belts were reported on Saturday.
Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:
12.15pm: According to China news agency XinHua, the crew of a Chinese IL-76 plane has sighted "suspicious objects" while searching the south Indian Ocean.
However, no further details are provided on the nature of said objects, but that coordinates have been relayed to the Australian command centre, as well as Chinese merchant vessel, the icebreaker Xuelong, which is currently on its way to search site.
Oldest passenger cheated death six times
12.13pm: In a report, the Brisbane Times claims that the oldest passenger onboard Flight MH370, Chinese national Liu Rusheng had cheated death six times in the past.
It relates how the 77-year-old, who was one of 34 artists who were in KL for an exhibition, was abandoned as a baby when his parents fled the Japanese during the invasion.
On top of that, Liu is said to have been knocked down by a truck while learning to ride a bicycle, almost drowned while swimming and survived three heart attacks.
Plane insurers to pay families
12pm: UK-based The Telegraph reports that MAS has been paid US$110 million (RM364 million) from insurers following the loss of the MH370 Boeing 777-200ER aircraft and has agreed to award hardship payments to families of those onboard the plane.
The payment, the daily reports, is in accordance with standard air travel policy that states if a place goes missing for more than two days, it is assumed to have been destroyed.
It estimates insurers could fork out more to families as international rules stipulate a minimum payment of £105,000 (RM572,000) per passenger.
Cyclone not affecting search operations
11.58am: Amsa confirms that the ongoing search operations in the sourthern Indian Ocean will not be affected by Tropical Cyclone Gillian.
13 days left before black box battery dies
10.50am: Just to recap, it has been 17 days since MAS Flight MH370 disappeared. That leaves less than two weeks, just 13 days, for search teams to find the plane before the black box battery runs out and it ceases to emit 'pings'.
According to Australia's news.com.au, the black box emits one 'ping' per second for 30 days, which can be picked up by sonar and acoustic-locating equipment.
However, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed that search for the missing plane will not stop even after the black box battery runs out after the 30-day mark.
He says there are others mean investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.
Search focuses in same area
10.39am: Amsa reports that five SAR aircraft are now in the search area, with another two on their way.
9.35am: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) denies today’s search areas is widened to take into account French satellite sightings of objecting 850km north of where searches were being conducted.
A spokesperson tells Reuters that: “We are taking it (French information) into account but at this stage we are still focussed on the same search area.
"We are taking every bit of information seriously and examining it and cross-referencing it with every other bit of information."
This contradicts an earlier statement by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss that the search area is expanded north.
Instead, the spokesperson says Amsa only recently received the information and are still examining.
Read this Reuters report in full here.
Nasa lends a hand
9.30am: The US' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) says it will use high-resolution cameras aboard satellites and the International Space Station to look for possible crash sites in the Indian Ocean, reports Reuters.
It is also mining archived images collected by instruments on its Terra and Aqua environmental satellites, spokesperson Allard Beutel is quoted as saying.
However, he warns that its satellites and space-based cameras are not meant to look for a missing aircraft but says Nasa wishes to support the search.
Read the full Reuters report here.
Australia ‘clutching’ at info on MH370
9.07am: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss cautions that despite Australian, Chinese and French satellites detecting objects at sea, authorities are still uncertain if indeed any of them are from the missing Boeing 777.
"We still don't know for certain that the aircraft is even in this area.
"We're just, I guess, clutching at whatever little piece of information comes along to try and find a place where we might be able to concentrate the efforts," he tells ABC radio, the AFPreports.
Malaysia's 'lack of openess' frustrating
8.55am: Malaysia’s handling of the MH370 crises continues to draw criticism from international parties. This time, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), two American lawmakers cite lack of openness by the government.
Republican Patrick Meehan is quoted saying that "across the board, people are looking for more openness from the Malaysian government in terms of sharing of information".
"The reports I am getting are frustration. We're invited in only a little bit," Meehan, who is also a member of the Homeland Security Committee says.
Another Republican Michael McCaul reportedly accuses Malaysia of fumbling the initial search, spending too much time focussing on the Gulf of Thailand and Kazakhstan.
However, in a different light, WSJ quotes US President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken as praising the cooperation shown by Malaysia, China as well as other countries in the search as "you have countries working together in ways they have not done before."
Report: Lower possibility of a foul play in cockpit
8.40am: After Flight MH370 made the turnback towards the west, it drastically dropped to less than 4,000 metres or 12,000 feet, CNN reports
Citing military radar data and a source with the investigations, it says the finding somewhat reduces but does not rule out suspicions on foul play in the cockpit.
In its news broadcast, CNN further says the sudden drop in altitude may indicate an emergency situation could have arose, as there is could be a lack of air in the plane.
This revelation appears to slash the theory that someone reprogrammed the plane's flight path before the co-pilot, 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid, signed off with air-traffic controllers for the last time at 1.07am on March 8.
CNN's aviation analyst Miles O Brien describes the new information as a possible "game-changer:
"Now we have no evidence the crew did anything wrong. In fact now we should be operating with the primary assumption being that something bad happened to that plane shortly after they said good night."
China joins air search
8.30am: The Amsa reports that five aircraft have now departed Perth for the search site, and this includes a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion and two civil jets.
8.20am: Amsa reports that 10 aircraft will be participating in the search for possible objects in an area 2,500kilometre southwest of Perth in Western Australia.
Planes include military and three civilian aircraft from Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and the United States. The search area has been split into two areas covering 68,500 sq km.
China, which has 153 passengers onboard the missing MAS flight, will be participating in the air search for the first time and they will be using two Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft.
Weather wise, the search is likeli to be hampered by rain.
Australian naval vessel HMAS Success is already there while several Chinese ships are en route to the search area.
French satellite images from radar echo
8.00am: The satellite images of objects in the southern Indian Ocean, detected by the French, were detected via radar echoes,Reuters reports.
In its report yesterday, it states: “The French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite put the new debris finding about 2,300km (1,430 miles) from Perth, without giving a direction or a date.”
A radar echo is an electronic signal which is bounced or reflected off objects, which can indicate the location and distance of said objects.
Background:
Presently there have been three sightings from satellites, asFrance, too, yesterday announced that satellite picked up sighting of possible debris from the plane in the southern Indian Ocean. This comes after Australia and China also made similar announcements.
Following this, The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) have asked Malaysia to provide them with a copy of the cargo listor manifest carried by Flight MH370 after sightings of wooden pallets and strapping belts were reported on Saturday.
Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:
12.15pm: According to China news agency XinHua, the crew of a Chinese IL-76 plane has sighted "suspicious objects" while searching the south Indian Ocean.
However, no further details are provided on the nature of said objects, but that coordinates have been relayed to the Australian command centre, as well as Chinese merchant vessel, the icebreaker Xuelong, which is currently on its way to search site.
Oldest passenger cheated death six times
12.13pm: In a report, the Brisbane Times claims that the oldest passenger onboard Flight MH370, Chinese national Liu Rusheng had cheated death six times in the past.
It relates how the 77-year-old, who was one of 34 artists who were in KL for an exhibition, was abandoned as a baby when his parents fled the Japanese during the invasion.
On top of that, Liu is said to have been knocked down by a truck while learning to ride a bicycle, almost drowned while swimming and survived three heart attacks.
Plane insurers to pay families
12pm: UK-based The Telegraph reports that MAS has been paid US$110 million (RM364 million) from insurers following the loss of the MH370 Boeing 777-200ER aircraft and has agreed to award hardship payments to families of those onboard the plane.
The payment, the daily reports, is in accordance with standard air travel policy that states if a place goes missing for more than two days, it is assumed to have been destroyed.
It estimates insurers could fork out more to families as international rules stipulate a minimum payment of £105,000 (RM572,000) per passenger.
Cyclone not affecting search operations
11.58am: Amsa confirms that the ongoing search operations in the sourthern Indian Ocean will not be affected by Tropical Cyclone Gillian.
13 days left before black box battery dies
10.50am: Just to recap, it has been 17 days since MAS Flight MH370 disappeared. That leaves less than two weeks, just 13 days, for search teams to find the plane before the black box battery runs out and it ceases to emit 'pings'.
According to Australia's news.com.au, the black box emits one 'ping' per second for 30 days, which can be picked up by sonar and acoustic-locating equipment.
However, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed that search for the missing plane will not stop even after the black box battery runs out after the 30-day mark.
He says there are others mean investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.
Search focuses in same area
10.39am: Amsa reports that five SAR aircraft are now in the search area, with another two on their way.
9.35am: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) denies today’s search areas is widened to take into account French satellite sightings of objecting 850km north of where searches were being conducted.
A spokesperson tells Reuters that: “We are taking it (French information) into account but at this stage we are still focussed on the same search area.
"We are taking every bit of information seriously and examining it and cross-referencing it with every other bit of information."
This contradicts an earlier statement by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss that the search area is expanded north.
Instead, the spokesperson says Amsa only recently received the information and are still examining.
Read this Reuters report in full here.
Nasa lends a hand
9.30am: The US' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) says it will use high-resolution cameras aboard satellites and the International Space Station to look for possible crash sites in the Indian Ocean, reports Reuters.
It is also mining archived images collected by instruments on its Terra and Aqua environmental satellites, spokesperson Allard Beutel is quoted as saying.
However, he warns that its satellites and space-based cameras are not meant to look for a missing aircraft but says Nasa wishes to support the search.
Read the full Reuters report here.
Australia ‘clutching’ at info on MH370
9.07am: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss cautions that despite Australian, Chinese and French satellites detecting objects at sea, authorities are still uncertain if indeed any of them are from the missing Boeing 777.
"We still don't know for certain that the aircraft is even in this area.
"We're just, I guess, clutching at whatever little piece of information comes along to try and find a place where we might be able to concentrate the efforts," he tells ABC radio, the AFPreports.
Malaysia's 'lack of openess' frustrating
8.55am: Malaysia’s handling of the MH370 crises continues to draw criticism from international parties. This time, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), two American lawmakers cite lack of openness by the government.
Republican Patrick Meehan is quoted saying that "across the board, people are looking for more openness from the Malaysian government in terms of sharing of information".
"The reports I am getting are frustration. We're invited in only a little bit," Meehan, who is also a member of the Homeland Security Committee says.
Another Republican Michael McCaul reportedly accuses Malaysia of fumbling the initial search, spending too much time focussing on the Gulf of Thailand and Kazakhstan.
However, in a different light, WSJ quotes US President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken as praising the cooperation shown by Malaysia, China as well as other countries in the search as "you have countries working together in ways they have not done before."
Report: Lower possibility of a foul play in cockpit
8.40am: After Flight MH370 made the turnback towards the west, it drastically dropped to less than 4,000 metres or 12,000 feet, CNN reports
Citing military radar data and a source with the investigations, it says the finding somewhat reduces but does not rule out suspicions on foul play in the cockpit.
In its news broadcast, CNN further says the sudden drop in altitude may indicate an emergency situation could have arose, as there is could be a lack of air in the plane.
This revelation appears to slash the theory that someone reprogrammed the plane's flight path before the co-pilot, 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid, signed off with air-traffic controllers for the last time at 1.07am on March 8.
CNN's aviation analyst Miles O Brien describes the new information as a possible "game-changer:
"Now we have no evidence the crew did anything wrong. In fact now we should be operating with the primary assumption being that something bad happened to that plane shortly after they said good night."
China joins air search
8.30am: The Amsa reports that five aircraft have now departed Perth for the search site, and this includes a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P3 Orion and two civil jets.
8.20am: Amsa reports that 10 aircraft will be participating in the search for possible objects in an area 2,500kilometre southwest of Perth in Western Australia.
Planes include military and three civilian aircraft from Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and the United States. The search area has been split into two areas covering 68,500 sq km.
China, which has 153 passengers onboard the missing MAS flight, will be participating in the air search for the first time and they will be using two Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft.
Weather wise, the search is likeli to be hampered by rain.
Australian naval vessel HMAS Success is already there while several Chinese ships are en route to the search area.
French satellite images from radar echo
8.00am: The satellite images of objects in the southern Indian Ocean, detected by the French, were detected via radar echoes,Reuters reports.
In its report yesterday, it states: “The French Foreign Ministry said radar echoes from a satellite put the new debris finding about 2,300km (1,430 miles) from Perth, without giving a direction or a date.”
A radar echo is an electronic signal which is bounced or reflected off objects, which can indicate the location and distance of said objects.
Background:
- The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
- Its whereabouts remains a mystery as 26 countries race to locate the missing plane, believed to be either in the nothern corridor, anywhere between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or in the southern corridor covering Indonesia and to the south of the India Ocean.
- This comes after the authorities determined that the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers.
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