Tuesday, March 25, 2014

12 days left before black box ceases to 'ping'


The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 enters the 18th day but for the first time today investigators have conclusively narrowed the search to the southern Indian Ocean.

Last night ended on a dramatic note after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak revealed evidence the plane went down in the Indian Ocean while MAS told family members that it is assumed "beyond reasonable doubt" none survived.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday personally informed Najib on sightings of two objects at a search area some 2,500km southwest of Perth and all eyes is on the search operation which will attempt to retrieve the objects for confirmation if it is indeed debris from the ill-fated flight.

Below are updates and the latest coverage from various sources and news agencies:

Minute of silence

10am: The Bersih Peoples Tribunal observes a minute of silence in honour of the MH370 crash in the Indian Ocean.

12 days left before black box battery dies

9.45am: Just to recap, it has been 18 days since MAS Flight MH370 disappeared. That leaves less than two weeks, just 12 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 other means investigators and search parties can employ to locate the black box.

9.30am: Aviation experts say that news MH370 is lost at sea is only "scratching the surface" of investigations which could take even longer than the two-year search for debris of Air France flight 447.

Shawn Pruchnicki, a veteran disaster investigator and safety expert tells USA Today that the best thing is to find the plane's black box.

"That's the best-case scenario. There's about two hours of recording time on the cockpit voice recorder, so if there was an event going on, there'd be talk about smoke, about an intentional turn back."

"The worst-case scenario is if we don't find the boxes and there's limited wreckage because it's so scattered, the search area is so vast and recovery is impossible,'' says the Ohio State University Centre for Aviation Studies expert.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.