Air search for MH370 called off due to severe weather

Republic of Korea navy personnel unload a P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce, located north of Perth, before flying over the southern Indian Ocean to participate in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in this picture released by the Australian Defence Force today. The search for the aircraft has been called off today due to bad weather. – Reuters pic, March 27, 2014.Aircraft searches for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 jetliner presumed crashed in the southern Indian Ocean have been called off today due to bad weather, a US navy officer told Reuters.

"The forecast in the area was calling for severe icing, severe turbulence and near zero visibility," said Lieutenant Commander Adam Schantz, the officer in charge of the US navy’s Poseidon P8 aircraft detachment.

"Anybody who's out there is coming home and all additional sorties from here are cancelled."

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority confirmed flights had been cancelled due to the weather.

Aircraft and ships scouring the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of flight MH370 were racing to beat bad weather today and reach an area where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field.

The international search team had been bolstered to 11 military and civilian aircraft and five ships that will criss-cross the remote search site with weather conditions forecast to deteriorate later in the day.

New satellite images have revealed more than 100 objects that could be debris from the Boeing 777, which is thought to have crashed on March 8 with the loss of all 239 people aboard after flying thousands of miles off course.

The logistical difficulties of the search have been highlighted by the failure so far to get a lock on possible debris despite the now numerous satellite images and direct visuals from aircraft and ships.

The search area some 2,500 southwest of Perth has some of the deepest and roughest waters in the world, roiled by the "Roaring Forties" winds that cut across the sea.

The winds are named for the area between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees where there is no land mass to slow down gusts which create waves higher than six metres. – Reuters