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Friday, April 4, 2014

Hunt for black box begins with pinger locator


Latest developments
  • Towed pinger locator now in the water.
     
  • Anwar accuses Malaysian gov't of cover-up.
     
  • JACC chief to hold 'big' operations press conference.
     
  • Ocean Shield, fitted with pinger locator, due to arrive.
Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

10am: The towed pinger locator, which was on board Australian vessel Ocean Shield is now in the water, tweets CNN.

The pinger locator, loaned by the US Navy, is needed to locate the black box on Flight MH370.

It must do so fast, however, as the black box is only expected to function for another two days before its battery runs out, after which it will cease to release ping signals which could help searchers locate the wreckage.

Without wreckage, MAS open to suits

9:36am: Brisbane-based aviation lawyer Joseph Wheeler (right) says Malaysia Airlines (MAS) may be open to lawsuits involving significantly higher sums if the wreckage of Flight Mh370 is not found.

He says under the Montreal Convention 1999, an airline is strictly liable to loss damages of up to RM570,820 per passenger if it can prove the lost was not due to its own negligence.

However, Malaysia Airlines cannot prove this without the wreckage and therefore may face suits amounting to more than RM570,280.

Read full story here.

Anwar believes gov't knows more on MH370

9.02am: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is accusing the government of hiding information.

“Unfortunately the manner in which this was handled after the first few days was clearly suspect... One fact remains. Clearly information critical to our understanding is deemed missing.

“I believe the government knows more than us. They have the authority to instruct the air force … or Malaysia Airlines. They are privy to most of these missing bits of information critical to our understanding of this mysterious disappearance of MH370," he was quoted as saying in an interview with UK-based The Telegraph.

Anwar reiterates that Malaysia's radar system which was purchased when he was deputy prime minister would have picked up Flight MH370 but the government failed to act.

He also criticises the government for allowing Vietnam and China to search in the wrong area in the early stages of search when attention was in the South China Sea.

JACC chief to hold news conference

8.30am: CNN quotes unnamed sources saying that JACC chief Angus Houston will be holding a "big" operations news conference later today.

It is unclear what would be announced at the press event.

At present several countries are involved in the search effort led by Australia, including Malaysia, US, UK, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

Search persists

6am: Search in the Indian Ocean resumes with 10 military planes, four civil jets and nine ships, says the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), tasked with overseeing the search and recovery operations.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) has determined a search area of about 217,000km square kilometres, 1,700km north west of Perth.

Weather today is predicted to be fair with visibility of approximately 10km.

Meanwhile, CNN reports that according to the Australian Defence Force, the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo will be conducting a specific search today, while Ocean Shield, fitted with a towed pinger locator, is due to arrive.

Four weeks and nothing to show for

5am: Exactly four weeks have passed since the search of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 began but there remains no trace of the plane.

Searchers are hoping for a breakthrough as the plane's approximately 30-day black box battery which allows it to emit signals beacon may soon die.

Once the deadline reaches, the US-loaned pinger locator hydrophones onboard the ADV Ocean Shield will be rendered useless and searchers will need to look at bringing in new equipments which rely on old fashion sonar.

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.

Authorities have determined the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.

Its whereabouts is now narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat's satellite.

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