Cindy Wockner, Kristin Shorten and wires
News Corp Australia
1 hour ago
March 27, 2014 6:32PM
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THE captain of the Australian Navy vessel leading the on-water hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight has revealed the pieces of debris being sought are so small they cannot be picked on the ship’s radar.
HMAS Success has been posted in the southern Indian Ocean for days, searching for any sign of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board.
After confirmation by Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government earlier this week that the flight was lost with no chance of survival for any passengers or crew, Captain Allison Norris and her crew were one of the first ships to arrive in the area to follow any leads supplied from the air.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. “We would adjust our search pattern to maximise the possibility of finding something in the water,” Captain Norris said.
”But we have not sighted anything related to the missing flight.’’
Debris too small to detect on radar ... Commanding Officer of HMAS Success, Captain Allison Norris, scans the southern Indian Ocean from the ship's bridge. Source: AFP
Malaysian authorities revealed late yesterday that satellites had picked up 122 potential pieces of debris in the search zone.
But Capt Norris said the ship’s spotters had found no concrete evidence of a crash site yet.
She also reiterated the massive task was still ahead of the search teams.
“The type of wreckage or object we are looking for is so close to the water line that our radars would not be able to pick it up,’’ Capt Norris said.
“We are very reliant on lookouts who use binoculars and night vision devices to scan the horizon and scan the area around our ship.
“It is very cold so we rotate the lookouts through every hour.’’
HMAS Success and other ships remain searching for any debris from the missing plane despite bad weather forcing all planes to postpone the hunt for debris.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority stated all planes are returning to Perth yet the ships will remain in the search zone, about 2500 kilometres southwest of Perth, and will try to continue looking for debris.
The bad weather that has hit the search area is expected to last for the next 24 hours.
Malaysia Airlines today ran a full-page condolence advertisement with a black background in a major newspaper.
“Our sincerest condolences go out to the loved ones of the 239 passengers, friends and colleagues. Words alone cannot express our enormous sorrow and pain,’’ read the advertisement in the New Straits Times.
Formula One teams and officials are preparing to honour the victims of flight MH370 at this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
The race on Sunday will be held at the Sepang circuit, next to Kuala Lumpur’s main airport, where the flight took off on March 8.
The Mercedes team, which is sponsored by Malaysian oil company Petronas, will have messages of support on its cars and driver helmets.
Driver Lewis Hamilton said the tragedy is “just heartbreaking’’ and “my heart and thoughts go out to the families and friends’’.
F1 officials and Malaysian organisers will hold discussions today about how to best commemorate the loss.
The developments come after the youngest son of Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Zaharie Shah broke his family’s silence to defend his father.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES CAPTAIN ZAHARIE SHAH CALLED ‘MYSTERY WOMAN’
CAPTAIN ZAHARIE SHAH’S DAUGHTER WAS IN AUSTRALIA
Ahmad Seth told the New Strait Times in Malaysia that he had read news reports and speculation about his father’s role as the missing plane’s pilot.
And he dismissed theories that his father may have had something to do with the plane’s disappearance.
“I’ve read everything online. But I’ve ignored all the speculation. I know my father better,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
“We may not be as close as he travels so much. But I understand him,” he said.
Seth, 26, is a language student and the youngest of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s three children.
So far none of the rest of the family has spoken as wild theories and accusations have swirled about what happened to the plane and any role that Captain Zaharie may have played.
In Washington, FBI chief James Comey told lawmakers today (AEDT) that experts were working ”literally round the clock’’ to finish their analysis, in the hopes that the data could provide clues to what happened to Flight MH370.
Malaysia “took us up on our technical abilities, which involves the exploitation of certain computer forensic materials that they’ve given to us. That work is ongoing,’’ Comey told a House subcommittee meeting to discuss the FBI’s 2015 budget request.
”I don’t want to say more about that in an open setting, but I expect it to be done fairly shortly, within a day or two.’’
Malaysian police removed the simulator from Captain Zaharie Shah’s home nearly two weeks ago.
HMAS TOOWOOMBA DIVERTED TO SEARCH FOR MISSING PLANE
His daughter, Aishah Zaharie lives in Melbourne and has returned to Kuala Lumpur to be with her mother and family members.
The oldest child Ahmad Idris has made several comments on social media, thanking everyone for their support.
Today’s search and recovery operation for the Malaysia Airlines flight started off as race against time, with ships and planes attempting to locate debris.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology had warned that the weather was expected to deteriorate.
Six military aircraft, five civil aircraft and five ships took part after new satellite images released yesterday found about 122 objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
HMAS Success remains in the search area about 2500 kilometres southwest of Perth and was joined by four Chinese ships — Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon and Qiandaohu — in the search area.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT’S FINAL UNEXPLAINED ‘SQUAWK’
Two Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orions, a Japanese Gulfstream jet, a US Navy P8 Poseidon and a Japanese P3 Orion took part throughout the day.
Five civil aircraft also took part.
“Potentially thunderstorms down there as well as winds picking up, and they could get to gale force conditions,’’ said bureau spokesman Neil Bennett.
The objects detected by a French satellite, measuring from one metre to 23 metres long, were picked up four days ago and sent to the Australian search co-ordinators yesterday.
Some of the objects appeared to be bright in colour and possibly of solid material.
It is the biggest field of possible debris spotted so far in the multinational search for the Boeing 777-200 and is the “most credible lead” so far.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said three objects were sighted yesterday — two of them were spotted from a civilian aircraft in the search and were likely to be rope and the third, seen from a NZ P3 Orion, was a blue object.
Where they’re looking ... this graphic released by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency shows the approximate position of objects seen floating in the southern Indian Ocean. Source: AP
BLACK BOXES MAY NOT REVEAL WHAT HAPPENED
Aviation experts have cautioned that even finding the black box flight recorder may not reveal what really happened on flight MH370 on its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Saturday March 8.
New Zealand aviation commentator Peter Clark told News Corp Australia that the voice recorder, if found, may have nothing on it as it is erased every two hours.
“There are two black boxes ... a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder,” he said.
“The data recorder can operate for 18 to 25 hours before it starts to override so if they find the data recorder there could be information on it.
“But if they find the voice recorder and it’s still working they will probably only hear the accident.”
Flight MH370 made a sudden turn while flying over the Gulf of Thailand not long after take off and made other course and altitude changes. The plane’s communications systems were also turned off, suggesting human action rather than a catastrophic mechanical failure was to blame.
Possible debris field ... Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said a satellite had captured images of 122 objects close to where three other satellites previously detected objects. Source: AP
THE SATELLITE IMAGES
Details of the French satellite images were revealed last night by Malaysia’s Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
He said the images were taken by Airbus Defence and Space, in France, on March 23.
Mr Hussein said the images were analysed by the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency on Tuesday. They found that in an area of ocean about 400 square kilometres there were 122 potential objects, about 2557km from Perth.
Cluster of objects ... this map released by Malaysian authorities appear to show objects in proximity to each other. Source: Supplied
It is the fourth set of satellite images showing potential debris since March 16 but so far none has been physically located or picked up from the ocean.
The latest images are not far from the objects seen on Australian and Chinese satellites on March 16 and 18.
Mr Hussein said it was now “imperative that we link the debris to MH370.”
“This will enable us to further reduce the search area and locate more debris from the plane,” he said, adding this would enable the search to move into the next phase of deep sea surveillance and salvage.
COMPENSATION: How much will families get?
Search continues ... a Pilatus PC-9/A comes in for a landing at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth. RAAF Pearce is accommodating six nations that have joined forces in Australia. Source: AP
SEA SURFACE POSES A CHALLENGE
Even if the search does find verifiable wreckage from MH370 on the surface, marine geologist Dr Robin Beaman said underwater volcanoes would probably hamper efforts to recover the black box flight recorder from the depths.
Mr Beaman said the Southeast Indian Ridge cut directly through the search area, meaning the sea bed was rugged and constantly being reshaped by magma flows.
He said the ridge was an “extremely active’’ range of volcanoes sitting at an average depth of 3000 metres, which marked the point where the Antarctic and Australian tectonic plates are pulling apart.
RELATED: ‘History will judge us well’ says Transport Minister
SEARCH: Underwater volcanoes pose a challenge
Still no answers ... a relative of a passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 speaks to the media. Source: AFP
TENSIONS WITH CHINA
Mr Hussein also defended his Government over growing Chinese criticism about the handling of the disaster.
He said until the debris is found the one question Chinese relatives are asking cannot be answered.
And in a veiled reference to the Chinese reaction, where there have been angry scenes and water bottles hurled at Malaysian officials and protest marches, Mr Hussein said many nations had lost loved ones.
Mr Hussein denied suggestions his country had taken a “bruising” over handling of the matter.
He said in a world full of divides, hate and death and in South-East Asia, where countries fight over rocks in the sea, the search for MH370 was a great achievement not a bruising.
“Speculation will go on and people will look to Malaysia but I think history will judge us well,” he said.
However, frustrated relatives of Chinese passengers on board demanded answers from the Malaysian ambassador for a second consecutive day, with some openly insulting him at a Beijing hotel.
“All the things that were promised, we have received nothing. Was Mr Yahya talking out of the other end of his body — was he talking out of his arse?” one relative said, referring to Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.
TENSION: Souring relationship between China and Malaysia
‘Situation handled appallingly’ ... Danica Weeks, the wife of Paul Weeks who was on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Source: News Corp Australia
WIFE OF PASSENGER BLASTS POOR COMMUNICATION
The family of Paul Weeks, who was aboard the flight, have criticised Malaysia’s handling of the information flow about the search operation.
His wife Danica Weeks found out in a text message from the airline that her husband had likely died when the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean and his sister, Sara, had to rely on a call from her mother to hear the news.
“The whole situation has been handled appallingly, incredibly insensitively,’’ Ms Weeks told Radio Live in New Zealand on Thursday.
“Everyone is angry about it.
“The Malaysian government, the airline, it’s just all been incredibly poor.
“Who’s to say they couldn’t have located the plane the day that it happened.’’
A lot of information seemed to have been withheld and took a very long time to get through, Ms Weeks added.
Ms Weeks said she was called at 3.30am on Tuesday by her mother, who was worried she might hear the news of her brother’s death from the media.
Malaysia Airlines said in a statement that where possible they had informed the almost 1000 family members either in person or by telephone, and only used text messages where necessary.
Paul Weeks, a 39-year-old mechanical engineer based in Perth, was travelling to Mongolia for his first shift in a fly-in-fly-out job.
Ms Weeks said it had been a nightmare not knowing and the family still didn’t have any closure as so much was unexplained.
“The not knowing is awful and, to be honest, we still don’t know. They haven’t given us any tangible evidence on how they know that plane is there,’’ she told More FM in New Zealand.
“To just ... say everyone’s dead, that’s where the plane is, without offering up any sort of evidence, it has been really difficult.’’
Malaysia Airlines will fly Sara Weeks to Perth to be with Mrs Weeks and her two sons Lincoln, 3, and Jack, 11 months.
Mr Weeks left his wedding ring and watch at home before setting off, Mrs Weeks has said.
Ms Weeks hopes to meet some of the other families who’ve lost loved ones on the flight.
Danica and Paul Weeks, who was one of two New Zealanders on the plane, moved to Perth from Christchurch after the earthquakes of 2011.
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