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AUSTRALIA TODAY SENT planes and ships to investigate signals detected by a Chinese ship in the hunt for a missing Malaysian jet, saying they matched black box beacons and were an “important and encouraging lead”.
Angus Houston, the Australian head of the mission, said a second “ping” was also being scrutinised 300 nautical miles away in the Indian Ocean, as the one-month lifespan of batteries powering the beacons loomed.
He said China’s Haixun 01 has twice detected an underwater signal on a frequency used for flight data and cockpit voice recorders – once for 90 seconds yesterday and another more fleeting “ping” on Friday a short distance away.
“This is an important and encouraging lead but one which I urge you to continue to tread carefully, we are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area,” Houston told reporters.
“Speculation and unconfirmed reports can see the loved ones of the passengers put through terrible stress and I don’t want to put them under any further emotional distress at this very difficult time.”
Investigating the signal
Britain’s HMS Echo and the Australian ship Ocean Shield — both also equipped with black box locators — and Australian air force planes were being diverted to the area to help discount or confirm the signals, Houston said.
Ocean Shield was also investigating a signal it detected on Sunday in its current location, about 300 nautical miles north of Haixun 01, in waters far off Australia’s west coast.
Houston said the mission was taking both detections “very seriously” as time ticked down on the beacons’ battery life, though he described the Chinese finding as the most promising.
“I think the fact that we’ve had two detections, two acoustic events in that location, provides some promise which requires a full investigation,” he said.
Time ‘running out’
The hunt for the jet, which vanished on a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing on March 8, was refocused on the southern end of the search zone Sunday after corrected satellite data showed it was more likely the plane entered the water there.
Houston said the Haixun 01 was already operating in that more southerly zone.
Some analysts greeted the acoustic detections with optimism, saying a 37.5kHz signal can only be transmitted by an emergency beacon. But others were sceptical and said it was vital to find supporting evidence.
Houston said Haixun 01 was in waters about 4.5 kilometres (nearly three miles) deep, meaning “any recovery operation is going to be incredibly challenging and very demanding and will take a long period of time” if the plane is found there.
The Malaysia Airlines mystery has been compared with Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic in 2009. Debris was located within a week but it took two years for undersea drones to recover the black box.
Houston said that time was critical.
“This is day 30 of the search and the advertised time for the life of the batteries in the beacon is 30 days. Sometimes they last for several days beyond that — say eight to 10 days beyond that — but we’re running out of time in terms of the battery life of the emergency locator beacons.”
Up to 10 military planes, two civil aircraft and 13 ships were scouring the remote waters on Sunday, concentrating on about 216,000 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean around 2,000 kilometres northwest of Perth.
Houston insisted that China was “sharing everything that’s relevant to this search” with the lead authority and sidestepped questions over the Haixun 01′s location far from the other lead vessels in the search.
“China has seven ships out there, that’s by far the largest fleet of ships out there. I think we should be focusing on the positives,” he said.
Hope, scepticism over signal
Anish Patel, president of US black box beacon manufacturer Dukane Seacom, has said he is “highly sceptical” about the Chinese report in the absence of any supporting evidence.
“Let’s get some additional assets in the water so we can corroborate, before we get everyone’s hopes up. Before we disappoint these families one more time I think we need to corroborate,” he told CNN Saturday.
But Charitha Pattiaratchi, a professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western Australia, said the news was exciting.
“The 35.7 kHz is a man-made noise. There’s not another noise at that frequency,” he told AFP. “A whale or a dolphin or rain or an underwater earthquake… they have a completely different frequency.”
Malaysian authorities believe satellite readings indicate MH370 crashed in the Indian Ocean after veering dramatically off course for reasons that remain unknown.
A criminal probe has focused on the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or psychological problems among passengers or crew, but there is no evidence yet to support any of the theories.
- © AFP 2014.
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Seen a small child running on his ‘own’ and didn’t think to stop and check if he was with someone..?!!
Good point Derina… A couple of times I’ve been out walking my dog and I’ve seen young toddlers out walking on their own. I’ve stopped them and sure enough 20secs later their poor mother or father would be running down the street after them, panicked. The other problem nowadays is that people can be reluctant to interfere in case they are accused of something. Personally I wouldn’t care what people thought, a toddler out alone is in danger from all sorts of things so I’d make it my place to stay with them until Mammy/Daddy showed up or call the gardai.
Man approaches small child he doesn’t know with no parents nearby…
To be quite honest, I doubt I’d stop in those circumstances.
Have to say, sad state of affairs but I would have to agree with you and I think quite a lot of people would too.
That’s the thing Chris… As I said above, some people, men in particular would probably be afraid to stop and check. Sadly that’s the society we now live in. Fear of false accusation is terrible.
Very strange they did not stop and help, hold him until police came. ,What is wrong with folk today ?
Praying for the little boy’s safe return.
Agree with who
Chris
Thanks
There must be more to this story that the police aren’t saying.
It’s so sad I really hope he is found safe.
A few years ago I was walking home with my own son from the local shopping centre when I noticed a young boy of about 3 years old slowing walking along. I walked by him but I thought it strange him being on his own. He was about half a mile from the centre. I went back to him and I asked him where was his mum. He said he didn’t know. I brought him back to my house and I rang the security in the shopping centre on the off chance she was there. Sure enough his mother was frantically looking for him and had gone to security. She confirmed his name and what he was wearing. The security guy drove her to my house to collect him. The poor woman was hysterical I’ll never forget her face. To this day I’m so glad I went back to him, people shouldn’t be afraid to approach if it means saving a child’s life.
This story reminds me of Madeline McCann, I have a feeling the mother knows a lot more than she’s telling people
So Aaron u reckon Madeline Mc Canns mother knows more than she saying?
Yeah I do, both her and the father, always believed it from the start that they were keeping something to themselves about it
Ridiculous comment
They were questioned by both the Portuguese police and the British so Im sure if they had anything to do with it one or other would have seen through their stories
The Portugese named them as suspects and after swearing they’d never leave Portugal without Maddie they did a legger back to the UK on a private chartered flight within a couple of days.
Its pointless mentioning the British Police as they have about as much authority in the case as you and I do
Well the cadaver dog smelled a body in the boot explain that?
Just heard on news that its now believed he went missing sooner as he had not being to nursery school that day.
As someone said more this story then we are getting although hopefully Im wrong
Heard earlier today that there is now a possibility that he went missing before the timeframe previously given & if that is the case, the mother definitely knows something!!!!!
He might have found Narnia, or Captin Hook took him in the middle of the night.
But the story stinks.
There is something the mother knows that we don’t.
Yeh, I’d say she does. Like how it feels as a parent to have your child missing for 36 hours without knowing if the child is safe or alive? A sheer hell that many of us hopefully will never have to experience.
Whats this…the mother is in custody…
Archie +1
Mick Rooney 0
CALLED IT
I really hope the poor little fella is found safe & well .. I don’t know why she never checked on him before she went to bed .. He’s only 3 it should of been the last thing she done b4 going to bed ..
I really hope the little fella is found safe& well… I don’t know why his mother never checked on him before going to bed .. He’s only 3 it should of been the last thing she done ..
Omg kellie are u mad writing that here I said same thing yesterday and got abused
Maybe she went to bed at 9
I was wondering that, unless of course she went to bed at the same time. It’s just awful I hope he turns up safe and sound soon.
Heart sinks
Well I personally would check my girls at least twice in between my putting them to bed & going myself!!!!! All depends on what time his mother went to bed herself tho I suppose!!
Please god he will be found safely soon x
Rip lil man
Maybe she did!!!!!
R.I.P little mikaeel
Terrible news the little man has been found there are some sick people in this world …
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