BREAKING NEWS : TERKINI : NASIB MH 370 B777-200

TERKINI : NASIB MH 370 B777-200

\Bismillah-hir-rahman-nir-rahim


MH370: two objects spotted in southern Indian Ocean, Australia says

Prime minister Tony Abbott announces search planes being sent based on ‘new and credible information’ from satellite images

                     

Search planes are on their way to assess two objects in the southern Indian Ocean that could be connected to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the Australian prime minister has said.

Tony Abbott told parliament on Thursday that the “new and credible information” had emerged from expert analysis of satellite imagery. His announcement came 12 days after Beijing-bound MH370 went missing on 8 March, shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, with 239 on board.

The search is a multinational effort involving 26 countries. On Wednesday Barack Obama said finding out what happened to MH370 was a top priority for the United States.

Abbott said an Australian air force Orion had been diverted to locate the objects and should arrive in the area shortly, with three more aircraft following for a more intensive follow-up search. He added that he had informed the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, of the developments.

But he warned against drawing any premature conclusions, adding: “We must keep in mind the task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370.”

“Nevertheless, I did want to update the house on this potentially important development.”

Earlier, Australian authorities searching for missing flight MH370 said they had halved their search area in the Indian Ocean – albeit to an area still 300,000 square kilometres – and moved it to within 2,300 kilometres of Perth.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said information such as the plane’s estimated range on its fuel reserves had allowed it to refine its area of search. Sea currents were factored in to produce a plot of where debris might have been carried relative to where the plane hit the ocean.

The Amsa general manager, John Young, revealed in a video update that the search area had been “significantly refined” from the area searched on previous days using “better, more 

detailed analysis” from the US National Transport Safety Bureau (NTSB).

Young added that two Australian vessels, as well as one ship from both New Zealand and the United States, were taking part in the search.

“The search conditions were good and the air crews saw marine life as they were flying through so we know we could make sightings, but there were no results relevant to the search.

“We are getting some reasonable coverage of the area … we had a much better search opportunity [on Wednesday] with a smaller area, closer to Perth and more aircraft and I hope we will do better [on Thursday].”

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing almost two weeks ago. Australia has taken charge of the search mission over a potential southern flight path, after it was revealed that the plane appeared to have continued flying for hours afters the last contact was made with Malaysian authorities.

Malaysian officials had said on Wednesday that both the northern and southern search arcs delineated by close analysis of satellite data – sweeping north to Kazakhstan and down to the southern Indian Ocean – remained of equal interest.

The BBC suggested in a report that the investigation was focusing on the ends of the two arcs. It also suggested that the plane had continued to move between its last known radar sighting at either 2.15am or 2.40am and its last contact with a satellite was at 8.11am.

The total search area set out by Malaysian authorities, covering a total of 2.24m square nautical miles, was based on initial analysis of the signals the plane sent to satellite.

Malaysian authorities have revealed that the missing plane’s 12 crew members have been under investigation since the aircraft disappeared and that the homes of the pilot and co-pilot have been visited twice by police. The pilot’s flight simulator was taken from his house on Sunday, the Malaysian transport ministry said.

Obama, the US president, said earlier that every available resource was being used in the search, including the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board and others agencies dealing with aviation. Three Americans were on board the flight.

Obama added: “It’s a big piece of planet that we’re searching and sometimes these things take time, but we hope and pray that we can get to the bottom of what happened.