Theguardian.com,
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 at least two objects in the
southern Indian Ocean that could be connected to missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370, Australian authorities have announced.
Four
aircraft have been sent to the area after a “possible indication of
debris” was detected in satellite imagery, said the Australian Maritime
Safety Authority (Amsa), which is co-ordinating the search in the
southern Indian Ocean.
Amsa’s emergency response general manager,
John Young, said the largest possible object had been assessed as
measuring 24 metres. The satellite sightings were made 2,500km (1,500
miles) south-west of Perth.
The Australian prime minister, 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, the Malaysian capital,
with 239 people on board.
Abbott said an Australian air force
Orion had been diverted to look for the objects, 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.
Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, briefs parliament in Canberra on the possible debris sighting.
Abbott cautioned against drawing premature
conclusions. “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, Amsa said it had halved the search area in the Indian Ocean
– albeit to an area still covering 300,000 square kilometres – and
moved it closer to Perth.
Young, the Amsa chief, said after
Abbott’s announcement that the objects were “relatively indistinct” on
the satellite imagery but were of “reasonable size and probably awash
with water … bobbing up and down in the water”.
“We have been in
this business of doing search and rescue and using satellite images
before,” Young said. “They do not always turn out to be related to the
search even if they look good, so we will hold our views on that until
they are sighted.”
The Orion had reported initial poor visibility,
which would hamper both air and satellite efforts. The other aircraft
due to arrive later on Thursday included a New Zealand air force Orion
and a United States navy P8 Poseidon.
An Australian C130 Hercules
aircraft would drop marker buoys to track currents that could carry any
debris elsewhere. “They will provide an ongoing reference point if the
task of relocating the objects becomes protracted,” Young said.
“Royal
Australian Navy warship HMAS Success is en route to the area but is
some days away from this area. She is well equipped to recover any
objects located and proven to be from MH370.”
Australia’s Defence
Imagery and Geospatial Organisation provided the assessment of the
satellite imagery, Amsa said. A senior Australian military official, Air
Commodore John McGarry, said the satellite material was credible enough
to divert search efforts to the area involved.
Malaysia Airlines
flight MH370 went missing almost two weeks ago. Australia has taken
charge of the search mission over a potential southern flight path since
it was revealed that the plane appeared to have continued flying for
hours after the last contact was made with Malaysian air traffic
authorities.
Malaysian officials said on Wednesday that both the
northern and southern search arcs delineated by analysis of satellite
data – sweeping north to Kazakhstan and down to the southern Indian
Ocean – remained of equal interest. On Thursday, after Abbott announced
the intensive new focus of the search, Malaysian authorities responded
by saying that there had been a possible new development.
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.
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
satellites.
Malaysian authorities have said 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 other 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.”
Search area for the Australian search has
been reduced to 300,000 square kilometres from 600,000 square kilometres
Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media
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