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  • Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Signals Confirmed

    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Signals Confirmed

    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has still not been recovered, but on Monday there is new evidence that the signals heard over the past few days have indeed been coming from the airplane’s black box.

    This new confirmation of the origin of the signals gives hope that perhaps the plane and its black box could be recovered. The problem lies in finding it before the black box’s battery runs out, which it’s supposed to do at 30 days after an accident. We are there.

    Retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, who is coordinating search efforts out of Perth, Australia, said the sounds were heard at a depth of 4,500 meters (about 14,764 feet), according to CNN.

    Houston told the press that he is more optimistic about finding the plane after these latest developments, but cautioned them to take the information and treat it cautiously. However, he added, “I would like us to find some wreckage.”

    As new physical evidence is sought, new information about the plane’s flight path presents a new mystery. Apparently, after study of the planes new supposed flight path, experts say that the plane was deliberately flown in a pattern that would keep it off of radars.

    As to the “why?” of the situation, that remains to be seen, but CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes cautions against assuming anything.

    “I think the plane’s being intentionally flown there, but I think it’s still a mystery as to why. … I think they would probably guess they’re not avoiding anybody’s radar, because there’s a lot of radar in the area,” he said. “I think they’re avoiding getting shot down or colliding with another airplane.”

    However, CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien indicated that some things could be assumed about the perpetrators, if that’s what they are.

    “This particular route that is laid out happens to coincide with some of these named intersections,” he said. “So what it shows is an experienced pilot somewhere in the mix on this.”

    The batteries on the black box signal could wear out in days, if not hours, so here’s hoping for a quick location and closure for the families with members who were aboard the ill-fated flight.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Missing Jet: Ping May Not Be From Plane’s Black Box

    The missing jet mystery continues as a Chinese vessel’s black box detector deployed by the vessel Haixun 01 picked up a “ping” signal on Saturday in the search for the plane’s black box.

    The signal had a frequency of 37.5kHz per second, which is the same as the plane’s black box would emit, but Australian and Chinese authorities admit that there is no conclusive evidence yet that the signal was indeed from MH370’s box, according to Reuters.

    “The characteristics reported (by the Chinese vessel) are consistent with the aircraft black box.”, said Retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, head of the Australian agency that is coordinating the operation.

    “However, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft,” he said. He added that his agency was seeking more information from China.

    The signal was detected at about 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude. However, the search area continues to be a daunting 88,000 square miles and even with dozens of countries sending boats, planes, and jets, it’s a struggle to determine exactly where the plane is located.

    There are two Towed Pinger Locators that are being towed slowly on two ships, one on navy ship HMAS Ocean Shield and one on British hydrographic survey ship HMS Echo, that may be of little use unless the area of the planes location is narrowed down. The speed at which the Towed Pinger Locators have to be pulled and its low range prohibit them from searching large areas quickly.

    “I won’t even call it an area. What we are doing is we are tracking down the best estimate of the course that the aircraft was on,” U.S. Navy Captain Mark Matthews said. “It takes a couple of days on each leg so it’s a slow-going search.”

    Hopefully a stroke of luck will hit soon and they’ll be able to locate the plane’s black boxes before their batteries run out.

    Image Via YouTube