04-10-2014, 09:19 AM
SEARCH HONING IN? -- A RACE AGAINST TIME
![[Image: 140409064950-01-malaysia-airlines-0409-h...allery.jpg]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140409064950-01-malaysia-airlines-0409-horizontal-gallery.jpg)
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PERTH, Australia (AP) — An Australian aircraft hunting for the missing Malaysian jet picked up a new possible underwater signal on Thursday in the same area search crews previously detected sounds that were consistent with an aircraft's black boxes.
The Australian navy P-3 Orion, which has been dropping sound-locating buoys into the water near where the original sounds were heard, picked up a "possible signal" that may be from a man-made source, said Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search off Australia's west coast. "The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight," Houston said in a statement.
If confirmed, this would be the fifth underwater signal detected in the hunt.
The Australian navy has been dropping buoys from planes in a pattern near where the Ocean Shield's signals were heard. Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Leavy said each buoy is dangling a hydrophone listening device about 300 meters (1,000 feet) below the surface. The hope, he said, is that the buoys will help better pinpoint the signals, along with the Ocean Shield, which is slowly dragging a U.S. navy pinger locator through the water.
Meanwhile, a hunt for debris on the ocean surface intensified Thursday, with the search zone narrowed to its smallest size yet — 57,900 square kilometers (22,300 square miles), or about one-quarter the size it was a few days ago. Fourteen planes and 13 ships were taking part in the hunt for floating debris, about 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) northwest of Perth.
Finding the flight data and cockpit voice recorders soon is important because their locator beacons have a battery life of about a month (HOTD: experts indicate they could keep pinging up to 6 weeks), and Tuesday marked one month since Flight 370 disappeared.
But if the batteries fail before the recorders are located, finding them in such deep water — about 4,500 meters, or 15,000 feet — would be difficult, if not impossible.
A data analysis of the signals heard Saturday indicated they were distinct, man-made and pulsed consistently — indicating they are coming from an aircraft's black box, Houston said.
Full story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10...23691.html
Snip
PERTH, Australia (AP) — An Australian aircraft hunting for the missing Malaysian jet picked up a new possible underwater signal on Thursday in the same area search crews previously detected sounds that were consistent with an aircraft's black boxes.
The Australian navy P-3 Orion, which has been dropping sound-locating buoys into the water near where the original sounds were heard, picked up a "possible signal" that may be from a man-made source, said Angus Houston, who is coordinating the search off Australia's west coast. "The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight," Houston said in a statement.
If confirmed, this would be the fifth underwater signal detected in the hunt.
The Australian navy has been dropping buoys from planes in a pattern near where the Ocean Shield's signals were heard. Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Leavy said each buoy is dangling a hydrophone listening device about 300 meters (1,000 feet) below the surface. The hope, he said, is that the buoys will help better pinpoint the signals, along with the Ocean Shield, which is slowly dragging a U.S. navy pinger locator through the water.
Meanwhile, a hunt for debris on the ocean surface intensified Thursday, with the search zone narrowed to its smallest size yet — 57,900 square kilometers (22,300 square miles), or about one-quarter the size it was a few days ago. Fourteen planes and 13 ships were taking part in the hunt for floating debris, about 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) northwest of Perth.
Finding the flight data and cockpit voice recorders soon is important because their locator beacons have a battery life of about a month (HOTD: experts indicate they could keep pinging up to 6 weeks), and Tuesday marked one month since Flight 370 disappeared.
But if the batteries fail before the recorders are located, finding them in such deep water — about 4,500 meters, or 15,000 feet — would be difficult, if not impossible.
A data analysis of the signals heard Saturday indicated they were distinct, man-made and pulsed consistently — indicating they are coming from an aircraft's black box, Houston said.
Full story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10...23691.html