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'Tech experts' to meet Chinese families Monday
Published:  Apr 18, 2014 9:59 AM
Updated: 1:31 PM

Latest developments:

  • High-level team to meet families after botched video conference

 

  • M'sia-Australia MOU on MH370 recovery to be signed
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  • All countries 'doing best' in search, no hidden agenda
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  • Panel: MAS failed to contain leak of MH370 info
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  • Titanic director: Robot probes he used can assist MH370 hunt
  • Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

    Oceanographer backs Bluefin

    9.00pm: University of Western Australia oceanographer Charitha Pattiaratchi has defended the use of the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the MH370 search.

    “There are instruments that can go down to similar depths but there aren’t that many. This is the best that we have and we have to work with that,” Bernama  quoted him as saying.

    While there are AUVs that can go deeper, he said these operate differently, including at slower speeds.

    Previously, some salvage experts have questioned the use of Bluefin-21, some citing reliability issues while others suggested using AUVs that can go deeper such as the Remus 6000.

    Chinese families prayed for anwers

    6.45pm: After six weeks and no signs of Flight MH370, relatives of the Chinese passengers on-board MH370 gathered to pray for their loved ones and for answers, the Associated Press reports.

    The report says some relatives want an end to the misery of not knowing, while others refused to believe that the aircraft has crashed into the sea and denounced the search effort as a cover-up.

    “We believe the plane and our relatives are still alive. Bring them home, that's all we ask.

    “The only way there could be no evidence, no debris is if the plane landed intact,” says one relative who reportedly would only give his surname Zhang.

    Meanwhile, the Chinese broadcaster CCTV tweets that a delegation of Malaysian “high level tech experts” will meet the families in Beijing on Monday afternoon, following a botched video conference briefing on April 16.

    M'sia, Australia, China 'biggest SAR spenders'

    2pm: An aviation expert at Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific estimates that Malaysia, Australia and China are the biggest spenders in the MH370 search, up to US$100 million (RM324 million) to date.

    “It's difficult to say how much is the cost of this operation... but, yes, this is definitely the biggest operation ever (in aviation history). In terms of costs this would be the highest,” the AFP quotes expert Ravikumar Madavaram as saying.

    Previously, Chinese oceanographer Zhao Chaofang reportedly estimated the cost at a minimum US$200 million per year, while the previous record for the most expensive search in aviation history was US$40 million (RM131.1 million) over two years to find Air France Flight 447.

    The AFP report also quotes Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter Kym Bergmann saying that the costs must be worrying for military planners, yet scaling back the operation would upset the families involved.

    MOU details handling of black box, human remains

    1.05pm: Malaysia and Australia are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) dealing with jurisdictional issues of MH370's recover to avoid any legal pitfalls, according to a New Straits Times report.

    The MOU, which details would not be made public, reportedly deals with the details of how the aircraft and human remain remains recovered will be handled, and by whom. It will come into effect once any part of the aircraft is found.

    Canberra officials are reportedly deliberating on the MOU, while Malaysia hopes to seal the deal soon and have it endorsed by the cabinet at its next meeting.

    Read more here .

    Countries came to Malaysia's aid due to good ties

    12.34pm: Royal Malaysian Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar dismisses talk that foreign countries involved in the MH370 search have hidden agendas, and asserts that these countries are stepping up because they have good ties with Malaysia.

    “That is merely speculation. I’m with the government in saying that nothing untoward is taking place and we are confident that they are doing their best in the search operation,” he tells Sinar Harian in an interview.

    However, he adds that Malaysia needs more high-tech assets to deal with future search and rescue efforts as well as to prevent border incursions, stressing that Malaysia has vast territorial waters compared to the land area.

    Inmarsat to offer free tracking services to airlines

    12pm: British satellite communications company Inmarsat has expressed willingness to offer its basic aircraft tracking services for free, if it were to become part of a global tracking service.

    A report published by Wall Street Journal yesterday says the company is will cover the cost of upgrading its network to support the service as well as forgo an estimated US$10 million to 15 million (RM32.4 million to RM48.6 million) in annual revenue.

    However, airlines will still have to upgrade their aircraft to support the service at their own cost, and Inmarsat does not sell this equipment.

    The report adds that the airlines have long resisted making satellite tracking routine partly due to cost, and Inmarsat’s move to make the service free will is also likely face opposition from airlines that already pay for the service.

    MH370 had made six hourly 'handshakes' with an Inmarsat satellite as well as a seventh incomplete handshake. The data was not meant for position tracking, but detailed analysis of it has yielded clues of its position and heading, leading the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield to a location where it found signals consistent with an aircraft's black box pinger.

    'MAS should have taken the lead'

    11.35am: A panel of media and public relations practitioners take MAS to task for failing to assert itself as the dominant source of information on MH370, and for failing to contain information leaks.

    This have in turn led to rampant rumours and speculation over the Internet they say.

    “At that point of time, you have to disseminate information quickly, even though it is plenty, and you also have to ensure that you will follow this up tightly,” one of the panellists S Anbarasu says in a forum yesterday.

    Read the full story here .

    James Cameron offers use of mini robot probes

    11am:

    Deep-sea explorer and film director James Cameron says miniature remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) that he had used to explore the interior of RMS Titanic’s shipwreck can also be used to investigate MH370’s wreck.

    “If there were a role for the small robotics systems we developed for exploring inside wrecks, I’d be more than happy to facilitate,” he tells Bloomberg in an email interview.

    He says this can only be done after the missing aircraft has been found and assumes that there are large enough pieces to have an ‘inside’ rather than just scattered pieces. However, he is not planning to get involved in the search effort.

    Aside from his award-winning 1997 film Titanic and exploring various shipwrecks, Cameron is also for piloting the submersible Deepsea Challenger in the second and last manned mission into the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, 10,898.4 metres below the ocean surface.

    Hisham to meet ministerial committees

    10.50am: In a series of tweets, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says he will be meeting the government’s three ministerial committees on MH370 over the weekend and provide an update on their work.

    He says Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri, heading the deployment of assets committee, is looking at the possibility of getting more autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to participate in the search effort.

    Meanwhile, technical committee chief and Deputy Minister of Transport Aziz Kaprawi is dealing with the setting up and the appointment of the International Expert Panel of Inquiry.

    To this, Hishammuddin adds: “Nobody we asked refused us.”

    As for Deputy Foreign Minister and next-of-kin committee head Hamzah Zainudin, he will be heading to Beijing and then Perth next week.

    Oil slick not from MH370, pings the only lead

    10.20am: To recap, the US Navy-supplied Bluefin-21 underwater drone has been mapping the seafloor for signs of wreckage since Monday.

    The yellow torpedo-shaped drone combs through the seafloor in a back-and-forth pattern at a pace of about 4.5 knots (8.3 kilometres per hour), while its side-scan sonar examines the area up to 300 to 400 metres away on either side of the drone.

    A typical mission would take about 24 hours: Two hours to reach the bottom of the ocean, 16 hours to map the sea floor, two hours to resurface, and four hours to download the data collected and swap batteries for the next mission.

    The Bluefin-21’s first two missions where cut short due to technical issues, but went on its later missions trouble free.

    Its safety features have also been adjusted to enable it to dive slightly deeper than its rated depth of 4,500 metres, at a small additional risk to the drone.

    Yesterday, an oil slick recovered by the Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield has been tested and found to be unrelated to MH370, meaning that the four pings detected by the vessel are the only leads left of the missing aircraft’s final resting place.

    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had said on Wednesday that this lead will be exhausted in about a week, and searchers will need to stop, regroup, and rethink on how to continue if wreckage is still not found.

    Its mission number five for the Bluefin sub

    9.08am: The Bluefin-21 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle’s (AUV) fourth mission did not turn up any signs of MH370, and has returned into the ocean’s depths for its fifth mission, says the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC).

    The sonar-equipped underwater drone has covered an area of 110 square kilometres so far, says the Perth-based multinational agency in a statement.

    Meanwhile, 11 aircraft and 12 ships will scour 51,870 square kilometres of ocean surface in three separate areas of the South Indian Ocean in the search for MH370, now in its 42nd Day.

    Background:

    • The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.

     

  • Authorities have determined the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.
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  • "Groundbreaking" data analysis on the six last 'pings' between MH370 and British company Inmarsat's communications satellite has yielded clues to the aircraft's position and heading, leading investigators to narrow down the search area to the south Indian Ocean.
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  • Australia leads the search in the south Indian Ocean. As of March 30, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) has been tasked with overseeing the operations, led by retired air marshal and former defence chief Angus Houston.
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