Associated Press | March 23, 2014 | Last Updated: Mar 23 10:49 AM ET
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JULIANNE CROPLEY/AFP/Getty ImagesThis
photo taken on March 20, 2014 and received on March 23, 2014 by
Australia's Defence Department shows Leading Seaman Luke Horsburgh
standing watch during his duty as quartermaster on the bridge of HMAS
Success on its way to join the search for Malaysia Airlines fight MH370
in the Indian Ocean.
France
provided new satellite data Sunday showing possible debris from the
missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 jet as searchers combing a remote
part of the southern Indian Ocean tried without success to locate a
pallet that could be a key clue in solving one of the world’s great
aviation mysteries.
The new information given to Malaysia’s government and forwarded to
searchers in Australia shows “potential objects” in the same part of the
ocean where satellite images previously released by Australia and China
showed objects that could be debris from the plane, Malaysia’s Ministry
of Transport said in a statement without providing further details.
Flight MH370 went missing over the Gulf of Thailand on March 8 with
239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing,
setting off a multinational search effort that has turned up nothing
conclusive so far on what happened to the jet.
Sunday’s search was frustrating because “there was cloud down to the
surface and at times we were completely enclosed by cloud,” Royal
Australian Air Force flight Lt. Russell Adams told reporters at the
military base where the planes take off and land on their missions.
MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty ImagesAn
origami is seen hanging with prayers and well-wishes
for passengers
onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 at a shopping
mall
in Bangsar on March 23, 2014.
Nothing of interest to searchers was found, he said, adding that the
search is worth it because “we might do 10 sorties and find nothing, but
on that 11th flight when you find something and you know that you’re
actually contributing to some answers for somebody.”
Details on the French data were not immediately released. The
statement from Malaysia called the information “new satellite images,”
while a statement from France’s Foreign Ministry said “radar echoes
taken by a satellite” had located floating debris but made no mention of
imagery.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is leading the search
in waters off Australia, declined to offer details about the
information from France. The authority did not respond to multiple
requests by The Associated Press for access to the data.
“Any satellite images or other new information that comes to AMSA is
being considered in developing the search plans,” AMSA said.
But a Malaysian official involved in the search mission said the data
located objects about 930 kilometres north of the spots where the
objects in the images released by Australia and China were located.
One of the objects located was estimated to be about the same size as
an object captured Tuesday by the Chinese satellite that appeared to be
22 meters by 13 meters, said the official, who declined to be
identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media. But it was
not possible to determine precise dimensions from the French data, the
official said.
Information about the new data emerged as authorities coordinating
the search, which is being conducted about 2,500 kilometres southwest of
Perth, sent planes and a ship to try to “re-find” a wooden pallet that
appeared to be surrounded by straps of varying lengths and colours.
It
was spotted Saturday by spotters in a search plane, but no images were
captured of it and a military PC Orion military plane dispatched to
locate the pallet could not find it.
“So, we’ve gone back to that area again today to try and re-find it,”
said Mike Barton, chief of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s
rescue coordination center. An Australian navy ship was also involved in
the search.
ROB GRIFFITH/AFP/Getty ImagesJapanese
Defence Ministry joint staff officer Yoichi
Sugimoto looks at a
Japanese Air Force AP-3C Orion, helping with the search of missing
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, after its arrival at RAAF base Pearce in
Bullsbrook.
Wooden pallets are commonly used in shipping, but can also be used in cargo containers carried on planes.
AMSA said the aircraft that spotted the pallet was unable to take photos of it.
“We went to some of the expert airlines and the use of wooden pallets
is quite common in the industry,” Barton said. “They’re usually packed
into another container, which is loaded in the belly of the aircraft. …
It’s a possible lead, but we will need to be very certain that this is a
pallet because pallets are used in the shipping industry as well.”
Sam Cardwell, a spokesman for AMSA, said the maritime agency had
requested a cargo manifest from Malaysia Airlines, but he was unsure
whether it had been received as of Sunday night.
LIntao Zhang/Getty ImagesA
relative of a passenger onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
answers
media questions at the Lido Hotel on March 23, 2014 in Beijing, China.
Malaysia Airlines asked The Associated Press to submit questions via
email for comment on whether Flight MH370 had wooden pallets aboard when
it disappeared, but did not immediately respond to the email.
When Brazilian searchers in 2009 were looking for debris from Air
France Flight 447 after it mysteriously plunged into the Atlantic Ocean,
the first thing they found was a wooden pallet. The military first
reported that the pallet came from the Air France flight, but then said
six hours later that the plane had not been carrying any wooden pallets.
The southern Indian Ocean is thought to be a potential area to find
the jet because Malaysian authorities have said pings sent by the Boeing
777-200 for several hours after it disappeared indicated that the plane
ended up in one of two huge arcs: a northern corridor stretching from
Malaysia to Central Asia, or a southern corridor that stretches toward
Antarctica.
Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation for
what happened to the jet, but have said the evidence so far suggests it
was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca,
with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened
next.
Authorities are considering the possibilities of hijacking, sabotage,
terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or
anyone else on board.
AP Photo/Matt Jelonek, PoolRoyal
Australian Air Force pilot Capt. Russell Adams, left,
speaks to the
media after returning from a search mission in an AP-3C Orion at Pearce
Base
Sunday in Perth, Australia, Sunday, March 23, 2014.
AP Photo/Joshua PaulMalaysia's
acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein pauses in
between
questions during a news conference for the missing Malaysia Airline,
MH370 at a
hotel in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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