MH370 - Søket fortsetter som planlagt - Kilde: Curt Lewis

Wreckage 'conclusively confirmed' as from MH370: Malaysia PM Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Debris found on Reunion Island a week ago is from flight MH370, Malaysia's prime minister said Thursday, confirming that the plane which mysteriously disappeared 17 months ago met a tragic end in the Indian Ocean. "Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Najib Razak told reporters. French prosecutors used more cautious language, saying only there was a "very high probability" the wreckage came from MH370. The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, sparking a colossal but ultimately fruitless multinational hunt for the aircraft. Last week's discovery of a two-metre-long (almost seven-foot) wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion has provided the first glimmer of hope for relatives desperate for answers. It was examined at a military lab outside the French city of Toulouse in the presence of Malaysian and Australian experts, Boeing employees and representatives from China -- the country that lost the most passengers in the disaster. "We now have physical evidence that, as I announced on 24th March last year, flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean," Najib said. Malaysia Airlines hailed the news as a "major breakthrough". "We expect and hope that there would be more objects to be found which would be able to help resolve this mystery," said the airline in a statement. Sara Weeks, the sister of MH370 passenger Paul Weeks of New Zealand, said the confirmation ended "a week of turmoil". "We've had 17 months of nothing... so actually finding something is the first step towards pinpointing where it is," Weeks told the Fairfax New Zealand media group. A policeman and a gendarme stand next to a piece of debris from an aircraft on the Indian Ocean isla ... Some families said the confirmation was not enough to lay the matter to rest, as they reiterated demands to know why the plane went off course, flying for hours after its communications and tracking systems were shut down, in what remains one of the biggest mysteries in the history of aviation. "Now I want to know where the main body of the plane is so that we can take out the passengers and get the black box so we can know what happened. Only that, for us, will be full closure," said Jacquita Gonzales, wife of MH370 chief steward Patrick Gomes. - 'A huge step' - Gerry Soejatman, a Jakarta-based aviation consultant, said proof the flaperon came from MH370 was a "huge step". "People want all the answers, but look, let's be real. We must be glad that we found something at all. Now we know roughly where it might have crashed," he said. View galleryRelatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines … Relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 offer prayers at Thean Hou T ... "This answers a lot of questions actually. It eliminates other theories, conspiracy theories. If the black box is found later on, it is likely we could get more answers." The Malaysian premier gave no indication that the analysis of the debris yielded any clues into the cause of the disappearance. Many relatives accuse his government and the airline of a bungled response to the disaster, possible cover-up, and insensitive treatment of families, charges that are vehemently denied. "I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened," Najib said. "MH370's disappearance marked us as a nation. We mourn with you, as a nation." - 'Looking in right area' - It is hoped that more detailed examination in the coming days can yield information on the final moments of the plane by showing how it detached itself from the wing, or whether it showed traces of an explosion or fire. Scientists have also pointed to the barnacles attached to the flaperon, saying these could give an idea of how long the fragment had been in the water, and perhaps where it had been. "If it has cold-water barnacles on it that might tell them it went down further south than they think. Or if it's got only tropical barnacles, that might tell them it went down further north," said Shane Ahyong, a crustacean specialist from the Australian Museum. Australian aviation expert Neil Hansford said the flaperon snapping off hinted that the aircraft had gone "into the water in a controlled-type crash". But he added that at this time "all you can say that it proves is that MH370 definitely crashed into the southern Indian Ocean and it also proves that the search area as identified by the Australian experts... is appropriate." Australian authorities on Thursday also said they were sure they were searching in the right area. While it was "too early to tell" what had happened to MH370, "we're confident that we're looking in the right area and we'll find the aircraft there," Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, told ABC radio. http://news.yahoo.com/indian-ocean-wreckage-mh370-malaysian-pm-180356887.html Back to Top

Australia 'confident looking in right area' and MH370 will be found A photo from the Australian Defence Department shows the HMAS Perth in the southern Indian Ocean on April 13, 2014, searching for debris for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 Australian authorities Thursday said they were confident the search for MH370 was being carried out in the right area and the plane would be found after Malaysia confirmed debris on an Indian Ocean island was from the missing flight. "(The La Reunion find) is consistent with all the work we've done so we're confident that we're looking in the right area and we'll find the aircraft there," Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, told ABC radio. But Dolan added that it was "too early to tell" what happened to the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet which disappeared 17 months ago, and that "close examination (of the flaperon) is what's necessary to access how much we can learn". Australia has been leading the hunt for the plane which vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board in March last year. Satellite and other data point to it coming down in the southern Indian Ocean and ships have been scouring more than 50,000 square kilometres (19,000 square miles) of deep ocean floor for evidence. Authorities plan to search a total of 120,000 square kilometres. Police officers inspect debris found on a beach in Saint-Denis on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean ... No evidence had been found until the wing part washed up on the French territory of La Reunion, which Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said early Thursday was from the jet. French prosecutors used more cautious language, saying only that there was a "very high probability" the wreckage came from MH370. Australia on Wednesday said its drift modelling showed debris could have been carried by wind and currents to La Reunion, some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from the region where MH370 was thought to have gone down. "Implications are that the arrival of this flaperon in La Reunion is consistent with the search area which was specified based on satellite information," Dolan added. "We'll continue our search in that area that we'd previously specified. "We have two vessels operating still out in the Indian Ocean with towed sonar and they will cover the sea... thoroughly in the specified search area. We hope as the weather improves to put more assets onto the search." It remains unclear whether analysis of the wing part will yield any clues into the cause of the plane's disappearance, but Australian aviation expert Neil Hansford said the flaperon snapping off gave pointers on how the jet entered the water. "What it does show is that the aircraft has gone into the water in a controlled-type crash and as the engines have hit the water, they've sheared off and this part is straight behind one of the engines," he told AFP. "There should be at least one other flaperon from the other wing (floating around)." But he added that at this time "all you can say that it proves is that MH370 definitely crashed into the southern Indian Ocean and it also proves that the search area as identified by the Australian experts ... is appropriate." http://news.yahoo.com/australia-authorities-confident-looking-area-mh370-213057161.html Back to Top

The Latest: Flight 370 Relatives Frustrated at Mixed Signals KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The latest on the announcement by the Malaysian prime minister that a piece of a wing found washed up on Reunion Island last week is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that vanished last year (all times local): 9 a.m. Families looking for closure after their relatives disappeared aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 last year vent frustration at conflicting signals from Malaysia and France over whether the finding of a plane part had been confirmed. "Why the hell do you have one confirm and one not?" asked Christchurch, New Zealand, resident Sara Weeks, whose brother Paul Weeks was aboard the flight, which disappeared March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. "Why not wait and get everybody on the same page so the families don't need to go through this turmoil." __ 6 a.m. The Australian government, which leads the seabed search for wreckage west of Australia, is also less certain than Malaysia, saying in a statement that "based on high probability, it is MH370." Australia, which has sent an official to France to help examine the flaperon, says the finding will not affect its sonar search of a 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) expanse of seabed more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) east of Reunion Island. That search, which began in October, has covered almost half that area without finding any clues. "The fact that this wreckage does now look very much like it is from MH370 does seem to confirm that it went down in the Indian Ocean, it does seem very consistent with the search pattern that we've been using for the last few months," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Melbourne Radio 3AW. __ 4 a.m. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines says the part of the plane's wing, known as a "flaperon," which was found on Reunion Island on July 29, has been confirmed to be of Flight 370. "Family members of passengers and crew have already been informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected," it said. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/05/world/asia/ap-missing-malaysian-plane-the-latest.html?_r=0 Back to Top

MH370: More Aircraft Debris Collected on Réunion Island Airplane debris headed to France for analysis KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-More aircraft debris has been collected on Réunion Island by local authorities and a team from Malaysia, a senior Malaysian government official said Thursday. The recovered debris is being sent to France by Réunion Island authorities for further analysis, the official, who didn't wish to be identified, said. He declined to say how many articles had been recovered or what aircraft parts were found. The official's comments came after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that a flaperon, or a part of an aircraft wing, that was found on Réunion Island, a French overseas territory, on July 29 came from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The Malaysian aircraft, a Boeing 777 jet with 239 passengers and crew onboard, has been missing since March 8 of last year and is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. http://www.wsj.com/articles/mh370-more-aircraft-debris-collected-on-reunion-island-1438854835 Back to Top

How a Piece of a Boeing 777 Drifted 2,300 Miles Indian Ocean debris moves in predictable patterns and confirms searchers are looking in the right spot for the missing plane. Searchers comb the beach hoping to find additional airplane debris on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean near the area where a piece of Boeing 777 wing washed up on July 29. The discovery of an airplane wing section on a remote Indian Ocean island some 2,300 miles west of where investigators think Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed off Australia comes as no surprise to scientists and mariners familiar with those seas. On Wednesday, experts confirmed the part is from the missing plane after testing it at a center near Toulouse, France. "Floating debris from any source travels far and can persist for years," says Marcus Eriksen, an ocean scientist who has sailed the fast-moving, circular currents known as the Indian Ocean gyre. "Currents are always going west at the top of the gyre. Depending on where debris is in this gyre, it is going to join this counter-clockwise rotation of trash before the ocean spits it out." Eriksen, who heads the 5 Gyres Institute, a California-based nonprofit focused on reducing plastic trash in oceans, told this reporter soon after Flight 370 disappeared that any debris from it would show up in Madagascar in about a year-a good guess as it turned out. The piece, identified as a flaperon, which attaches to the trailing edge of the wing of a Boeing 777, would most likely have landed there if it hadn't first bumped into Reunion Island, a French territory 600 miles east of Madagascar. "It's predictable that the debris would ride the subtropical gyre currents to potentially every island in its path," he says. The discovery energized one of the most confounding and expensive searches in aviation history in several ways. It lays to rest the possibility-still believed by some of the victims' families-that the plane was hijacked and sits parked in a secret hangar in Iran or Kazakhstan. It also confirms that the Australians, who are leading the search, are looking in the right place. The head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau told reporters that the agency's drift modeling shows the wreckage could have traveled from the search zone to Reunion Island. What the discovery does not do, however, is to help locate the rest of the wreckage on the seafloor. Falling Off The Radar Flight 370 was headed to Beijing with 239 people aboard when it dropped from radar about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The plane turned west across the Malay Peninsula towards Penang. Satellite transmissions from the cockpit helped Inmarsat, a British satellite company, determine that the plane turned south and crashed seven hours later into the Indian Ocean off Australia after running out of fuel. The search area extends over 46,000 square miles (120,000 square kilometers), about 1,250 miles (2,012 kilometers) southwest of Perth. The region is so remote, searchers also are mapping the ocean floor for the first time. "If you think about mapping over the past 150 years, the Atlantic has been pretty well mapped," says John Fish, vice president of American Underwater Search and Survey in Bourne, Massachusetts. "World War I and World War II pushed mapping and also seafloor mapping. The Pacific is pretty well mapped. But when you get into areas that haven't been traveled significantly by military or commercial traffic, there's been very little presence." Picture of debris from Malaysia 370 found on Reunion Island French police officers carry a piece of wreckage identified as a "flaperon" from the edge of a Boeing 777 wing believed to be part of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8, 2014 with 239 people aboard. Floating debris from oceanic aircraft accidents provides essential clues that lead investigators to the wreckage beneath the surface. Using calculations known as "hindcasting," debris pieces are plotted on a chart and backtracked over the ocean surface through time to their location at the moment the plane hit the water. Once the point of entry is located, the underwater search zone narrows considerably. No debris from Flight 370 was ever spotted, despite a massive sea and air search. Now, 17 months after the plane's disappearance, Fish says that pinpointing the spot where the flaperon hit the surface is next to impossible. "All of our operations have begun within a month of an accident and we usually find the aircraft within two weeks," Fish says. "When you get into six months or longer, you get stuck. Then you're dealing with unknown components of the cause of the drift, which have micro-changes all the time. Storms would affect it. Wind directions in storms. The longer it gets, the harder it gets." The flaperon's months-long drift route could be recreated by modeling weather and ocean current data. But that wouldn't be of much help. "At the end of the day, you would end up with a larger search area than the one we have now," Fish says. "That Inmarsat satellite data is pretty definitive." A more productive next step, he says, would be to search the rest of Reunion Island, as well as the shorelines of Madagascar and East Africa. One truism of aircraft investigations is this: if one piece of debris is found, there will be others. A 150-ton Boeing jet has more than three million parts. If it broke up when it crashed, as the flaperon's jagged edges suggest, hundreds of thousands of pieces could have bobbed along in the Indian Ocean. Waves and Wind In retrospect, the absence of any physical evidence from the crash shouldn't have been that much of a mystery. By the time the search shifted to the Indian Ocean 10 days after the jet disappeared, the flaperon was already on its way and riding the current towards Africa. "A very large anti-clockwise rotating current sweeps right up the west coast of Australia and into the tropics, where it heads west," says Matt Jolly, a New Zealander who traverses those currents as captain of the Braveheart, a 130-foot expedition ship. "It is these very same currents and winds that the sailors of old used in the spice trade, making use of this superhighway to get from Europe to the East Indies and back again." How and where drifting debris travels from one point to another is determined by currents, winds and the shape of the piece, which affects how deep or high it floats. "So, while the debris all start off together, as time goes on their locations diverge, mainly because of the shape of the piece and how much of it is hanging in the currents or how much of it is exposed to the wind above the water," says John Purvis, the former chief of Boeing's accident investigation team. That is why investigators are not as confident that a battered suitcase found near the flaperon also drifted over from Flight 370. The large, bulky wing section is filled with honeycomb in sealed compartments that keep it buoyant. But what kept the suitcase from sinking? Eriksen, who studies how UV rays and the relentless action of waves can reduce a plastic bottle to confetti in mere months, says they could have drifted together, regardless of their differences in size and shape. "Both the plane wing and the suitcase are riding the same currents," he says. "I wouldn't expect one to outrun the other." But the suitcase's travels easily could have a less exotic origin. It could just be garbage. Remember early in the search when the shadowy images from the French, Chinese and Thai satellites were thought to be Flight 370 debris? All of it turned out to be ocean trash.