What's the latest?
There's been a huge shift
in where searchers are looking for Flight 370, and planes sent to the
new zone have found lots of objects. But what those objects are isn't
known yet.
Wait, I thought everyone was confident the old search zone was the right place to look. What happened?
Based on radar and
satellite data, investigators have concluded the plane was traveling
faster than initially thought in the early part of its flight. Because
of that, it burned through more fuel than first believed.
So, like a car driven by a
leadfoot through city streets, the plane had less fuel for its long,
desolate flight over the Indian Ocean. That means, authorities have
concluded, that it could not have traveled as far south as they once
thought.
They now say the data
shows the plane probably went down in an area about 680 miles (1,100
kilometers) northeast of the previous search zone.
But what about all those floating objects spotted by satellites?
Early Friday, Malaysian
Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that as a result of ocean
drift, the new search area for "could still be consistent" with various
objects spotted earlier by satellites.
But Australian searchers have a different view.
"In regards to the old
areas, we have not seen any debris," said John Young, general manager of
emergency response for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
"And I would not wish to
classify any of the satellite imagery as debris, nor would I want to
classify any of the few visual sightings that we made as debris. That's
just not justifiable from what we have seen."
But couldn't currents have carried the debris there?
No way, according to University of Western Australia oceanographer Charitha Pattiaratchi.
Pattiaratchi modeled
currents in the search zone and said objects floating in the water moved
east, not south or west, and tended to stay trapped in eddies "barely
leaving the search area."
"There is absolutely no
connection, in terms of the debris between the two locations which are
1000 km apart," Pattiaratchi said in an e-mail.
He said currents are
much milder in the new search zone, meaning that if the plane did go
down in this new search zone, debris should be located in a smaller area
because there is much less drift there.
Another oceanongrapher,
Curt Ebbesmeyer, said objects would likely drift about 10 miles a day,
and smaller objects that continue to float could reach the west coast of
Australia in about three months.
Where is the new search area?
It's 680 miles (1,100
kilometers) to the northeast of where search operations had been
focused. That puts it 1,150 miles (1,850 kilometers) off the west coast
of Australia. That's about 400 miles (644 kilometers) closer to land
than the previous area.
So what does this mean for efforts to find the plane?
Australian officials say
the new search area is closer to land and in a gentler region of ocean,
making for longer, safer and more consistent searches.
But it's still a huge area at 123,000 square miles (319,000 square kilometers) and will take some time to search.
"We're kind of starting
from square one with a whole new search and a whole new set of
premises," CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise said Friday.
How many countries are involved in search efforts?
Malaysia is coordinating
the search, which involves crews from six countries. Australia is
leading the effort, based out of Perth, with China, New Zealand, the
United States, South Korea and Japan contributing aircraft. China has
also sent ships to help the search effort.
How are the families of those on board?
Family members are
anguished as they wait for answers. One-third of the plane's passengers
were Chinese, and Malaysian authorities' announcement Monday that
families should give up hope that their loved ones were alive angered
many Chinese.
"My heart can't handle
it. I don't want to hurt my children," Cheng Li Ping told CNN as she
waited in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for evidence about what happened to
her husband.
Link to source: http://edition.cnn.com
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