AUSTRALIA/IN AIR: Australian plane returns with no reports of sightings of any possible debris in the search for missing Malaysian airliner

Record ID: 559588

  • Title: AUSTRALIA/IN AIR: Australian plane returns with no reports of sightings of any possible debris in the search for missing Malaysian airliner
  • Date: 22nd March 2014
  • Summary: PERTH, AUSTRALIA (MARCH 22, 2014) (REUTERS) AIRCRAFT TAXIING ON TARMAC GROUND CREW RAAF PILOTS SITTING IN COCKPIT ROYAL AUSTRALIA AIR FORCE (RAAF) CAPTAIN OF P3 ORION, FLYING OFFICER PETER MOORE STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROYAL AUSTRALIA AIR FORCE (RAAF) CAPTAIN OF P3 ORION, FLYING OFFICER PETER MOORE SAYING: "Weather conditions were less than ideal again today as we have seen the last few days as part of the search, essentially had a thick layer of cloud from about 2500 feet down to as low as 500 feet. In the search area we had some isolated showers and sea fog down to the surface, essentially reducing our visibility as well. We did however manage to optimise through our visual sensors today including manning our visual observer stations. We did achieve, managed to achieve in light of the conditions 100 percent area coverage however we weren't able to find any evidence of wreckage or survival equipment from the missing Malaysian aircraft." (MUTE) MOORE WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Crime,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA91M8HIOIP5UYVU16YZ1FN0H5W
  • Story Text: Two weeks after a Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people vanished, international teams stepped up their search deep in the southern Indian Ocean on Saturday (March 22), though pilots on the first plane returning to Pearce airbase did not report any sightings of possible debris.
    Searches by more than two dozen countries have turned up little but frustration and fresh questions about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
    Six aircraft and two merchant ships were scouring an area of the remote southern Indian Ocean where suspected debris was spotted by satellite six days ago Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer, Peter Moore said along with technology they relied upon observers scanning the ocean but they had no sightings to report.
    "Weather conditions were less than ideal again today as we have seen the last few days as part of the search, essentially had a thick layer of cloud from about 2500 feet down to as low as 500 feet. In the search area we had some isolated showers and sea fog down to the surface, essentially reducing our visibility as well. We did however manage to optimise through our visual sensors today including manning our visual observer stations. We did achieve, managed to achieve in light of the conditions 100 percent area coverage however we weren't able to find any evidence of wreckage or survival equipment from the missing Malaysian aircraft," he said.
    Australia, which announced the satellite image and is coordinating the rescue, has cautioned the objects might be a lost shipping container or other debris and may have since sunk.
    China, Japan and India were sending more planes and Australian and Chinese navy vessels were also steaming towards the zone, more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Perth.
    Weather conditions were good, with 10 km (6 miles) of visibility, according to officials - a crucial boost for a search that is relying more on human eyes than the technical wizardry of the most advanced aircraft in the world.
    Aircraft and ships have also renewed the search in the Andaman Sea between India and Thailand, going over areas in the northern corridor that have already been exhaustively swept to find some clue to unlock one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register