April 7, 2014

An Australian ship searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean yesterday detected signals consistent with those from “black box” flight recorders. Using a towed pinger locater, the crew of the Ocean Shield picked up the signal twice–once for 2 hours and 20 minute–about 1,040 miles (1,680 kilometers) northwest of Perth, Australia. The leader of the search team, Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told the media “two distinct pinger returns were audible. Significantly this would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.” A Chinese vessel also detected signals on April 5 in the same general area. The southern Indian Ocean in that region is approximately 14,770  feet (4,500 meters) deep.

Flight MH370 was flown in a Boeing 777-300, a large twin-engine passenger jet. The airliner can fly about a fourth of the way around the world without refueling. (The Boeing Company)

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, carrying 239 people, was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 when it disappeared, most likely in the southern Indian Ocean. Authorities describe the search operation as a race against time because the batteries operating the flight recorders are about to run out. “I believe they have got three to four more days of good, solid output,” the BBC quotes Chris Portale, the director of the American company that makes the device that emits signals from flight recorders.

Additional World Book article:

• Turbulence: Hidden Threat in the Skies (a special report)