Posted on 04/17/2014 5:14:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Australian authorities coordinating the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 said Thursday that lab tests have shown an oil slick found in the search area last Sunday is not aircraft engine fuel or hydraulic fluid.
Searchers are now using a robotic submarine, the Bluefin-21, to look for wreckage on the floor of the Indian Ocean more than 1,000 miles northwest of Perth, Australia.
The Bluefin-21 has a rated depth of 4,500 meters, or 2.8 miles, and shortly after it was deployed on its first run this week, it returned to the surface several hours later because it reached that depth and an automatic safety system sent it back up.
However, search coordinators said Thursday that the submarine’s owner-operator, Phoenix International, which has a contract with the U.S. Navy, has determined that the unmanned vehicle can operate at deeper depths.
“This expansion of the operating parameters allows the Bluefin-21 to search the sea floor within the predicted limits of the current search area,” authorities said.
David Kelly, CEO of Bluefin Robotics, said Monday that Phoenix had upgraded the Bluefin-21 just prior to its deployment to the Indian Ocean and had tested it in Hawaii.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
How long will they continue to search for the plane in the ocean?
An oil slick from presumably March 8th? It would’ve dispersed by now, methinks...
Depends on if any segment of the tanks are intact. Oil from the Arizona is still making a slick in Pearl Harbor 62 years later.
We’re told that the airliner is somewhere in the water off the coast of Australia; does that mean no one’s looking at any concealed airfields in Pakistan?
Just... wondering...
“How long will they continue to search for the plane in the ocean?”
Until someone is forced to shoot the friggin thing out of the sky when it is headed towards their airspace.
I have no idea where it is, but everything they come up with to keep this story alive in the area they are looking, keeps showing a dry hole. Case in point, the new super-duper mapping sub recently updated, goes down to a depth they know is its limits, hits it and then automatically resurfaces?
Bullcrap! Somebody knew the programming parameters before it went down there to do exactly what it did. What kind of idiot does that? None, not even an idiot. Any logical process control person would have had it go to its limits and then loiter at that depth to do its work the best it could and then under a command from the research vessel, surface because everyone wants to go to sleep at the same time, or the research vessel needs to go to port to refuel.
How about turbine engine oil?
It is such a crazy story. I just feel very bad for the families of the passengers.
Forever...just wait until A&E completes the pilot for their newest reality series based on the search for this plane.
They still haven’t even found the hay stack let alone the needle.
Their Bluefin-21 apparently disagrees. They may have to bring in another contractor.
“An oil slick from presumably March 8th? It would’ve dispersed by now, methinks...”
Well yeah! Not much oil in an airliner. Laughable they thing it could have come from an airliner at the bottom of a deep ocean 30+ days after.
One would think so and yet there it is -- an oil slick in the middle of the ocean that Houston says did not come from any ships in the area -- go figure.
The people that disrespected McInerney should apologize. I notice he didn’t.
I thought the General was doing that. Does he have any updates??? any pictures of the ongoing search??? any oil slicks??? engine pings??? anything???
Isn't it about due for scheduled maintenance about now??? How's that going???
As far as I’m concerned, all this noise is to hide what many believed in the beginning: That the plane landed safely, though the fate of the passengers may not be so benign.
They have an easier time trying to locate that aircraft if they only searched on Amazon.com!
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