Malaysia Airlines plane search: China satellite spots debris
- 9 years ago
Originally published on March 12, 2014
A Chinese government agency said Wednesday (March 12) that one of its satellites spotted "floating objects" in the "suspected crash area" of the Malaysian airliner, but there was no immediate confirmation that the unidentified pieces were part of the plane's wreckage, according to a report in the Washington Post.
China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said a satellite named Gaofen-1 on Sunday, a day after the plane disappeared, spotted "three suspected floating objects" at coordinates that would put them in waters northeast of Kuala Lumpur and south of Vietnam. However, the agency did not explain why the images were not released until Wednesday.
The images of the objects, varied in size: 13 by 18 meters, 14 by 19 meters, and 22 by 24 meters. China has expressed mounting frustration with the Malaysia-led investigation, and announced Monday that it had deployed 10 satellites to help in the search.
On Wednesday, ships and planes from a dozen nations expanded the search for the Malaysian Airlines aircraft after newly released radar data suggested the plane had veered hundreds of miles off course before vanishing.
The theory is that Flight MH370 may have flown toward the Andaman Sea after vanishing from air traffic control systems at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The Malaysian government has asked India to join the search.
Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's defense minister and acting transport minister, said 42 ships and 39 aircraft were looking in more than 27,000 square nautical miles (35,756 square miles) to the east and west of the Malay Peninsula.
Malaysia's air force chief, Rodzali Daud, said Wednesday that an "unidentified plot" was seen on military radar intermittently for around 45 minutes after the plane disappeared. He said that radar trail ended at a point over the sea, 200 miles northwest of Penang, on Malaysia's west coast.
However, Rodzali added, "It's a plot. An un
A Chinese government agency said Wednesday (March 12) that one of its satellites spotted "floating objects" in the "suspected crash area" of the Malaysian airliner, but there was no immediate confirmation that the unidentified pieces were part of the plane's wreckage, according to a report in the Washington Post.
China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said a satellite named Gaofen-1 on Sunday, a day after the plane disappeared, spotted "three suspected floating objects" at coordinates that would put them in waters northeast of Kuala Lumpur and south of Vietnam. However, the agency did not explain why the images were not released until Wednesday.
The images of the objects, varied in size: 13 by 18 meters, 14 by 19 meters, and 22 by 24 meters. China has expressed mounting frustration with the Malaysia-led investigation, and announced Monday that it had deployed 10 satellites to help in the search.
On Wednesday, ships and planes from a dozen nations expanded the search for the Malaysian Airlines aircraft after newly released radar data suggested the plane had veered hundreds of miles off course before vanishing.
The theory is that Flight MH370 may have flown toward the Andaman Sea after vanishing from air traffic control systems at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The Malaysian government has asked India to join the search.
Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's defense minister and acting transport minister, said 42 ships and 39 aircraft were looking in more than 27,000 square nautical miles (35,756 square miles) to the east and west of the Malay Peninsula.
Malaysia's air force chief, Rodzali Daud, said Wednesday that an "unidentified plot" was seen on military radar intermittently for around 45 minutes after the plane disappeared. He said that radar trail ended at a point over the sea, 200 miles northwest of Penang, on Malaysia's west coast.
However, Rodzali added, "It's a plot. An un