13 May 2014

MH370 - Live updates as UN leads calls for better aircraft tracking following plane's disappearance






  • By Steve RobsonMikey Smith


  • http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/missing-flight-mh370-live-updates-3529769#ixzz31XDDjznm
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    The official response has been clouded by rows between planemakers, airlines and pilots about costs and surveillance, new documents show


    4:54 pm


    The search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 will not deviate from initial assessments that predicted where the plane is believed to have gone down, sources have said.
    In March, experts estimated that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean around 1,600 kilometres west of Australia.
    However, this information has been disputed by aviation experts.
    According to new reports, the team who have been rethinking the data are now likely to stick with the original conclusion that was announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
    This comes days before a report will be presented to the Malaysian cabinet that will re-examine all the information at hand and possibly propose a new search.

    4:05 pm
    An aviation analyst has said it is time for Malaysian airlines to break some rules.
    Appearing on CNN, Miles O'Brien said that only a small percentage of the picture is being seen as the airline continues to withhold information.
    He has called on the airline to release the details for the sake of the families who are anxiously waiting for information.
    O'Brien appeared alongside Ari Schulman, the executive editor of The New Atlantis.
    He criticised the Malaysian government for not explaining the model they are using to track the missing aircraft.
    2:28 pm
    The report to be submitted to the Malaysian cabinet on Wednesday will introduce a new phase of the search.
    Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein has now said that the report will include deployment of assets which have specific capabilities for the search mission.
    The report also includes analysis and refinement of the Inmarsat satellite data and the mapping of the seabed in the southern Indian Ocean.
    The findings were compiled after the Tripartite Ministerial Meeting that was held on May 5.

    2:09 pm
    The Malaysian government has ruled out releasing raw satellite data to the families of flight MH370.
    The transport ministry is preparing to table a report on the outcome of a meeting in Australia on the future of the search for the plane.
    Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said it was better for the International Panel of Experts to decide which information should be made public.
    1:16 pm
    Aviation officials from the United Nations have gathered in Canada to discuss safety concerns after the disappearance of flight MH370.
    Regulators have been discussing how to make improvements after the Air France crash in 2010, however the issue has been pushed forward after the the recent loss of the Malaysian plane.
    The meeting has brought together 40 nations and representatives of aviation regulators, airports, airlines, air traffic controllers, pilots and radio experts.
    A key part of the discussion will focus on improving communication with planes.
    This includes making an aircraft permanently tracked and easily locating it should an accident occur.
    12:30 pm
    As we mentioned earlier, British firm Inmarsat has announced the launch a free global tracking service for the aviation industry.
    The company was set up 35 years ago as a not-for-profit organisation to provide communications for shipping, and has since become one of the world’s largest satellite operators.
    Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer with Southampton University, told BBC News: “They’ve probably crammed a year’s worth of research into maybe a couple of weeks… Technologically it’s really quite astounding.”
    12:06 pm
    The hunt for MH370 is the most difficult in history, according to the man leading the search.
    Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said the hunt for the aircraft is harder than the one for Air France Flight 447 which disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.
    He did however admit that modern technology greatly increases any chance to find the missing plane.
    One element that he highlighted was the groundbreaking work being done with satellite analysis.
    Houston is the chief search coordinator for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, based in Australia.
    11:19 am
    Malaysia Airline System Bhd and its key stakeholders are in talks for a strategic overhaul.
    This may include an upgrade of its aging fleet and the partial sale of its engineering unit.
    The company is in talks with banks and has been even before the loss of flight MH370.
    The airline was aiming to break even this year but because of the disappearance of MH370 losses are expected to widen.
    Shares have plummeted as must as 20 per cent since the incident.

    10:31 am
    A report on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is being prepared to be given to the Malaysian cabinet on Wednesday.
    The forthcoming report, which was announced by the country's transport ministry, will be based on the trilateral meeting which was held earlier this month.
    Malaysia, China and Australia were all present at the meeting.
    The report will be a joint effort from the Malaysian transport, foreign and defence ministry.
    Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the report would include suggestions on how to search for the missing plane.
    A panel of experts will decide what information should be made public.

    10:11 am
    The United Nations is leading a high-level effort this week to improve the way aircraft are tracked to address public concerns over the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.
    But the official response to missing Flight MH370 and a similar event in 2009 has already been clouded by rows between planemakers, airlines and pilots about costs and surveillance, new documents show, raising questions about how fast regulators can act.
    Papers issued as a European agency toughened guidelines for black-box flight recorders last week show disputes about the economic and safety benefits, as manufacturers urged delay and pilots resisted pressure for more cockpit monitoring.
    The European consultation process on black-box design is the latest case study of the conflicting interests that can arise whenever aviation safety is discussed internationally.
    9:50 am
    Signals detected last month did not come from the jetliners black-box flight recorder, a senior Australian naval officer has said.
    Commander James Lybrand has said that the frequency of the transmissions were around 27 kHz, much lower than the 37.5 kHz that the beacons are designed to emit.
    Until now rescuers have hoped that transmissions picked up by Australian naval vessel ADV Ocean Shield on April 5 and April 8 would lead the way to the missing MH370.
    Other officials still believe said that the low frequency could be caused by weakening batteries and the conditions of the wreckage.
    Earlier this month two other streams from the search were deemed invalid after being found to have come from the ship itself.
    9:18 am
    The lack of any evidence indicating what caused Flight MH370's disappearance raises a legal conundrum that is expected to force Malaysia Airlines (MAS) into out-of-court settlements with next-of-kin, aviation law experts said.
    Since MH370 disappeared more than two months ago, no wreckage has been found to even confirm a crash, let alone apportion blame.
    But the relatives of the 239 people on board can still go after MAS because under international aviation law it is an airline's responsibility to prove it was not to blame for an accident.
    "On the surface, (MAS) is responsible," Jeremy Joseph, a Malaysian lawyer, said.
    The "burden of proof" rests on MAS to clear its name, he added.
    7:59 am
    The British firm which helped reveal the last position of missing flight MH370 has offered to provide a free global airline tracking service.
    Analysis of data from Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch in March showed the Malaysian Airlines plane crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.
    Inmarsat has now offered a tracking service to "virtually 100% of the world's long haul commercial fleet".
    6:25 am
    The European consultation process on black-box design is the latest case study of the conflicting interests that can arise whenever aviation safety is discussed internationally.
    Experts say some of the same issues will be on regulators' minds when the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization meets this week to discuss flight tracking - an issue which has seen limited progress since the loss of Air France Flight 447 in 2009.
    5:30 am
    Papers issued as a European agency toughened guidelines for black-box flight recorders last week show disputes about the economic and safety benefits, as manufacturers urged delay and pilots resisted pressure for more cockpit monitoring.
    5:26 am
    But the official response to missing Flight MH370 and a similar event in 2009 has already been clouded by rows between plane makers, airlines and pilots about costs and surveillance, new documents show, raising questions about how fast regulators can act.
    5:20 am
    Crew aboard the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield move the U.S. Navy's Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle into position for deployment in the southern Indian Ocean to look for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, April 14, 2014 in this handout picture released by the U.S. Navy. REUTERS/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Blair/Handout via Reuters
     
    The United Nations is leading a high-level effort this week to improve the way aircraft are tracked to address public concerns over the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.
    4:04 pm

    RECAP

    Here's a round up of today's events in the search for missing airliner MH370
    • The underwater drone - Bluefin-21 - is on board the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on its way to perform a second search of the area of the Indian Ocean where the last sonar ping was heard more than a month ago.
    • France has launched a judicial investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter of four French nationals who were passengers on the aircraft.
    • The last Malaysian Air Force plane involved in the search has returned to base
    • The only family member of the passengers of MH370 still staying in the Beijing Lido hotel has left after Malaysia Airlines shut down their family support centres worldwide.
    • The FBI are thought to be investigating after the girlfriend of a missing passenger revealed she had received nuisance calls, death threats and break-ins since the tragedy.
    NBCSarah Bajc
    Sarah Bajc
     
    3:13 pm
    ReutersMH370 relative
    A relative of a passenger onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she talks on her mobile phone
     
    Relatives of the Chinese passengers on MH370 refuse to give up hope in the search for their loved ones.
    Malaysia Airlines announced it was to close down its family assistance centres worldwide on Wednesday, and relatives were asked to leave the Lido hotel in Beijing, where the MH370 Relatives Council has been staying, by 6pm on May 2nd.
    The last relative staying in the hotel, 41-year-old IT technician Jiang Hui, checked out yesterday, after paying £72 a night to remain there after May 2nd.
    Jiang Hui's 70-year-old mother was among the passengers on the missing flight.
    A spokesperson for the MH370 Relatives Council told the South China Morning Post: "Asking us to leave the Lido will break up the large group of relatives.
    "It's not that we want free accommodation and food from the airline. We're afraid that once we leave, there will be less and less information, and that we'll be completely ignored."
    To Jiang, the hotel was like a battlefield where the more than 100 families could stand together and fight for the truth. They want their loved ones back, or at least to find out where they are.
    "We'll never give up looking for them,"
    1:57 pm
    The last Malaysian Air Force plane which took part in the search for MH370 has returned to base.
    The C130 Hercules aircraft had been sent to Perth along with two others to join the search effort.
    The plane landed at Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force base this morning, where a reception ceremony attended by high ranking Air Force officers and families of the crew.
    1:05 pm
    France has launched a judicial investigation into missing flight MH370.
    Four French nationals were aboard the flight - three students from the French school in Beijing, and the mother of two of the pupils.
    Prosecutors in Paris say a judicial probe has been opened into possible involuntary homicide following the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane .
    12:11 pm
    Experts are questioning whether investigators are looking for flight MH370 in the right ocean, saying a Maylasian satellite data analysis "doesn't entirely make sense."
    Speaking on CNN, the Atlantic Magazine's Ariel Schulman said outside experts had been unable to investigate fully because Malaysia and British satellite analysts INMARSAT have not released the raw data collected following the plane's disappearance.
    Schulman said: "They've released their conclusions in a very partial way. They haven't released the raw data they've used to do this and they haven't explained their model.
      
    11:00 am
    An Australian naval vessel carrying an underwater drone involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 left port on Saturday on its second mission to scan part of the Indian Ocean where the longest sonar "ping" was heard over a month ago.
    The Ocean Shield is heading to the area where a signal was first located and heard for some two hours on April 5, about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) northwest of Perth to launch the Bluefin-21 submersible.
    More than two dozen countries have been involved in the hunt for the Boeing 777 that disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people, mostly Chinese, on board in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

    Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk

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