- Buoys maximizing the sound-detecting operations dropped by the Australian aircraft P-3 Orion into the Indian Ocean close to where earlier sounds were heard have now picked up a 5th ‘possible’ signal from a man-made source.
- Earlier, Australian ship Ocean Shield had picked up 4 underwater sounds which were determined to be consistent with the pings emitted by the plane’s flight recorders (black boxes).
- If the analyzed data confirms it to be so, searchers could soon narrow the scouting area and send a robotic vehicle to confirm if it’s the black box from missing Malaysian jet.
- The Bluefin 21 submarine takes 6 times longer to cover the same area as the pinger locator being towed by the Ocean Shield, and would take 6 weeks to 2 months to canvass the current underwater search zone. Acoustic equipments give a more precise location.
- In a separate statement, Malaysian government said that investigators have concluded that the last words spoken by the pilot to air traffic control were, “Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero”.
Exams Perspective:
- Black Box
- Indian Ocean
- Robots
- Buoys
- Submarines
- Acoustics