BREAKING: Australian PM: Australia Checking 2 Objects in Search for Plane (Update: PHOTOS)

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Thu Mar 20, 2014, 04:03 AM - Edit history (4)

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Australian PM: 2 objects in search for Malaysian jet may have been found.

@BreakingNews: More: Prime minister says Royal Australian Airforce Orion aircraft diverted to investigate objects - @smh http://t.co/E10hk5liHK

AUSTRALIA CHECKING 2 OBJECTS IN SEARCH FOR PLANE

By IAN MADER
— Mar. 19, 2014 11:16 PM EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Australia's prime minister says objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra on Thursday that a Royal Australian Airforce Orion has been diverted to the area to attempt to locate the objects. The Orion is expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon. Three additional aircraft are expected to follow for a more intensive search.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/thai-radar-might-have-tracked-missing-plane

---

[itsrobert]

1. Malaysia Airlines MH370: Tony Abbott says possible debris found in Indian Ocean

Malaysia Airlines MH370: Tony Abbott says possible debris found in Indian Ocean

Updated 4 minutes ago


Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced objects possibly related to the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been found in the southern Indian Ocean.

Mr Abbott says new satellite images show two possible objects in the ocean and an Australian Orion aircraft is en route to the area.

The plane has been missing since it disappeared en route to Beijing from Malaysia on March 8.

More to come.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-20/abbott-says-possible-objects-found-mh370/5334314

[anneboleyn]

3. I have a feeling this is it. Sad news. Australian prime minister will be holding

a news conference per CNN.

[SoapBox]

2. Oh my...

[jtuck004]

4. 20,000 feet under the sea...

...
Below the bathyal zone, and extending to depths of about 20,000 feet -- where the region of the still-mysterious ocean trenches begins -- is the abyssal zone. The abyssal is the world's largest environment, comprising some 115 million square miles, or 60 percent of the surface of the Earth. Pressures here range from 200 to 600 atmospheres; the waters are cold, dark, and -- far removed from surface storms and currents -- serenely still. (The exception can be found at the spreading centers where new crust is formed, and where hot, chemical-rich hydrothermal vents support a diverse and unusual community. See sidebar.)
...

Here.

We will find out if this really is a discovery, but it's interesting to think about what is off that area of Perth...

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Oh shit, I hope not.

That's almost precisely the maximum depth a flight data recorder, and cockpit voice recorder are designed to withstand.

[SoapBox]

6. Someone put up a relief map, in a previous post...

It's deep out there, really deep.

[jtuck004]

58. I was just looking at some submarine data, and it said crush depth for modern nuclear subs

is suspected to be around 2400 feet. Near as I can tell there might be depths of 16-20,000 feet out there. I wonder what we would find.

[muriel_volestrangler]

80. And far enough south that surface conditions will be tough in the coming weeks

Winter is starting.

09:31: Australian aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas tells BBC World News: "This is about the most challenging location you could possibly pick... The seas out there can get to 30m (98ft) in height and the sea floor is about 10,000ft (3,000m) down. This is about as tough as it gets."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26659583

[jtuck004]

83. At those depths they have to send robo subs or the little 3-6 person subs

(or maybe just 3 people), from what I have been reading. The pressures at that depth are incredible, so it would likely crush anything that got down that far, so the debris may be even harder to find and recover. It also said currents could move pieces a kilometer, or over half a mile a day.

Air France, iirc, crashed a plane in the Atlantic an it took 2 years to get the black box.

If it really is the plane, that might be all we know for some time, as they try to get pieces together.

Thank you for that.

[LongTomH]

98. Most likely robots at that depth

There are a handful of deep-submersibles, like the Russian Mir class subs that can operate at that depth.

[Skittles]

7. I so want for the families to have some answers

it is heart-breaking beyond belief

[WillyT]

18. You Want I Should Hug Your Ass ???

Not funny.. I know.

Just frustration... and grief...

[Skittles]

33. awwwwwwwwwww

hugs for their loved ones

[WillyT]

35. Agreed...

[hamsterjill]

97. I want that, too!

That video circulating yesterday of that mother screaming and crying over her lost son just tore me up! I feel so bad for them. "Nightmare" doesn't even begin to describe their agony.

I hope they get real answers soon.

[Botany]

8. CNN 11:54 PM EDST

Debris field found 1230 miles S.W. of Australia

BTW if it is midnight on the east coast of the US when will it be afternoon in Western Australia?

[AnalystInParadise]

9. It is noon

there now

[Tx4obama]

10. Don Lemmon on CNN just said it is NOON there, in Perth/Australia.

I think he said 'Perth'.

[jtuck004]

13. I see that has already been answered, but it brought back memories of

working for a big car rental outfit. We had offices all over the world, and doing support for the private telephone network we connected with between countries.

Came to work on the evening shift, and a couple hours in handled the opening of the offices in Australia, where it was tomorrow. Nice folks.

[Laffy Kat]

11. Heart-breaking, yet the families need answers so they can start healing.

I keep hoping against hope that the passengers will be found alive on some remote island airstrip. Sigh.

[adigal]

12. I am totally confused, last I saw the plane went left and then north

and they had it going up and then possible left in China.

Now it's thousands of miles south in the southern Indian Ocean?? This has been a total debacle from the first minute. Disgraceful. Those poor families.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Why is it a debacle for the investigators?

They had to piece together evidence not meant for this purpose to figure it out.

[adigal]

88. Because the families have been told so many different things

Because searchers were looking in the wrong body of water for a week. Because they had contact they didn't reveal until days later.

The Malaysian govt has made a horrible situation worse. Now their spokesperson is saying, "there's hope the debris may be the plane." Hope? The families must want to rip their hair out.

[ellisonz]

15. Not sure why you're confused...

The story has been that the last satellite ping came from one of two segments of an arc. One stretching into Central Asia and the other into the Southern Indian Ocean. Authorities have believed the Southern Indian Ocean was much more probably since it wasn't picked up on radar going north.

[fujiyama]

19. The map I saw of the location of the possible debris

is on the southern arc - or very close to it.

This has the potential to be a big breakthrough.

[adigal]

89. Maybe I am behind

Last I saw, CNN had two red arcs, birth heading up through China.

Thank you for,this information. I appreciate you taking the time.

[Travelman]

16. The north vs. south question has been out there for days

Because of the nature of the satellite pings from the plane, they knew that there were two possible tracks, one to the north and one to the south. The northerly route seemed unlikely given that the plane would have been picked up on ground-based radar. Since there is no ground-based radar in the middle of the ocean, the focus has been to the south.

The turn north was always just a possibility, not a certainty.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

86. The only thing disgraceful is everyone and their brother jumping to conclusions

(well, guessing) while the people involved were trying to piece together data of a complex situation.

[tarheelsunc]

17. Or they could be two garbage bags. Given the turn of events so far, I think that's more likely. eomm

[BlueStreak]

20. Well, I trust the Australians a lot more than the Malaysians.

[tarheelsunc]

21. I honestly don't trust anyone right now.

It seems like every revelation from every party has been denied the next day so far. I hope something, anything concrete is confirmed soon, but I've become skeptical towards every report concerning this flight.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

77. If its really the plane,

then what will CNN speculate about 24/7? After all, it was the only thing going on in the entire world.

[adigal]

90. Right? Like let's ignore Biden just told Russia that we will protect

Any other country that Russia messes with.

No news about that, except on NPR.

[jtuck004]

22. Yeah, you really gotta watch speculating beyond the likely here. Now there are reports of

aircraft parts washing up in India off the Andhra coast, and a Taiwanese student found a picture of the plane, intact, in the jungle...

http://www.emirates247.com/news/student-claims-to-have-spotted-missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-on-satellite-2014-03-19-1.542241

and

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/malaysia-airlines-live-missing-plane-s-satellite-image-spotted-by-indian-techie_918827.html

Somebody's wrong. Or maybe photoshoppin' ...

[tofuandbeer]

40. Yeah, you would think the wings and front would be destroyed landing in trees like that. I say PShop

[Voice for Peace]

46. I don't think it was landed, it was flying over trees, at a low altitude

[tofuandbeer]

50. Oh. Sorry about that! :P on my part.

[Yo_Mama]

96. Too large for that.

Could be a lot of things, though. Also they will have drifted since the satellite imagery was taken, and may even have since sunk.

[harun]

109. Looks like more clouds to me.

[Tx4obama]

23. How big in feet is 24 meters?

[Hissyspit]

25. 78 feet.

One metre is 3.2 feet

[Tx4obama]

27. Thanks. 78 feet is pretty big. n/t

[Voice for Peace]

47. how big are the wings of the plane?

would wings break off in a crash landing in the sea?

I don't know who knows these answers, I am just
wondering out loud, maybe you know more than I.

[jtuck004]

26. 78. n/t

[Tx4obama]

28. Thanks. n/t

[jtuck004]

29. On October 16, 1997, the 777-300 made its first flight.[73] At 242.4 ft (73.9 m) in length,

the -300 became the longest airliner yet produced

wiki

80 feet would seem a big section to still be floating.

[Tx4obama]

31. Maybe one of the wings?

[jtuck004]

32. Tanks inside, empty and didn't fill with water yet... If the plane was in a dive it might

have torn off and fluttered free, so it might not even be within miles of the wreckage. Or it might have come off on impact.

Or, as someone else said, it might be floating garbage.

The planes should be on site within a couple of hours or so, should know whether they are sending the cavalry soon.

[Tx4obama]

34. I think Cooper messed up - he said 24 meters is 62 feet

[jtuck004]

37. Well, maybe that's why he's in news and not rock science... n/t

[adirondacker]

43. Blame Reagan for that dash of ignorance. nt

[Tx4obama]

38. CNN guy said possibly it could be the 'tail section' depending on how the plane crashed...

... IF it is even related to the missing plane.

[Travelman]

39. That's my guess

The wingspan of the 777 is about 200 feet wingtip-to-wingtip. 78 feet from the fuselage to the wingtip would probably be about right.

[Tx4obama]

44. Or the 'tail section' n/t

[thecrow]

106. You know, I was thinking this morning

about how they should make airplanes so they DO float.

[jtuck004]

107. Tough finding a material that could provide the rigidity, low weight, low bulk,

be tough enough to hold people (variable weight) and engine thrust without falling apart, be able to take off, land, and fly. Put an envelope around it to trap air and all it needs is one puncture. So then you add compartments, and up goes the weight.

Oh, and human life isn't worth the cut in profits that would take for research and production.

Probably the second one is the larger barrier of the two.

Except for the few it kills, it's far safer than cars and plenty of other modes of transportation. Unfortunately it allows you to segregate yourself from the rest of the world, move faster than them. People can too easily lose the "human" contact, interaction mostly, with their neighbor.

On the other hand, we could keep the computers and just travel by ground-based stuff where we have to smell each other and look each other in the eye. Could be fun Even then there is the occasional murdering psychopath on the bus with you that day, or some more-or-less unforeseen accident...

Don't like commercial flying, never have and never will. I like cars, trains, boats.

[Hissyspit]

24. "Largest object on image assessed at 24 metres."

[Tx4obama]

30. Sounds like it 'probably is' part of a plane...

... I hope it is, so that the families can start to have some closure.

[Reter]

92. I hope it isn't

I don't want it to end like this.

[bigworld]

42. And shipping containers are max 17 meters long.

So if this isn't a wing, this is ... something significant

[mainer]

87. One shipping expert says containers often lashed together

so it could be more than one container tied together.

[jtuck004]

36. IF, If this is it, I wonder if the Chinese will have ships on station b4 we do? n/t

[Travelman]

41. Unlikely, just due to distance

We've got a couple of ships already relatively close. The Chinese, AFAIK, are still out in the northern Indian ocean.


I think that the Aussie at the press conference said that he expects US assets on scene in just a few hours, like four hours from now or something like that.

[jtuck004]

45. This was reported yesterday...

Or maybe it was today when today was yesterday here...

...
Meanwhile, China said it was dispatching its military and civilian ships taking part in the maritime search to two suspected locations in the Indian Ocean as of 8am on Tuesday morning.

“There are major changes in our search strategy and plans due to the change of situations. The forces will head in two opposite directions, one northward and the other southward, starting today," a press official at the China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Beijing told the Post on Tuesday morning. ...

I did see that we are sending a P3 flying over that which should be able to see it within an hour or two, but I think there might be Chinese ships nearby. With their grieving citizens being dragged out of press conferences in Malaysia, I suspect they are going to increase their efforts.

[Tx4obama]

48. Malaysian Navy sends 6 ships with 3 helicopters to southern Indian Ocean to participate in search...

Malaysian Navy sends 6 ships with 3 helicopters to southern Indian Ocean to participate in search, source says

hhttps://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/446514162223820800

[Tx4obama]

49. (from before the breaking news) - CHECK THIS ARTICLE OUT !!!!

It was posted BEFORE the breaking news from Australia.

Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Drastically Narrows

March 19, 2014

American and British aviation officials have refined satellite signals from the missing Malaysia Flight 370 and created two possible flight paths that dramatically narrow the scope of the search to an area off the coast of Australia.

The two possible paths have the plane heading toward the South Pole and ending, experts believe, off of Australia.

U.S. officials familiar with the investigation tell ABC News that the hourly satellite pings from the jet had yielded far more clues than expected, enabling the focus of the search to be cut in half - from an area roughly the size of Texas to that of Arizona.

Calculations by UK and US experts had now been handed over to the Australians to help with the search.

-snip-

Full article map/video, here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/search-missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-370-drastically-narrows/story?id=22975958

[tofuandbeer]

51. +1

[jtuck004]

52. Crew on @USNavy P-8 spotter tell @WrightUps "significant radar returns" coming from site

where possible #MH370 objects spotted.

Here.

Still, could be lots of things...

[jtuck004]

72. And now they say...

US Navy/7th Fleet clarifies the Radar hits David Wright reported from the P-8 NOT linked to Australian announcement but typical Radar return
12:23 AM - 20 Mar 2014
17 Retweets 3 favorites

Still could be anything...

[Tx4obama]

53. What the heck?

Malaysia Airlines says until confirmation objects in Indian Ocean are #MH370, it won't send relatives to Australia. http://cnn.it/1deJQNe

https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/446523856829030400

Why on earth would they send relatives to Australia? There is NOTHING they can do there except just get more stressed out.

Seems to me they all need to go home and get some rest before they all have nervous breakdowns.

Just my opinion.

[jtuck004]

54. They are besieged by angry, grieving relatives. A few were dragged from an earlier press conference

that said "Tell Us Where It Is", or something like that.

It's a sad time, and I think all the endless speculation, some of it fueled by the Malaysian authorities, has hurt the families more than it needed to.

[Tx4obama]

55. Yes, and putting them on a 'PLANE' and 'flying' them to Australia is not going to help. n/t

[jtuck004]

56. I know. But I bet they already have people demanding it. The will grasp at any thread

at this point, and aren't really thinking of their own long term best interests, or that of anyone else. It's like trying to save a drowning victim - they can kill you in the process.

In my experience dealing with the people left behind, there really is nothing you can say. I've seen something like it before, and I think during this whole process they were led to believe things when nothing was known, based on the reports I was reading from the "Malaysian authorities". That's a real problem. It becomes a roller coaster that can put some people over the edge, and it is unnecessary.

[uppityperson]

59. Family lost on a Malaysian Air flight, downed by Australia so fly them all on a Malaysian Air flight

down to Australia?

But then again, I have not gone through their hell of the last 2 weeks. I hope they find something soon, for all their sakes.

[marions ghost]

91. If there were the certainty of plane parts being brought to Perth

I probably would want to be there, if it were my relative missing. Even if bodies are never found. It helps with closure.

[uppityperson]

100. I would also, just thinking of the irony of plane crashes/fly on a plane thing.

I hope they find something soon, can not imagine being a family member with all the rumors and false reports that have gone on.

[marions ghost]

113. Yes these families have gone through hell

hard to imagine how a plane that big can just disappear...

I think we need better electronic tracking.

[jtuck004]

57. This is the facebook page of one of the ships in the search. It left port 15 hours ago...

https://www.facebook.com/RANSUCCESS

The link I saw this at...Here.

Might be more info here later.

[Rhiannon12866]

60. MSNBC is discussing this live now...

[ecstatic]

61. wow! MSNBC live this time of day?!

I'm watching CNN.

[Rhiannon12866]

62. I don't know why I didn't think of that. CNN often goes live overnight...

But I had no idea this happened, should have checked LBN, since they had it first. I had on MSNBC, hoping to catch a couple of shows I missed in primetime, but they broke in live, instead. Looks like they woke Chris Jansing up. BTW, she used to be my local news anchor, Albany, NY.

[Tx4obama]

67. CNN has had it live for I think about four hours now

[Rhiannon12866]

68. Shows what I know...

[Rhiannon12866]

64. They've got Brian Williams on now, live over the phone...

This is big news!

[jtuck004]

63. Pictures.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/20/mh370-two-possible-objects-may-have-been-found-in-australian-search-zone

[Tx4obama]

65. CNN Live Blog - link - and PHOTOS

CNN Live Blog, here: http://cnnworldlive.cnn.com/Event/Missing_Malaysia_Airlines_Jetliner


Object Number One...




And Object Number Two...

:large

https://www.breakingnews.com/topic/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-with-flight-march-8-2014/

[Hissyspit]

66. Hmm.

[AnalystInParadise]

73. No they aren't

the CNN anchor misreported what was heard by the plane crew.

[Hissyspit]

74. CNN...

[Rhiannon12866]

75. I'm watching live coverage on MSNBC...

[jtuck004]

70. Interesting that they have been on scene an hour or so now and the news seems to have

dropped off, yet they have more info.

I wonder it they have gone quiet while they talk with the families. They need to take some care with them.

[Rhiannon12866]

71. Tweet with image:

News On The Min ‏@NewsOnTheMin 4m
#MH370 Satellite image from Australian government of objects in Indian Ocean. http://cnn.it/1qXJ0YH pic.twitter.com/MeQ2z1ffGA

[jtuck004]

76. 7:27pm: Families of missing Malaysian passengers will be brought together for a briefing tonight

Malaysia's New Straits Times reports.

‎Selamat Omar, 60, told the paper's website his family would be taken to a resort for a briefing held by relevant authorities.

It will be conducted together with the families and next of kin of Chinese nationals aboard Malaysia Airlines MH370. He did not reveal what the briefing was about to reporters.

Selamat is the father of aviation engineer, Mohamad Khairul Amri, 29, who was on board the plane.

Here.

Still might not be anything, could just be to deal with rising tensions.

[Hissyspit]

78. @BreakingNews: US Navy: P-8 Poseidon aircraft has completed its flight over target area and found no

@BreakingNews: US Navy: P-8 Poseidon aircraft has completed its flight over target area and found nothing, other aircraft heading in - @NBCNews

[muriel_volestrangler]

79. Map:

http://twitpic.com/dytkn8

[Hissyspit]

81. @BreakingNews: Royal Australian Air Force P3 crew unable to locate debris, cloud and rain limited vi

@BreakingNews: Royal Australian Air Force P3 crew unable to locate debris, cloud and rain limited visibility; further aircraft continue search - @AMSA_News

[davidn3600]

82. This is a horrible place to search if it went down in that area

The weather can get quite bad. And the seas can get incredibly rough.

[jtuck004]

84. RAAF P3 crew unable to locate debris. Cloud & rain limited visbility.

Further aircraft to continue search for #MH370
2:44 AM - 20 Mar 201

Here.

There are probably worse and more dangerous places on earth to have to work search and rescue, but I bet it's a short list.

[underpants]

85. Looks like RON PAUL signs

[brooklynite]

93. UPDATE: Definite findings on debris in 2-3 days, Australia

SYDNEY: Australia expects to make a quick deliberation on whether possible debris seen at sea is indeed from flight MH370, a report said, but a first spotter flight failed to locate anything in bad weather.

Authorities should know something definite on the possible discovery of debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane within “two or three days”, the Australian Associated Press quoted Defence Minister David Johnston as saying in Jakarta.

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-update-22-missing-mh370-font-definite-findings-on-debris-in-2-3-days-australia-1.523398

[randome]

94. That doesn't sound 'quick' to me but I'm sure they want to have answers asap.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Precision and concision. That's the game.[/center][/font][hr]

[riverwalker]

95. ANSA link

Australian Maritime Safety in charge of search has an EXCELLENT web page. Updates, images, ship locations.

http://www.amsa.gov.au/media/

https://twitter.com/AMSA_News

[LongTomH]

99. Update from The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/03/as-the-australians-announce-their-possible-mh-370-finding/284526/

Main point: sympathies for the tremendous strain on the families involved -- Chinese, Malaysian, and others from around the world.

Secondary point: as I write it's not clear whether the Australian satellite sightings actually involve this flight. Short of the passengers being found live and safe, which unfortunately is hard to imagine nearly two weeks in, the most useful news would offer certainty about what actually happened. Let's hope that this sighting, unlike some previous ones, offers a real clue.

There's some valuable commentary here:

Insanity watch: I hope someone will look back on this and similar episodes for revealing lessons about individuals' and institutions' reactions in the face of mystery and uncertainty. Terrorism experts have immediately traced this to terrorism; Rupert Murdoch said one day after the flight's disappearance that the episode "confirms" a new jihadist attack on China. Last night Michael Oren, who until recently was Israel's ambassador to the United States, was soberly warning on CNN that the plane could well be headed for Israel on an attack mission. Cable news experts have been absolutely sure of one explanation one day, and sure of another the next.

[1Independent]

101. the missing plane

Every other plane in peril had passengers using their cellphones. There must have been at least a hundred or more cellphones on that plane!

Yet, no one has heard frantic cellphone calls.

That leads me to think that they were confiscated, and that means other passengers were assisting in a skyjacking. If that's true, then a radical group will claim responsibility. They've been working at taking planes down since 9/11.

Just putting that observation out...

[itsrobert]

102. Cell towers have to be in the area

Not many cell towers out in the middle of nowhere.

[SoapBox]

105. Are there any actual cell services that use satellite?

I've always been curious.

And thinking that would have been at least one executive type on board with one such device.

I'm running out of unfounded, conspiracy theory solutions to this mystery.

[penultimate]

114. They have satellite mobile phones, but most people do not have those

as the phones themselves tend to be more expensive, as are the plans. Also, just because it's satellite, it doesn't mean there is 100% coverage on the earth.

[DesertRat]

104. Maybe the passengers very quickly became unconscious

The plane flew to an unusually high altitude right after the turnaround. Maybe someone disabled the release of oxygen masks if the plane depressurized.

So many possiblities...

[countryjake]

103. I hope the search down there doesn't result in another loss or disaster...

with winter coming on, they are saying that the area where the objects were spotted is known for huge wave swells and high winds, extremely difficult conditions for any intensive recovery operation. If those objects are from Flight 370, it may take years to actually locate where the exact crash occurred. Already they're saying that the suspected "debris" could have drifted many miles since it was recorded by the satellites a few days ago, so just finding those objects is a hard task.

The race the searchers are in to locate the crash site before the pinging stops is one incredible mission.

Safe searching is what I'm now concerned with, risking even more lives.

[Matilda]

111. It's just early autumn here in Australia,

and W.A. is still hot, so winter weather a while away, but yes, the seas are very choppy there.

But someone on local TV said it takes four hours for the planes to fly to the area and four back again, leaving them just two hours to search, so that seems really tight.

[countryjake]

112. That's what made me get a bit worried, when I heard how little time...

they'll probably have to actually do any searching, compared to how long it takes for those planes to fly down to the area. Quite a mission!

Thanks for the info about Western Australia; all I even know about Perth and thereabouts is that it's one of the most isolated big cities on earth. I did know that your seasons are the opposite of ours (I'm up in western Washington state, USA); I used to have a friend from down there or, should I say, I was a member of an old media message board where we learned much about your country from another member who, I think, was from somewhere around Canberra. She used to get quite frustrated with how close to ignorant we all were of any knowledge of other nations in the world.
(sadly, she was right.)

Anyway, I'm sure those searchers are more than competent to accomplish this task, safely. I just hope they won't try to do something over and beyond what is necessary.

[cheezmaka]

108. I hope the plane will be found soon...

the battery on the "black box" has less than 18 days of power left...

[politicat]

110. Oh, dear. that's going to be difficult to search. They're not called the Roaring Forties for nothing

There's a heavy current that basically circumscribes Antarctica from the 60s to the 40s. Winds are equally bad, especially this time of year. And that's deep water.