March 27, 2014 -- Updated 1952 GMT (0352 HKT)
A Thai satellite spots 300 objects floating in the Indian Ocean, again
raising hopes that debris from the missing jet may have been discovered.
FULL STORY
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BEST LEAD?
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CONFLICTING PILOT REPORTS
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BEST LEAD?
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CONFLICTING PILOT REPORTS
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No amount enough
MISSING JET
Cluster of satellite sightings raises hopes in Flight 370 search
March 27, 2014 -- Updated 1707 GMT (0107 HKT)
Satelitte images show possible debris
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: With so many satellite sightings in a confined area, have crews found "haystack"?
- NEW: Objects look shiny, metallic and aerodynamic, CNN analyst Miles O'Brien says
- Another analyst calls the finds "enticing" but questions if objects could be plane debris
- Search will have to wait until Friday to check finds: Weather once again hindering efforts
The announcements come
just a day after Malaysian officials announced a French satellite had
found 122 pieces of something floating nearby, and days after similar
findings in the same general area -- all part of the search for Flight
370. The plane vanished March 8 with 239 people aboard.
It's enough to make you wonder: Have they found that proverbial haystack inside which they'll find the well-hidden wreckage?
Maybe. Maybe not.
While analysts say it's
intriguing that the finds all appear to be in the same general area,
searchers have yet to lay eyes on any of the objects, much less haul one
aboard a ship and take a close look at it.
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Stephen Wood, a former
CIA analyst and satellite imagery expert, said the satellites could be
seeing something as simple as whitecaps, which he said can look
deceptively like solid objects.
CNN aviation analyst Jeff
Wise said that while the latest find is "very enticing," the number and
size of the objects make him question whether they could be from the
plane.
"If you see something
floating that's 60 feet across, that could be a big chunk of fuselage,"
he said. "But if you have 10 pieces that are 60 feet across, that would
indicate that they're not from the plane, because the plane has only so
much stuff in it."
But Miles O'Brien,
another CNN aviation analyst, said what he sees on the latest satellite
images doesn't look like everyday garbage to him.
"What I see there is
something that seems to be somewhat metallic and shiny. Looks like
airplane wreckage to me. I also see some surfaces that look like they're
aerodynamic."
Concerns about weather, currents
It will be at least
Friday before planes can try to find the materials and figure out what
they are -- rough weather in the remote spot is once again hindering
search efforts.
By then, experts say, these objects could have drifted hundreds of miles in the complex currents of the Indian Ocean.
The Thai images show
about 300 objects ranging in size from 6 feet (2 meters) to 50 feet (15
meters). When photographed Monday, they were about 125 miles (201
kilometers) away from the spot where a French satellite captured a
floating group of objects Sunday.
The Japanese images were
taken Wednesday and show about 10 objects floating in a 6-mile (10
kilometer) radius some 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) off the west coast
of Australia, according to the Japanese Cabinet Intelligence and
Research Office.
The biggest object was square in shape and measured some 13 feet by 26 feet (4 meters to 8 meters), the agency said.
The finds come after
news Wednesday that a French satellite had seen 122 objects in the same
region, and follows earlier sightings by U.S., Chinese and another
French satellite.
Harsh conditions hinder search again
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Australian officials
leading the search had to suspend air missions before noon Thursday
because of bad weather. Six ships helping in the search are continuing
to work, but conditions are poor.
Air crews who went out Thursday were "beaten up" by the rough skies, said Lt. Cmdr. Adam Schantz of the U.S. Navy.
The visibility is almost
zero, with clouds reaching down to the surface of the water, and there
is severe turbulence and icing, he said.
Early Thursday
afternoon, more than 60% of the search area was experiencing a mixture
of low visibility, strong thunderstorms and powerful winds, said Pedram
Javaheri, a CNN International meteorologist.
Capt. Allison Norris,
commander of the Australian navy ship HMAS Success -- which is helping
look for debris -- said conditions are cold and uncomfortable for
searchers.
"We rotate the lookouts
through every hour and make sure that they are appropriately dressed to
combat the very cold conditions down here," she said.
"The type of wreckage or
object that we're looking for is so close to the water line that now
radars would not be able to pick it up," she told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
"So we are very reliant on lookouts who use binoculars and night-vision
glasses to scan the horizon and scan the area around the ship while we
conduct our search pattern."
Thursday's delay is the
second time this week that harsh conditions in the isolated patch of
ocean have hampered operations. Search missions were called off Tuesday
because of stormy weather.
The forecast from Friday morning through Saturday shows much improved conditions in the search zone, CNN's Javaheri said.
"Scattered clouds should
be expected," he said. "But the winds and seas will both calm
considerably, giving a rare stretch of generally favorable conditions
for this region during this time of year."
'I understand him'
Meanwhile, the youngest
son of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah has
broken his family's silence on the plane's disappearance, rejecting
speculation that the longtime aviator was somehow responsible.
"I've read everything
online. But I've ignored all the speculation. I know my father better,"
Ahmad Seth Zaharie, 26, said in an interview published Thursday by the New Straits Times, an English-language Malaysian newspaper.
The idea that Zaharie or co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid were responsible for the plane's baffling disappearance is one of many theories investigators continue to pursue.
One line of speculation
suggests Zaharie might have hijacked the plane as a political act. He
has been identified as a supporter of a high-profile Malaysian
opposition figure.
His son rejected such theories.
"We may not be as close,
as he travels so much. But I understand him," he said of his father in
the interview, which was conducted Tuesday.
Comments from government officials on the investigation so far support the son's view.
A senior Malaysian
government official Wednesday told CNN law enforcement analyst Tom
Fuentes that authorities have found nothing in 19 days of investigating
the two pilots that leads them to any motive, be it political, suicidal
or extremist.
And an ongoing FBI
review of the two pilots' hard drives, including one in a flight
simulator Zaharie had built at his home, has not turned up a "smoking
gun," a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
"They have accessed the data," the official said. "There is nothing that's jumping out and grabbing us right now."
And investigators
haven't found anything suspicious with any of the other crew members or
passengers, leaving them struggling to find an explanation.
"I don't think there is a
prevailing theory," one U.S. official told CNN. "There are
counterarguments to every theory right now."
The confusion has left
many family members of missing passengers and crew increasingly
frustrated. Some have accused Malaysian authorities of failing to keep
them properly informed. Others have accused officials of lying or
covering up facts.
CNN's Mitra Mobasherat reported from Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia; Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong; and
Michael Pearson wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Elizabeth Joseph, David Molko,
Kyung Lah, Pamela Brown, Neda Farshbaf, Kevin Wang and Yoko Wakatsuki
also contributed to this report.
Malaysia plane saga: Your questions answered
March 27, 2014 -- Updated 1722 GMT (0122 HKT)
See how plane search area is determined
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Japanese intelligence satellite spots 10 objects
- Earlier, Thai officials released image with 300 objects
- Search flights are on hold Thursday because of bad weather
- Ships continue searching despite conditions
What's the latest?
The Japanese government announced that one of its intelligence satellites spotted some objects Wednesday. Earlier,
Thai officials said one of their satellites located 300 objects that
could be linked to the missing plane. And airborne searches have been
suspended for Thursday due to poor weather.
What's in the latest satellite photos?
The Thai image, shot
Monday, shows a collection of objects ranging in size from 6 feet (2
meters) to 50 feet (15 meters), according to Thailand's Geo-Informatics
and Space Technology Development Agency.
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They were spotted about
125 miles (201 kilometers) away from where a French satellite captured a
floating group of 122 objects Sunday.
The Japanese image shows 10 objects, the largest of which is square and about 13 feet by 26 feet (4 meters to 8 meters), according to the Japanese Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Like the other recent satellite sightings, the objects are about 1,550 miles off western Australia.
Could these objects be plane debris?
It's certainly possible,
but we won't know for sure until one of the ships combing the region
hauls some of the objects up and examines them firsthand, experts say.
And that's proving to be tough. The objects may well be drifting in
swift ocean currents, and experts say some of what we're seeing could be
an optical illusion.
For instance, they could be just whitecapped waves, CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise said.
Stephen Wood, a former
CIA analyst, said the number and size of the objects in the latest image
also raises questions about whether they could be related to the plane.
"If you see something
floating that's 60 feet across, that could be a big chunk of fuselage,"
he said. "But if you have 10 pieces that are 60 feet across, that would
indicate that they're not from the plane because the plane has only so
much stuff in it."
It seems like we always hear about these satellite photos a few days after they were taken. Why?
Australian and Thai
authorities have said it takes a few days to go through the images,
analyze them and send them along to Malaysian authorities. The area
being scanned is awfully large, after all, and analyzing the images for
interesting objects can be a painstaking process.
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You said the flights were called off Thursday?
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority suspended airborne searches before noon Thursday due to poor weather.
A spokesman for the U.S.
Navy, which is helping look for wreckage, said conditions over the
search zone were terrible, with almost zero visibility, clouds reaching
down to the surface of the water, and severe turbulence and icing.
Ships assigned to the search will continue their work despite the rough weather, the authority said.
Australian officials coordinating the search hope to resume flights Friday.
How many countries are involved in search efforts?
Malaysia is coordinating
the search, which involves crews from six countries. Australia is
leading the effort, based out of Perth, with China, New Zealand, the
United States, South Korea and Japan contributing aircraft. China has
also sent ships to help the search effort.
How are the families of those on board?
Family members are
anguished as they wait for answers. One-third of the plane's passengers
were Chinese, and Malaysian authorities' announcement Monday that
families should give up hope that their loved ones were alive angered
many Chinese.
"My heart can't handle
it. I don't want to hurt my children," Cheng Li Ping told CNN as she
waited in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for evidence about what happened to
her husband.
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