The Acting Transport Minister hopes to hear favourable news in the next few days, if not hours.
KUALA LUMPUR: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today hoped that the new lead in the form of acoustic signals detected in the Indian Ocean will be the much needed breakthrough to find Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, missing since March 8.
“We are cautiously hopeful that there could a positive development in the next few days, if not hours,” he told reporters here in his daily press briefing.
“The pinger locator signals are consistent with the aircraft black boxes…this is a step closer towards finding the plane.
“There are still many steps to be taken before we can positively verify that these signals are from MH370,” he warned.
He added that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been briefed this morning on this development by his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott.
Earlier today, an Australian navy ship detected new underwater signals consistent with aircraft “black boxes”.
The chief of the MH370 search, retired Australian defence force chief Angus Houston, said this was the “most promising lead” yet in the month-old hunt for the missing plane.
He said the acoustics emanating from deep down in the Indian Ocean showed that the multinational search by ships and planes seemed to be “very close to where we need to be”.
The apparent breakthrough comes as the clock ticks past the 30-day lifespan of the emergency beacons of the two data recorders from the Malaysia Airlines jet, which vanished with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“The towed pinger locator deployed from the Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield has detected signals consistent with those emitted from aircraft black boxes,” Houston told a press conference in Perth.
He said more information is needed but called the findings of the past 24 hours “very encouraging”.
One signal lasted for two hours and 20 minutes, the second for 13 minutes.
“On this (second) occasion two distinct ping returns were audible,” Houston said, adding that was consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, which have separate beacons.
“This is a most promising lead and probably in the search so far it’s probably the best information that we have had,” Houston said.
Houston said the latest developments must be treated cautiously, adding it could take a long time before the pings can be confirmed as from MH370.
“In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast,” he said.
‘Miracles do happen’
Back in Kuala Lumpur, Hishammuddin was asked if there was a possibility for survivors to be found in the loneliest places on earth.
Without giving a direct answer, Hishammuddin, also the defence minister, said it was always the priority for the search and rescue team to locate any survivors, but added there has been no sighting of survivors from satellite signals.
“As far as survivors are concerned, that is always our priority. I have said it over and over again.
“What we receive from satellite signals and other sightings do not indicate any survivors but miracles do happen,” he explained.
Hishammuddin also disclosed that the government has established three ministerial committees on MH370. Their findings would be made public once they are done, he added.
“The next of kin committee is led by Hamzah Zainuddin, the deputy foreign minister, while Abdul Aziz Kaprawi is leading the technical committee. My defence deputy Abdul Rahim Bakri will lead the deployment of assets committee,” he said.
“These group have been established to look at issues such as maintenance records structures and systems.
“They will also examine things such as flight recorders operations and meteorology, and issues such as psychology, pathology and survival factors,” Hishammuddin said.
He further said the government was currently in the process of appointing an independent investigator to lead the investigation based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
Malaysian investigations into the aircraft’s disappearance have centred on hijacking, sabotage or psychological problems among passengers or crew, but no supporting evidence has turned up.
In the absence of confirmed wreckage, the data recorders or other evidence, relatives of those aboard — most were Chinese — have endured an agonising wait for information.
Houston’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said that in total up to nine military aircraft, three civilian planes and 14 ships continued scanning the area 2,000 kilometres northwest of Perth for any floating debris.
The latest acoustics were picked up after the Chinese vessel Haixun 01 had twice picked up a signal — on Friday and Saturday — about 300 nautical miles away on a frequency used for aircraft recorders.
Houston said the ocean can range up to five kilometres deep in the area, meaning “any recovery operation is going to be incredibly challenging and very demanding and will take a long period of time”.
KUALA LUMPUR: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today hoped that the new lead in the form of acoustic signals detected in the Indian Ocean will be the much needed breakthrough to find Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, missing since March 8.“We are cautiously hopeful that there could a positive development in the next few days, if not hours,” he told reporters here in his daily press briefing.
“The pinger locator signals are consistent with the aircraft black boxes…this is a step closer towards finding the plane.
“There are still many steps to be taken before we can positively verify that these signals are from MH370,” he warned.
He added that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been briefed this morning on this development by his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott.
Earlier today, an Australian navy ship detected new underwater signals consistent with aircraft “black boxes”.
The chief of the MH370 search, retired Australian defence force chief Angus Houston, said this was the “most promising lead” yet in the month-old hunt for the missing plane.
He said the acoustics emanating from deep down in the Indian Ocean showed that the multinational search by ships and planes seemed to be “very close to where we need to be”.
The apparent breakthrough comes as the clock ticks past the 30-day lifespan of the emergency beacons of the two data recorders from the Malaysia Airlines jet, which vanished with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“The towed pinger locator deployed from the Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield has detected signals consistent with those emitted from aircraft black boxes,” Houston told a press conference in Perth.
He said more information is needed but called the findings of the past 24 hours “very encouraging”.
One signal lasted for two hours and 20 minutes, the second for 13 minutes.
“On this (second) occasion two distinct ping returns were audible,” Houston said, adding that was consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, which have separate beacons.
“This is a most promising lead and probably in the search so far it’s probably the best information that we have had,” Houston said.
Houston said the latest developments must be treated cautiously, adding it could take a long time before the pings can be confirmed as from MH370.
“In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast,” he said.
‘Miracles do happen’
Back in Kuala Lumpur, Hishammuddin was asked if there was a possibility for survivors to be found in the loneliest places on earth.
Without giving a direct answer, Hishammuddin, also the defence minister, said it was always the priority for the search and rescue team to locate any survivors, but added there has been no sighting of survivors from satellite signals.“As far as survivors are concerned, that is always our priority. I have said it over and over again.
“What we receive from satellite signals and other sightings do not indicate any survivors but miracles do happen,” he explained.
Hishammuddin also disclosed that the government has established three ministerial committees on MH370. Their findings would be made public once they are done, he added.
“The next of kin committee is led by Hamzah Zainuddin, the deputy foreign minister, while Abdul Aziz Kaprawi is leading the technical committee. My defence deputy Abdul Rahim Bakri will lead the deployment of assets committee,” he said.
“These group have been established to look at issues such as maintenance records structures and systems.
“They will also examine things such as flight recorders operations and meteorology, and issues such as psychology, pathology and survival factors,” Hishammuddin said.
He further said the government was currently in the process of appointing an independent investigator to lead the investigation based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
Malaysian investigations into the aircraft’s disappearance have centred on hijacking, sabotage or psychological problems among passengers or crew, but no supporting evidence has turned up.
In the absence of confirmed wreckage, the data recorders or other evidence, relatives of those aboard — most were Chinese — have endured an agonising wait for information.
Houston’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said that in total up to nine military aircraft, three civilian planes and 14 ships continued scanning the area 2,000 kilometres northwest of Perth for any floating debris.The latest acoustics were picked up after the Chinese vessel Haixun 01 had twice picked up a signal — on Friday and Saturday — about 300 nautical miles away on a frequency used for aircraft recorders.
Houston said the ocean can range up to five kilometres deep in the area, meaning “any recovery operation is going to be incredibly challenging and very demanding and will take a long period of time”.
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