then this..

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-authorities-to-investigate-claims-an-exploration-company-may-have-found-wreckage-in-the-bay-of-bengal-9300768.html

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Australian exploration company claims wreckage of stricken jet could be in Bay of Bengal

Malaysian authorise are to investigate claims that an independent Australian exploration company has found the wreckage of flight MH370 in the Bay of Bengal - 5,000 km away from the current search zone.

Some sort of publicity stunt? Or just misguided?

From what I've seen of that, the images are of the sort of thing you see for sandy shallows or for tricks of the light from the water, or even the patterns you see for seeweed or blooms. There is nothing distinct and obviously artificial.

A good comparison and test and something not show is: Are there other similar features visible nearby?


Sorry but my best guess is that is all just "UFO" syndrome.

Keep searching,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

69 years later, they cannot find an aircraft which is static?

Have you any idea of the size and the depth of ocean there?

We literally do have Mars better mapped than that region. Don't underestimate how very small the needle is in such a vast haystack. WW2 tech certainly couldn't do any better.

The only better help would have been to have got there sooner with a little more cooperation from the countries in the home region and their military.

Aside: I wonder if the UK sub actually first found the pings to then discreetly guide the Australians to 'rediscover' them just in time for the last pings?...


Regardless and however unfortunate, this is one very deep and strange story to uncover.


Keep searching,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

I wasn't comparing then and now, but highlighting the fact of necessity then and now.

Mapping the ocean floor

Seeing the ocean floor via sonar

Expensive? Of course...

...just how much spent on the search to date?

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I believe it was Annie Hacker in Yes Prime Minister who said "sometimes you have to do things that don't make economic sense if you want to live in a civilised society." She was referring to using the army to rescue an 8-year old girl's pet dog from a minefield, but the principle is the same.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

What beggars belief for me is the fact that between 1942-45, allied ships were able to track & destroy enemy subs with the technology of the day.

69 years later, they cannot find an aircraft which is static?

Apples and oranges.

A sub moving and making noise a few dozen feet below the surface is very different from a stationary wreck possibly under thousands of feet of water and possibly spread out over several miles. Also keep in mind that the sub moved in a predictable manner, i.e. towards its targets, and spent roughly 50% of its time on the surface.

Plus, the Canadian Navy operated 100+ ships in their part of the North Atlantic, plus several hundred RCAF aircraft, and averaged less than one sub sighting per month. Until the last few months of the war ALL the aircraft sightings were of surfaced subs.

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Captain FJ "Johnnie" Walker R.N.

"Four U-boats fell victim to Walker’s aggressive tactics"

Had the passengers been high ranking V.I.P's, I'll lay odds that the search would have been more aggressive than it currently has been!

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Sure, as long as the U-boats maneuvered near other ships and were just below the surface, they were easy pickings. MH370 probably lies in pieces under a few miles of water and hasn't moved for weeks. Apples and oranges.

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Sure, as long as the U-boats maneuvered near other ships and were just below the surface, they were easy pickings. MH370 probably lies in pieces under a few miles of water and hasn't moved for weeks. Apples and oranges.

So in effect, you're saying sonar is ineffective?

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No. I'm saying sonar will find a single large moving noisy object submerged a few dozen feet much much faster than it will find scattered bits of wreckage at depths of thousands of feet. Sonar was used most effectively close to convoys, since that is where the U-boats wanted to be. And sonar was only one tool used to find U-boats. Radar and eyeballs found surfaced subs at longer ranges, and passive sonar picked up turning propellers at long ranges. MH370 is probably very quiet right now.

The towed unmanned sonar vehicles being used can sweep a band of less than one mile width if you want enough resolution to tell a big rock from a piece of airplane. The chunk of ocean being searched is somewhat larger than Europe. Picture towing a vehicle at boat speed (maybe 15 mph) on one mile or less swaths and covering all of Europe. It would take a bit of time.

If the airplane hit the water at high speed, there won't even be pieces as big as large rocks. You then need to lower the swath width to get better resolution, and the time to cover the area goes up. Remember, they found floating wreckage and strong pings from the Air France Airbus in the South Atlantic in short order, and then took another two years to actually locate and recover the black boxes. Here we have no confirmed wreckage, and questionable pings, so the search area is huge.

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Quite true, but after the initial search could not locate the aircraft or what's left of it, a search of the immediate area where the pings came from should have had a tighter search using side scan to locate the recorders.

At least they would tell all what actually happened.

NOAA - Side Scan Sonar

"Multibeam measures the depth of the sea floor and the side scan identifies items on the sea floor."

Instead, what do we see?

Massive amounts of time & money spent & to what purpose?

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My father was the radio/radar operator in a US Navy PBY from 1942-45. Their patrol area ranged from Nova Scotia to Argentina. During that three years his squadron sighted several probables but only confirmed three subs sited and one damaged. The world's oceans are immense and finding an object on the surface is difficult. Finding an airplane that most likely broke up on impact and sank to the bottom within hours will be a stroke of pure luck. The plane was probably on the bottom before they ever knew it was missing.

According to one person on this board the US government knows exactly where the plane is as they have the capability to monitor 100% of the earth's surface 24/7. But for the life of me I can't figure out why anyone, including the CIA, would withhold such information. Btw the above claim was his not mine.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

My father was the radio/radar operator in a US Navy PBY from 1942-45. Their patrol area ranged from Nova Scotia to Argentina. During that three years his squadron sighted several probables but only confirmed three subs sited and one damaged. The world's oceans are immense and finding an object on the surface is difficult. Finding an airplane that most likely broke up on impact and sank to the bottom within hours will be a stroke of pure luck. The plane was probably on the bottom before they ever knew it was missing.

In which case, it would make more sense to concentrate on locating the recorders asap. At least it will solve the mystery of it's disappearance

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In which case, it would make more sense to concentrate on locating the recorders asap. At least it will solve the mystery of it's disappearance

I'm sure they've considered that, but consider that the recorder's sonar pingers will have long since died, they're looking for an object the size of a largish briefcase, possibly buried under something, several thousand feet down, in an area of water larger than Europe. No mean feat.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

No one is saying it is going to be easy. It's been a farce from day one & as Wiggo stated, badly co-ordinated at best.

There should be an international agreement regarding disasters. Politics to stay out & let those best qualified to organise.

Even though it took two years, the French did not give up. with the way this search has gone, I think it'll just fade away due to time & cost.

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Update

"Meanwhile, a report by Malaysia's transport ministry has recommended the introduction of real-time tracking of commercial air transport."

"There is no requirement from the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), the UN body that oversees global aviation, for real-time tracking."

Then they should get off their butts and make it a requirement!

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everyone is finding MH370

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2617647/British-marine-archaeologist-claims-flight-MH370-3-000-miles-search-zone-spotting-debris-painted-colours-Malaysia-Airlines.html
British marine archaeologist claims to have found flight MH370 3,000 miles from the search zone after spotting debris painted in the colours of Malaysia Airlines

Tim Akers believes he has discovered MH370 debris off the coast of Vietnam
He says satellite images appear to show tail, wings and other debris
Claims it is more likely plane crashed in South China Sea than Indian ocean
Authorities have been searching for aircraft off coast of Western Australia
Mr Akers had previously been studying Australian waters off Perth for years in search for remains of lost WWII ship - the HMAS Sydney
It comes as airline boss tells relatives of passengers onboard MH370 to go home and wait for further news

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First official report into missing MH370 reveals nobody noticed the plane was missing for 17 minutes and no search was launched for another four hours

They waited to long..

Five-page report details last known moments of doomed jet on March 8
It was released by Malaysian government in response to families' anger
Document reveals first query about whereabouts was at 1.38am local time
But a rescue team was only alerted four hours later at 5.30am
Report recommends new worldwide standard of real-time plane tracking
Search is being scaled down and family help centres will close next week

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2617743/Malaysia-releases-preliminary-report-MH370.html

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I really think we need a another box that comes to the surface to mark the area in question. it sure would make it easier in finding them with a homing device.

(CNN) -- Two Bangladeshi navy ships have begun searching the Bay of Bengal for traces of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but have yet to find anything, a commander said Friday.

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I really think we need a another box that comes to the surface to mark the area in question. it sure would make it easier in finding them with a homing device.

Certainly one that came to the surface and immediately began reporting its GPS coordinates to somewhere might be useful. Just coming to the surface might not help as currents would carry it far from the crash site quite quickly.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.