[Peetwo]

Hallelujah! Finally a real dinky di AAI...   


Following on from the developing story above...

On the other Aunty's AM radio this morning for once the ATSB spokes person wasn't some pompous, pimping, obfuscating bureaucrat but a real no bullshit, no spin AAI...

MH370: speculation about debris found on the East Coast of Africa

Rachael Brown reported this story on Thursday, July 30, 2015 08:14:00
About JW Player 6.11.4923 (Ads edition)        
 
| MP3 download

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: While there is little doubt now who shot down MH17 there is still great mystery surrounding the fate of the other Malaysian Airline disaster, MH370

But Australian aviation authorities say they are now investigating whether debris that's washed up on the east coast of Africa is part of a wing from the missing Boeing 777.

French Authorities say it's premature to suggest the debris is from the missing plane.

Search efforts have focused on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean.

Joe Hattley from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is speaking with Rachael Brown.

JOE HATTLEY: We got advised late last night that a component resembling an aircraft component had washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean.

RACHAEL BROWN: And it seems like quite a large part of debris. It looks like it's taking about four or five people to carry it.

JOE HATTLEY: Yes, the dimensions we've got so far is that it's probably close to two metres long and a metre wide and certainly looks like or similar to a trailing edge type part off a commercial airliner, the rear of the wing.

RACHAEL BROWN: Have you been sent any photographs yet?

JOE HATTLEY: Yes, so the BEA (Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses) which are our French counterparts, the safety agency in France, they have sent us some of the photographs that were taken down on Reunion Island.

And we have on-forwarded them to Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, to assess to see if in fact it is possibly a Boeing part. And so we're awaiting advice from Boeing on that.

There are two different numbers that we would be looking for. One is a part number that is common to all the parts that are manufactured the same.

And then it may or may not have a serial number. If we can get a serial number off it, then we may be able to match it up to a specific aircraft.

RACHAEL BROWN: Is it possible that with some kind of conveyor belt current, it could have drifted in the past 16 months to Reunion Island?

JOE HATTLEY: So I'm not a marine scientist, I'm not familiar with all the ocean currents. But there are large circulatory-type currents in many of the world's oceans so I think it's certainly possible that anything in the Indian Ocean could end up on Reunion Island. But as I say, I'm not an expert on the ocean currents.

RACHAEL BROWN: Will you be getting in touch with some ocean scientists today?

JOE HATTLEY: Well, the main thing for us is to identify the component. So we're really interested in trying to find out why type of aircraft it's off.

We really want to secure the item and or make sure the item is secured - and currently it's under the custody of the police on the island - and facilitate a technical examination to try and determine what type of aircraft it's off.

RACHAEL BROWN: How long could this take?

JOE HATTLEY: I'm sort of thinking it's going to take several days at this stage because we will need to work with our counterparts in France to get the component suitably examined by technical specialists.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And that's Joe Hattley from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, speaking to Rachael Brown.

       
It maybe that Joe was the only person upright & awake, but it is passing strange that neither Dolan (media magnet) nor Foley were available to comment..
MTF...P2    

[Peetwo]

Halleluiah! Finally a real dinky di AAI...   


Following on from the developing story above...

On the other Aunty's AM radio this morning for once the ATSB spokes person wasn't some pompous, pimping, obfuscating bureaucrat but a real no bullshit, no spin AAI...

MH370: speculation about debris found on the East Coast of Africa

Rachael Brown reported this story on Thursday, July 30, 2015 08:14:00
About JW Player 6.11.4923 (Ads edition)        
 
| MP3 download

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: While there is little doubt now who shot down MH17 there is still great mystery surrounding the fate of the other Malaysian Airline disaster, MH370

But Australian aviation authorities say they are now investigating whether debris that's washed up on the east coast of Africa is part of a wing from the missing Boeing 777.

French Authorities say it's premature to suggest the debris is from the missing plane.

Search efforts have focused on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean.

Joe Hattley from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is speaking with Rachael Brown.

JOE HATTLEY: We got advised late last night that a component resembling an aircraft component had washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean.

RACHAEL BROWN: And it seems like quite a large part of debris. It looks like it's taking about four or five people to carry it.

JOE HATTLEY: Yes, the dimensions we've got so far is that it's probably close to two metres long and a metre wide and certainly looks like or similar to a trailing edge type part off a commercial airliner, the rear of the wing.

RACHAEL BROWN: Have you been sent any photographs yet?

JOE HATTLEY: Yes, so the BEA (Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses) which are our French counterparts, the safety agency in France, they have sent us some of the photographs that were taken down on Reunion Island.

And we have on-forwarded them to Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, to assess to see if in fact it is possibly a Boeing part. And so we're awaiting advice from Boeing on that.

There are two different numbers that we would be looking for. One is a part number that is common to all the parts that are manufactured the same.

And then it may or may not have a serial number. If we can get a serial number off it, then we may be able to match it up to a specific aircraft.

RACHAEL BROWN: Is it possible that with some kind of conveyor belt current, it could have drifted in the past 16 months to Reunion Island?

JOE HATTLEY: So I'm not a marine scientist, I'm not familiar with all the ocean currents. But there are large circulatory-type currents in many of the world's oceans so I think it's certainly possible that anything in the Indian Ocean could end up on Reunion Island. But as I say, I'm not an expert on the ocean currents.

RACHAEL BROWN: Will you be getting in touch with some ocean scientists today?

JOE HATTLEY: Well, the main thing for us is to identify the component. So we're really interested in trying to find out why type of aircraft it's off.

We really want to secure the item and or make sure the item is secured - and currently it's under the custody of the police on the island - and facilitate a technical examination to try and determine what type of aircraft it's off.

RACHAEL BROWN: How long could this take?

JOE HATTLEY: I'm sort of thinking it's going to take several days at this stage because we will need to work with our counterparts in France to get the component suitably examined by technical specialists.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: And that's Joe Hattley from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, speaking to Rachael Brown.

       
It maybe that Joe was the only person upright & awake, but it is passing strange that neither Dolan (media magnet) nor Foley were available to comment..

Hmm...& now the Minister is getting in on the act...



Warren Truss Media Release WT224/2015 - Aircraft wreckage found in Indian Ocean 30 July 2015.

MTF..P2

[Gobbledock]

Media tarts are awakening

P2;

It maybe that Joe was the only person upright & awake, but it is passing strange that neither Dolan (media magnet) nor Foley were available to comment..

Perhaps Beaker and Dr Bunsen Honeydew were up to their eyebrows (and beard) in a trough somewhere and missed the news?
I'm sure that by now Beaker will have packed the Panama hat, sunscreen, and worked out his travel allowance on his abacus!

More P2;

Warren Truss Media Release WT224/2015 - Aircraft wreckage found in Indian Ocean 30 July 2015.

Go back to sleep Farmboy, you don't need to make any comment as anything you say is totally irrelevant. All you do is read or type press statements crafted by your minions. Go fly away somewhere on your umbrella, numbnuts.

[Peetwo]

Gobbles you might be pleased to know that our resident MH370 super sleuth Muppet, did eventually make an appearance, see quoted text  in bold below in the 3rd instalment to the Oz hosted AAP coverage:

MH370 speculation sparked by debris found on Indian Ocean island  

• by: Jacquelin Magnay
  
• From: The Australian
  
• July 30, 2015 7:48PM
  

European Correspondent

 Plane debris checked for MH370 ties0:28

• Play video
  

Authorities are examining if debris that washed up on an African island is that of missing flight MH370.


Damaged remains of a suitcase found near debris that may be from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Reports are emerging that the damaged remnants of a suitcase have been found washed ashore on the same Indian Ocean island where debris that may be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was discovered.  

Less than a day after a two-metre long object that aviation experts say is likely a wing flap from a Boeing 777 was found on the island of Reunion, a photo has emerged of a man holding the tattered remains of a bag.

French language website Linfo.re has reported that a gardener found the bag near where the debris was discovered.

There has been no further information linking the bag to MH370, a Boeing 777 that disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board.



Picture of a suitcase found this morning on an island in the Indian Ocean. Source: Twitter 
 
MH370 possibility ‘realistic’

There is a “realistic possibility” the debris washed up on Reunion Island may have come from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 says Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss.

Authorities are scrambling to verify the origin of the two-metre long piece of wreckage, possibly from a wing part known as a flaperon.

The discovery has raised hopes it could be from the Boeing 777 plane, which diverted from its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route shortly after takeoff on March 8 last year.

Mr Truss told reporters today the photographs of the wreckage are not inconsistent with a Boeing 777 and said it was the most promising lead yet.

Mr Truss said authorities are treating the find as a ”very significant development” and investigations are continuing.

MH370 speculation :premature: Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines says it is “premature” to speculate on whether wreckage found in the Indian Ocean is from missing flight MH370, as authorities scrambled to verify the origin of the debris.

The two-metre long piece of wreckage, possibly from a wing part known as a flaperon, was found on a beach on the French island of La Reunion.

“At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate (on) the origin of the flaperon,” Malaysia Airlines said in a statement.

It said it was working with “relevant authorities to confirm the matter”.

Earlier, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said his government had sent a team to examine the find, while also cautioning against jumping to conclusions.

The large chunk of debris washed up on the east coast shoreline at Saint Andre on the island, and if it is determined to be from MH370 it will help solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time.

A US official says air safety investigators have a “high degree of confidence” that the aircraft debris is of a wing component unique to the Boeing 777, the same model as the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year.

The official says investigators - including a Boeing air safety investigator - have identified the component as a “flaperon” from the trailing edge of a 777 wing.

The US official spoke on condition they not be named because they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.

“This concave shape is indeed common to the 777 flap design,” one long-time Boeing engineer told The Wall Street Journal.

Wing could be MH370

Aviation officials are urgently assessing if a shell-crusted wing flap discovered off the South Indian Ocean country of Reunion Island belongs to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The large chunk of debris washed up on the east coast shoreline at Saint Andre on the island, and if it is determined to be from MH370 it will help solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time.

And a US official says air safety investigators have a “high degree of confidence” that a photo of aircraft debris found in the Indian Ocean is of a wing component unique to the Boeing 777, the same model as the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year.

The official says investigators - including a Boeing air safety investigator - have identified the component as a “flaperon” from the trailing edge of a 777 wing.

The US official spoke on condition they not be named because they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.

“This concave shape is indeed common to the 777 flap design,” one long-time Boeing engineer told The Wall Street Journal.

However, Christian Retournat, a French air force official based on the island, told CNN: “It is way too soon to say whether or not it is MH370. We just found the debris this morning.”



Policemen stand next to a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion. Source: AFP 
 
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau was notified by French officials on Reunion Island late on Wednesday (AEST) of the discovery of what appears to be part of a wing.

The ATSB is working with the plane’s manufacturer, Boeing, to identify if it is from MH370.

“We’ve received some pictures of the item and we are having them assessed by the manufacturers as to what they may be,” ATSB spokesman Joe Hattley told AAP.

“The French authorities have it secured,” Hattley said of the debris. “We’ll work with the French.

“First we need to determine what the item is and whether it is part of a Boeing 777 and then if it is part of MH370.”

Key to the investigation will be serial numbers on the wreckage.

“There’s two numbers you’d be looking for,” he said. “One is a part number. Similar parts on different planes would have a number.

“And you’d have a serial number, a specific number to that particular component.

“If we can locate a serial number we might be able to match it to a specific air frame.”

Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan, who heads the seabed search, said searchers’ drift modelling indicated that debris could have floated to the island from where they believed the missing plane crashed 1800km southwest of Australia.

So if the find proved to be part of the missing aircraft, it would still be consistent with the theory that the plane crashed within the 120,000km sq search area.

“It doesn’t rule out our current search area if this were associated with MH370,” Dolan told The Associated Press. “It is entirely possible that something could have drifted from our current search area to that island.”

“It’s unlikely to change the search plans. It would give us confirmation that there is an aircraft definitely in the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Dolan said search resources would be better spent continuing the seabed search with sonar and video for wreckage rather than reviving a surface search for debris if the find proved to be from Flight 370.

Confirmation that the wing part was the first trace of Flight 370 ever found would finally disprove theories that the airliner might have disappeared in the northern hemisphere, he said.

Dolan said he had seen detailed photographs of the find and “it certainly looks like an aerofoil from a large aircraft.”

Police carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion. Source: AFP  

Locals say the piece of plane appears to have been in the water for around a year.

French aviation experts were immediately assessing the photographs of the wing flap for any connection to MH370 and early speculation is that it could be the wing of a Boeing 777, the same as MH370.

MH370 disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8, 2014, bound for Beijing with 239 people aboard.

In the 18 months since there have been extensive multinational searches including the Australian-led search off the west coast of Australia that was initiated by computer analysis of “pings” emanating from the plane which appeared to change course in a dead spot of radar activity between Malaysia and Vietnam.

There have been other aircraft crashes in the area near Reunion Island, including a twin engine crash in 2006, and an A310 which crashed off the Comoros in 2009.

What we know so far and what happens next

What was found:
* A composite metal object, believed to be from an aircraft, covered in shells
* It measures 2m long, 1m wide, takes 4-5 people to carry
* It appears to be part of rear of an aircraft wing
* It could be a “flapper”, used as aircraft lands or takes off

Where was it found:
* It was discovered by locals on a beach on the Island of La Reunion, French Indian Ocean, about 6000km from current search area
* Find is consistent with the path debris was predicted to flow, away from search zone
* If confirmed, it would also be consistent with theory MH370 crashed within 120,000sq km search area 1800km southwest of Perth

What happens next:
* Malaysia has sent team to Reunion to examine the debris
* Authorities, including those in Australia, working with manufacturer Boeing to try to identify it * They are looking for a part number or a serial number; there appears to be an unidentified number - BB670
* This would help confirm type of plane, owner of plane (MH370 was a Boeing 777)
* Expected to take several days to identify and/or confirm if it’s from MH370 or not
MH370

Recap:
* MH370 disappeared on the night of March 8, 2014
* Had been heading from Kualu Lumpur to Beijing
* Last contact made as it was travelling over the South China Sea
* Minutes later it veered off its route over waters near Malaysia
* 237 passengers and 12 Malaysian crew on board
* Most where Chinese, also 6 Australian travellers
* Theories about what happened include: the pilot going rogue, a hypoxia event, and even accusations Russia commandeered the plane to Kazakhstan

Search so far:
* Australia has led the operation to find MH370 since March 17, 2014
* Some 50,000sq km of sea floor in the southern Indian Ocean has been scanned
* Nothing has been found so far
* About 40pc of the overall search area still to be examined
With agencies

 
There is still some bizarre contradictions in all this??---MTF...P2   

[ventus45]

The answer to the riddle is the barnacles.

The marine biologists can examine the barnacles.

<wiki>
Most barnacles inhabit shallow waters, with 75% of species living in water depths less than 100 m (300 ft).
25% inhabiting the inter-tidal zone.
Within the inter-tidal zone, different species of barnacles live in very tightly constrained locations.
The exact height of an assemblage above or below sea level to be precisely determined.
(around 1,220 species are currently known).
</wiki>

So, the marine biologists should be able to determine the species of the barnacles.
Hence they should be able to determine the home habitat that they came from.
Hence we can determine where the flaperon has been from the age of the barnacles.
It is a two step process.
Suppose they are 12 months old.
It has been 16 months.
So 12 months ago it was in location "X", where it was collonised, then it drifted to Reunion.
But for the 4 months before it was collonised at location "X", it was drifting from the ditching.
So, we only have to work back from location "X" / "then" to find the bird.

Moreover, once we find out where "X" is, (assuming it is a "coast") we can intensively search that "coast" for any other wreckage, that may have been "ensnared" there, ie, not drifted on.

Simples............

Beaker is drafting the press release for the Miniscule as we sleep .......... ( on it ).

[ventus45]

[/url][url=<blockquote]Duncan Steel says if debris found on Reunion Island is from #MH370 it will give clues on why plane crashed #TheWorld pic.twitter.com/55JhCNnaKT
— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) July 30, 2015 ">

Duncan Steel says if debris found on Reunion Island is from #MH370 it will give clues on why plane crashed #TheWorld pic.twitter.com/55JhCNnaKT
— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) July 30, 2015

[Gobbledock]

Ventus, thankyou for raising the very salient point about the barnacles. This is totally correct and the type of barnacle will help in refining the probable crash location a little better.

Perhaps if we analyse the furry barnacle growing on the media tarts face we will be able to determine how long the super sleuth Muppet has had his head buried under water?

[Kharon]

Passing strange points of interest.

A suitcase does not a baggage hold make.  

A flaperon does not an airframe make; interest will be in cubic meters of ‘air’ trapped within the damaged unit to even maintain neutral buoyancy, let alone float on the high seas, for months on end.  I wonder where the other 27 acres of parts are?

Barnacles and the growth of are ‘interesting’.  No way the French will allow Australia anywhere near their barnacle encrusted part, not yet a while.  It won’t be a two or even a three year study now; not with some professionals on the job.  Hell, we may even get some useful information, just for a change.  Vive la France.

No trip to Reunion from the increasingly isolated Beaker then.

Joe Hattley (voice of experience and true knowledge) chats with the ABC, how refreshing to finally hear comment from someone who can differentiate between pooh and poohola.  

JAAC is very quiet, Anus with a G absent from the Minister’s side and Beaker off the radar (if not the planet).  Something is happening, dare we hope?

Balanced each way bet in the Truss statement, which is a very sensible position to take, given who he has had to advise him so far.  Stick with Joe H mate, at least he knows which end of an aircraft the smoke comes out of.

Aye well; maybe some part of the puzzle is about to be resolved; at least enough to ‘re-boot’ some of the models and theory.

[Peetwo]

Excellent post Ventus and is where many Marine experts etc. seem to be now going; that is of course if the Flaperon proves to be from MH370. 

Example from the Oz article below:

"..Mr Truss said marine experts were examining shellfish and other marine life attached to the debris to advise on where they might have originated and how long they would take to grow.."

Couple more quotes (courtesy of Guardian live blog) from the Truss presser yesterday afternoon, where strangely Beaker was again noticeable in his absence.. :

15h ago16:33

Truss says photos of the wreckage suggest the debris could be the flaperon.
The photos are “not inconsistent with a Boeing 777”, he says, but there are other possibilities.

More investigation will be needed to verify that it is from a 777 and if so, which one.
He says the number on the part, BB670, could be a maintenance number. It is not a serial number, he says.

It is a “realistic possibility” that debris from where MH370 is thought to have crashed could have drifted as far as Réunion.

15h ago16:34

Truss says the investigation will take some time but the BB670 number could help to speed that up.

This is particularly stressful for the families of the people who lost their lives on MH370, he says.

He says the Australian authorities have been in touch with families affected.

16:36
The Réunion island is a French territory, Truss says, so France and Malaysia are leading on this aspect of the search. Australia, which leads the search in the waters closer to Australian territory, will continue to assist.

  15h ago16:37

Truss: 'We are treating this as a major lead'

..A piece of debris could have floated a very, very long way in 16 months and it is a very, very long way to the Reunion islands from where we think the aircraft entered the water.
Clearly we are treating this as a major lead...

IMO the following quote from Truss is extremely naïve...

"..Truss says he hopes some of the “wild” theories about the fate of the aircraft will be put to bed if this turns out to be a part of MH370, but he says it also won’t tell us much more about the plane’s location, beyond the fact it is in the Indian Ocean.." 

This is almost perfectly highlighted in today's Oz article:

MH370: ‘Gentle turn’ the key to mystery of missing airliner
by: BRENDAN NICHOLSON

• From: The Australian
  
• July 31, 2015 12:00AM
  

Defence Editor
Canberra

[*]

Search area Source: TheAustralian


[*]


Police stand next to a piece of debris on the island of La Reunion. Source: AFP 
 
Whoever was flying Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 when it disappeared in March last year made a gentle turn away from its planned course, possibly to avoid alerting passengers to the change of direction.  

As what might be the first piece of wreckage from the missing jet was found on a beach on the French-owned Indian Ocean island of Reunion, ­aviation sources told The Australian that after more than a year exhausting all other possibilities, investigators believed the plane could not have behaved as it did, and followed the course it travelled, without “human hands on the controls”.

[*]MH370 vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to ­Beijing on March 8, 2014. No distress signal or message was sent and all 239 passengers and crew on the Boeing 777 are presumed dead. The aircraft is believed to have made a radical change of course less than an hour after it took off and to have crashed in the ocean far off Western Australia six hours later.
[*]
Aircraft experts have said the large piece of debris found on Reunion appeared to be a control surface known as a “flaperon” from the back edge of a wing. They have confirmed that it closely resembled a part from a Boeing 777. Reports last night suggested a suitcase had also been washed up on Reunion but it was not clear whether it was from the missing plane.
[*]
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Warren Truss said that if the wing section proved to be from MH370, that would be consistent with it drifting on currents for several thousand kilometres in 16 months from what was believed to be the crash site west of Australia.
[*]
Mr Truss said it was too early to say the wing section was from the missing aircraft. But it was the first real lead, he added.
[*]
“It certainly is an interesting discovery,” he said.
[*]
Mr Truss said marine experts were examining shellfish and other marine life attached to the debris to advise on where they might have originated and how long they would take to grow.

A search led by Australia has so far covered 55,000 square kilometres of ocean floor up to 4km down. The search could eventually cover 120,000 square kilometres and is expected to cost Australia up to $90 million. Australia has already spent $76m on the search.
[*]
In Beijing, anxious families of the 153 Chinese passengers on the doomed aircraft were nervously awaiting the official forensic ­investigation of the debris.
[*]
It is understood Chinese officials may have been sent to join the investigation. In a group statement, Chinese victims’ family members said they were desperate for information. Xu Jinghong, whose mother was on the flight, said families were sceptical each time an announcement about the plane was made.
[*]
“I find it hard to believe, it’s contradictory to investigations during the past year,” Mr Xu told The South China Morning Post.
[*]
The Australian has been told that, as it diverted from its course, the aircraft made a slow “half standard rate turn” which would have taken several minutes to swing it back over the Malay Peninsula. Then it headed southward to the ocean west of Australia.
[*]
A standard half-rate turn is a very gentle change of course and it would take several minutes to complete. Whoever was flying the aircraft could well have also turned off the system of moving maps viewed in the passenger cabin, an aviation source said.
[*]
“Aircraft just don’t turn their transponder and their ACARS system off and then make an ­actual turn in direction all at the same time without someone being at the controls,” a source told The Australian. “Somebody made that happen. The aviation community is convinced there was a human hand involved.”
[*]
ACARS, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, is a digital datalink system that transmits messages between aircraft and ground ­stations via radio or satellite.
[*]
“The systems were turned off and the aircraft then made a rate half turn across the Malay peninsula and joined the air route across the top of Sumatra and over the Indian Ocean,” a veteran aviator said. “Somebody either programmed that to happen or flew that course.

[*]Aircraft just don’t fly themselves. Somebody had to actually manoeuvre the aircraft and transponders don’t just stop transmitting.
[*]
“That was initiated by somebody and events then followed from there.”
[*]
The aircraft is believe to have flown on for six hours before it ran out of fuel, the engines flamed out and it crashed into the ocean.
[*]
Exhaustive examination of ocean currents by the investigators trying to find MH370 has confirmed that the wing section found on La Reunion could have drifted there from the apparent crash site off Western Australia.
[*]
The currents would have ­initially carried the section towards the Indonesian island of Sumatra and then circled out across the Indian Ocean.
[*]
Australian investigators say they hope to know within days if the debris is part of a Boeing 777. Mr Truss said the numbers BB670 found on the debris were not a serial number that could immediately identify the plane but could prove valuable if they were added during maintenance. ­Malaysia has sent an investigation team to Reunion.
[*]
A leading oceanographer who has helped in the search said the arrival of debris on Reunion ­Island was consistent with his own modelling of the likely drift from the crash site.
[*]
Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western Australia, produced a model last year showing the MH370 debris could have been carried by the Indian Ocean’s characteristic anticlockwise towards Madagascar, west of Reunion, within 18 months.
[*]
“The debris would have meandered, it would have gone around and round in swirls and eddies, and it would have taken some time to reach the west,” he said.
[*]
If the debris is confirmed to be part of a Boeing 777, that would rule out two other Indian Ocean crashes. Ethiopian Airlines flight 961, a Boeing 767, crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoro Islands in 1996, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew. The dead included three hijackers. South African Airways flight 295, a Boeing 747, crashed into the ­Indian Ocean east of Mauritius in 1987 after an in-flight fire, killing all on board.
[*]
Additional reporting: Scott Murdoch, Wang Yuanyuan, Victoria Laurie

[*]
Speculation & 'wild theories' will continue unabated while we are operating in an - Malaysian Government imposed - information vacuum...
MTF...P2  

[Kharon]

Perhaps:-

Midnight spares by stealth delivery?


Only kidding - got it!.... ...

[FelineNut]

Perhaps:-

Midnight spares by stealth delivery?


Only kidding - got it!.... ...

I like that... Thats FUNNY! btw -- I will begin finishing the post above -- I got caught up in Win10 upgrade and then the flaperon ... thanks for the Canoe Laugh! That was a Great hit! I must steal that pic!

[Gobbledock]

"Couple more quotes (courtesy of Guardian live blog) from the Truss presser yesterday afternoon, where strangely Beaker was again noticeable in his absence"

Unfortunately that media tart, the font of investigative excellence, the Doyen of the abacus and full time manscaper Beaker had his ugly beardless face all over Channel nine tonight, and so did that lisping crusty headed umbrella boy Truss. Beaker obviously sniffed out a camera and came out of hiding. It was nauseating, and it was certainly the biggest load of mi mi mi I have heard in awhile.

But I was perplexed. Beakers face and head were incredibly shiny, smooth and almost glowing. Is he a Nivea man? If so, why doesn't he share some skin maintenance tips with Farmboy who could do with some maintenance to his melon? I thought maybe Truss had been rubbing his scalp against Beakers beard while bobbing for goodies in the taxpayer tough, it looked that bad!

[Peetwo]

Latest update via the AAP courtesy of the Oz:

MH370 five things: what happened, the search, conspiracy theories  

• by: Jacquelin Magnay
  
• From: The Australian
  
• August 01, 2015 10:40AM
  

European Correspondent



Debris that washed ashore on Réunion bears similarities to a wing section of a Boeing 777, the same model as MH370. (Note: Debris may come from different side of plane than pictured.) WSJ Source: Supplied

The discovery of debris believed to be from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is the first positive sign that hundreds of families may soon be provided with answers, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says.  

Malaysian authorities have confirmed the wing flap, which washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean this week, is from a Boeing 777 - all but confirming it is a part of the missing aircraft.

It has been sent to France for analysis as the international search effort, led by Australia and now spanning 16 months, continues.

“In a sense, this is the first positive sign that we have located part of that plane,” Ms Bishop told Channel Seven on Saturday.

“Experts will have to analyse, if this is a piece of MH370, the current drifts and how it ended up there, what does that mean for the broader search question.” Ms Bishop reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to the search and said the families of the 239 passengers on board deserved answers.

Investigators are “moving close to solving the mystery of MH370,” Malaysia’s deputy transport minister said earlier.

“I believe that we are moving close to solving the mystery of MH370. This could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean,” Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said.

He said a part number stencilled on the piece of wreckage recovered on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion on Wednesday confirms it came from a Boeing 777.

The ill-fated jet, which vanished 16 months ago with 239 people aboard, was a Boeing 777.

Investigators believe it mysteriously diverted off its flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March of last year and later crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

There have been no other crashes of that aircraft model in that part of the world.

“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” he said.
AFP was not immediately able to reach Malaysia Airlines for comment. The wing component found on the French island of La Reunion bears the part number “657 BB”, according to photos of the debris.

The two-metre long piece of wreckage, known as a flaperon, has been sent to France for analysis.

Abdul Aziz’s remarks are the latest official statement pointing to the increasingly likelihood that the piece of wreckage came from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

Hopes are rising fast that the part can soon be conclusively identified in order to resolve one of aviation’s great mysteries.

Abdul Aziz said the most definitive confirmation of its origin would have to come from Boeing, saying the aircraft manufacturer performed modifications to the flaperon that would make it easy to identify.

“There have been some modifications to internal beams in the flaperon. Only Boeing can verify (that the flaperon came from MH370). The modifications were done by Boeing,” he said.

“Only after they verify the internal parts of the flaperon can they be sure that it is from MH370.” Abdul Aziz said a team of Malaysian investigators had arrived in Paris and would make its way to the city of Toulouse to help examine the debris.

Another Malaysian team was en route to Reunion, he said, where it would examine the remains of a piece of luggage that was found there and any other debris that may turn up.

UK offers help

Britain has offered to provide hydrographers and oceanographers to help in the MH370 investigation following analysis of the aircraft debris that landed on Reunion island.

British defence minister Michael Fallon has offered the team from the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and the Met Office to run a modelling process known as ‘hind casting’ to use historical data on ocean currents and survey data of the sea floor to try and establish where debris might have come from. This would help narrow down the extensive search area the Australian led international search team has been scouring over the past 18 months off the west coast of Australia.

Mr Fallon said in a statement:’’the team at the UKHO are highly skilled and it is hoped that their technical and analytical experience will narrow the search area for MH370.’’ He said Britain stands ready to aid Malaysia in their efforts to find this plane.

Boeing 777 confirmed

Malaysian officials have confirmed the debris washed up on Reunion Island on Wednesday is from a Boeing 777, increasing the chances it is from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines MH370.

Only one Boeing 777 aircraft has crashed in the southern hemisphere, that of the MH370 which went missing on March 8, 2014 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said.

French investigators have organised for the aircraft debris, which is a flaperon, to be air freighted to France overnight for further investigation.

Other small items have been found on Reunion Island include a chinese water bottle and a Malaysia bottle of cleaning fluid. Remnants of a suitcase found in the same area as the flaperon is also being investigated to see if it belongs to any of the 239 people who were onboard the aircraft.

The large chunk of debris washed up on the west coast shoreline at St Andrew on the island Wednesday morning local time, and if it is determined to be from MH370, it will help solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time.

Locals say the piece of plane appears to have been in the water for around a year.
In the 18 months since there have been extensive multi national searches including the Australian-led search off the west coast of Australia that was initiated by computer analysis of ‘’pings’’ emanating from the plane which appeared to change course in a dead spot of radar activity between Malaysia and Vietnam.

MH370 - Five facts

MH370: what we know so far

More than a year after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the discovery of airplane debris on Réunion, a French island near Madagascar, has added another twist to one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

1. What happened to MH370?
Flight 370 is thought to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean after veering off its intended flight path on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. Investigators believe it ran out of fuel. No trace of the aircraft has been found. But debris that washed ashore on Réunion bears similarities to a wing section of a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing jet. The wing segment normally helps control the craft’s movement.

2. How did the search unfold?
Malaysia and Vietnam initially searched in the South China Sea, near the plane’s last reported position. The search then expanded to the Indian Ocean after investigators found that the jet transmitted information to a satellite—leaving a trail of data that investigators mined to help identify a likely crash site, far off the southwestern coast of Australia. In April 2014, the operation refocused on an area the size of West Virginia. That zone has since been doubled to up to 46,000 square miles. (See a timeline of the search below)

3. Who is involved in finding the plane?
Malaysia and Australia have been leading the search, along with China, which had more citizens than any other nation on the plane. Officials have questioned the conventions that have led to Australia’s bearing the brunt of search costs–about US$66 million. French officials are trying to determine the provenance of the debris that washed up on Réunion, with input from Australia, Malaysia and aircraft manufacturers.

4. What about the conspiracy theories?
The mystery has left the field open for some to pursue their own inquiries. Sara Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on the plane, is skeptical of the official investigation. She scrolls through tips about the plane submitted by the public, including those claiming to have seen an object flaming in the sky the day Flight 370 disappeared. Others allege there has been a coverup. One group has set up a website called The Hunt for 370. Another group of family members, Voice 370, has pushed for Malaysia to release more information on the plane’s cargo.

5. Where do the search and investigation go from here?
The airplane debris that washed up on Réunion could be the first tangible evidence that investigators were right: the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean. But locating the remainder of the wreckage would be a hard task, relying on complex calculations about ocean currents and weather patterns over nearly 17 months. Officials caution it is too soon to say whether the debris is linked to Flight 370.
The Wall Street Journal




The MH370 search area. Source: TheAustralian

The Hunt for MH370
Flight 370 went missing more than a year ago with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. Here are the key developments in the search:
March 8, 2014
Flight 370 departs Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. bound for Beijing, but loses contact with civilian air-traffic control less than an hour into the flight. Malaysia and Vietnam start searching in the South China Sea, near its last reported position. On board were 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
March 9
Based on the Royal Malaysia Air Force’s radar recording, there was a possible “turnback” by Flight 370. The search area is extended from the South China Sea to the Strait of Malacca, on the other side of the Malay Peninsula.
March 11
Police say the investigation into the missing plane would examine the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, and psychological and personal problems among passengers and crew.
March 14
The international search expands to the Indian Ocean.
March 15
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak says there is a “high degree of certainty” that the plane’s two communications systems were disabled. He says data relayed by the plane to a satellite confirms it diverged from its planned route and that its last satellite communication came at 8:11 a.m.
March 24
Mr. Najib announces that satellite data released by Inmarsat concluded that the missing plane ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.
April 8
The flight data recorders, known as black boxes, reached their approximate 30-day battery life expectancy and would no longer send locater signals.
April 28
The search coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority moves to an underwater phase, assisted by Malaysia and China.
June 26
The search shifts farther south and the Joint Agency Coordination Center leading the effort says there is a strong possibility that MH370 was on autopilot when communication with the satellite stopped.
January 29, 2015
Officials declare MH370’s disappearance an accident, and say that all 239 people aboard are presumed to have died.
July 29, 2015
Investigators were examining a piece of an aircraft that was found on Réunion Island but they couldn’t confirm whether it was from Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed off the southwestern coast of Australia more than a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

Latest update via the AAP courtesy of the Oz:

MH370 five things: what happened, the search, conspiracy theories  

• by: Jacquelin Magnay
  
• From: The Australian
  
• August 01, 2015 10:40AM
  

European Correspondent



Debris that washed ashore on Réunion bears similarities to a wing section of a Boeing 777, the same model as MH370. (Note: Debris may come from different side of plane than pictured.) WSJ Source: Supplied

The discovery of debris believed to be from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is the first positive sign that hundreds of families may soon be provided with answers, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says.  

Malaysian authorities have confirmed the wing flap, which washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean this week, is from a Boeing 777 - all but confirming it is a part of the missing aircraft.

It has been sent to France for analysis as the international search effort, led by Australia and now spanning 16 months, continues.

“In a sense, this is the first positive sign that we have located part of that plane,” Ms Bishop told Channel Seven on Saturday.

“Experts will have to analyse, if this is a piece of MH370, the current drifts and how it ended up there, what does that mean for the broader search question.” Ms Bishop reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to the search and said the families of the 239 passengers on board deserved answers.

Investigators are “moving close to solving the mystery of MH370,” Malaysia’s deputy transport minister said earlier.

“I believe that we are moving close to solving the mystery of MH370. This could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean,” Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said.

He said a part number stencilled on the piece of wreckage recovered on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion on Wednesday confirms it came from a Boeing 777.

The ill-fated jet, which vanished 16 months ago with 239 people aboard, was a Boeing 777.

Investigators believe it mysteriously diverted off its flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March of last year and later crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

There have been no other crashes of that aircraft model in that part of the world.

“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” he said.
AFP was not immediately able to reach Malaysia Airlines for comment. The wing component found on the French island of La Reunion bears the part number “657 BB”, according to photos of the debris.

The two-metre long piece of wreckage, known as a flaperon, has been sent to France for analysis.

Abdul Aziz’s remarks are the latest official statement pointing to the increasingly likelihood that the piece of wreckage came from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

Hopes are rising fast that the part can soon be conclusively identified in order to resolve one of aviation’s great mysteries.

Abdul Aziz said the most definitive confirmation of its origin would have to come from Boeing, saying the aircraft manufacturer performed modifications to the flaperon that would make it easy to identify.

“There have been some modifications to internal beams in the flaperon. Only Boeing can verify (that the flaperon came from MH370). The modifications were done by Boeing,” he said.

“Only after they verify the internal parts of the flaperon can they be sure that it is from MH370.” Abdul Aziz said a team of Malaysian investigators had arrived in Paris and would make its way to the city of Toulouse to help examine the debris.

Another Malaysian team was en route to Reunion, he said, where it would examine the remains of a piece of luggage that was found there and any other debris that may turn up.

UK offers help

Britain has offered to provide hydrographers and oceanographers to help in the MH370 investigation following analysis of the aircraft debris that landed on Reunion island.

British defence minister Michael Fallon has offered the team from the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and the Met Office to run a modelling process known as ‘hind casting’ to use historical data on ocean currents and survey data of the sea floor to try and establish where debris might have come from. This would help narrow down the extensive search area the Australian led international search team has been scouring over the past 18 months off the west coast of Australia.

Mr Fallon said in a statement:’’the team at the UKHO are highly skilled and it is hoped that their technical and analytical experience will narrow the search area for MH370.’’ He said Britain stands ready to aid Malaysia in their efforts to find this plane.

Boeing 777 confirmed

Malaysian officials have confirmed the debris washed up on Reunion Island on Wednesday is from a Boeing 777, increasing the chances it is from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines MH370.

Only one Boeing 777 aircraft has crashed in the southern hemisphere, that of the MH370 which went missing on March 8, 2014 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me,” deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said.

French investigators have organised for the aircraft debris, which is a flaperon, to be air freighted to France overnight for further investigation.

Other small items have been found on Reunion Island include a chinese water bottle and a Malaysia bottle of cleaning fluid. Remnants of a suitcase found in the same area as the flaperon is also being investigated to see if it belongs to any of the 239 people who were onboard the aircraft.

The large chunk of debris washed up on the west coast shoreline at St Andrew on the island Wednesday morning local time, and if it is determined to be from MH370, it will help solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time.

Locals say the piece of plane appears to have been in the water for around a year.
In the 18 months since there have been extensive multi national searches including the Australian-led search off the west coast of Australia that was initiated by computer analysis of ‘’pings’’ emanating from the plane which appeared to change course in a dead spot of radar activity between Malaysia and Vietnam.

MH370 - Five facts

MH370: what we know so far

More than a year after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the discovery of airplane debris on Réunion, a French island near Madagascar, has added another twist to one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

1. What happened to MH370?
Flight 370 is thought to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean after veering off its intended flight path on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. Investigators believe it ran out of fuel. No trace of the aircraft has been found. But debris that washed ashore on Réunion bears similarities to a wing section of a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing jet. The wing segment normally helps control the craft’s movement.

2. How did the search unfold?
Malaysia and Vietnam initially searched in the South China Sea, near the plane’s last reported position. The search then expanded to the Indian Ocean after investigators found that the jet transmitted information to a satellite—leaving a trail of data that investigators mined to help identify a likely crash site, far off the southwestern coast of Australia. In April 2014, the operation refocused on an area the size of West Virginia. That zone has since been doubled to up to 46,000 square miles. (See a timeline of the search below)

3. Who is involved in finding the plane?
Malaysia and Australia have been leading the search, along with China, which had more citizens than any other nation on the plane. Officials have questioned the conventions that have led to Australia’s bearing the brunt of search costs–about US$66 million. French officials are trying to determine the provenance of the debris that washed up on Réunion, with input from Australia, Malaysia and aircraft manufacturers.

4. What about the conspiracy theories?
The mystery has left the field open for some to pursue their own inquiries. Sara Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on the plane, is skeptical of the official investigation. She scrolls through tips about the plane submitted by the public, including those claiming to have seen an object flaming in the sky the day Flight 370 disappeared. Others allege there has been a coverup. One group has set up a website called The Hunt for 370. Another group of family members, Voice 370, has pushed for Malaysia to release more information on the plane’s cargo.

5. Where do the search and investigation go from here?
The airplane debris that washed up on Réunion could be the first tangible evidence that investigators were right: the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean. But locating the remainder of the wreckage would be a hard task, relying on complex calculations about ocean currents and weather patterns over nearly 17 months. Officials caution it is too soon to say whether the debris is linked to Flight 370.
The Wall Street Journal




The MH370 search area. Source: TheAustralian

The Hunt for MH370
Flight 370 went missing more than a year ago with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. Here are the key developments in the search:
March 8, 2014
Flight 370 departs Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. bound for Beijing, but loses contact with civilian air-traffic control less than an hour into the flight. Malaysia and Vietnam start searching in the South China Sea, near its last reported position. On board were 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
March 9
Based on the Royal Malaysia Air Force’s radar recording, there was a possible “turnback” by Flight 370. The search area is extended from the South China Sea to the Strait of Malacca, on the other side of the Malay Peninsula.
March 11
Police say the investigation into the missing plane would examine the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, and psychological and personal problems among passengers and crew.
March 14
The international search expands to the Indian Ocean.
March 15
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak says there is a “high degree of certainty” that the plane’s two communications systems were disabled. He says data relayed by the plane to a satellite confirms it diverged from its planned route and that its last satellite communication came at 8:11 a.m.
March 24
Mr. Najib announces that satellite data released by Inmarsat concluded that the missing plane ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.
April 8
The flight data recorders, known as black boxes, reached their approximate 30-day battery life expectancy and would no longer send locater signals.
April 28
The search coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority moves to an underwater phase, assisted by Malaysia and China.
June 26
The search shifts farther south and the Joint Agency Coordination Center leading the effort says there is a strong possibility that MH370 was on autopilot when communication with the satellite stopped.
January 29, 2015
Officials declare MH370’s disappearance an accident, and say that all 239 people aboard are presumed to have died.
July 29, 2015
Investigators were examining a piece of an aircraft that was found on Réunion Island but they couldn’t confirm whether it was from Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed off the southwestern coast of Australia more than a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal

Also from ABC Radio on this morning's AM program Ben Sandilands is interviewed...

Piece of wreckage 'very likely' to be from missing flight MH370: officials

Mandie Sami reported this story on Saturday, August 1, 2015 08:00:00
About JW Player 6.11.4923 (Ads edition)

| MP3 download

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Officials in Malaysia say a piece of wreckage found on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion is "very likely" to be from the missing flight MH370.

Malaysia's deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi has told the AFP news agency that a part number stencilled on the piece of wreckage recovered confirms it came from a Boeing 777.

The ill-fated jet, which vanished 16 months ago with 239 people aboard, was a Boeing 777.

Ben Sandilands is aviation analyst who has been working in field since 1960.

He told our reporter Mandie Sami he's almost 100 per cent sure this is it.

BEN SANDILANDS: It's extremely significant because there's probably only one part that corresponds to that number, which would be in the wild, so to speak: and that's the part that's been recovered from the north shore of La Réunion island.

MANDIE SAMI: So what does it actually mean - this part? When you see the pictures, it doesn't look like there's anything that could be identifiable because it's in very bad shape. How would they actually go about confirming this now?

BEN SANDILANDS: It's actually not that difficult for the aero engineers. It meets the size. It's made of the same material. It has the part number on it.

And not only that, but it conforms to some of the drift analysis which predicted that wreckage - that floating wreckage - from the loss of the aircraft would migrate in time toward La Réunion, Madagascar and possibly even Mauritius.

MANDIE SAMI: So this doesn't come as a surprise to you, at least?

BEN SANDILANDS: Not at all. And the reason why I think people are confident that the Australian search is vaguely in the right area are the two factors. The two critical factors: the plane flew for seven hours, 39 minutes and when it came down the satellites that it was talking to had to be 44 degrees above the horizon. So that gives us an arc of possibilities where the plane wreckage lies. But unfortunately that's a very, very large area.

MANDIE SAMI: This piece is now actually being flown to France for analysis. What actually happens?

BEN SANDILANDS: I think that they want to have a really good look at the panel, or the flaperon, to see what it tells them forensically. Has it been burnt? The answer's probably no but they don't know the answer. What sort of forces was it subjected to, to show the damage that we see on the trailing edge?

When we look at that piece of wreckage, the wider bit - the rounded bit - is actually embedded in the wing and the torn bit at the other side is actually the end of the flap - flaperon - that you would have seen if you were looking out of the window.

MANDIE SAMI: So from your analysis - I know the Malaysian officials are saying that it is very highly likely - your independent analysis: do you believe that this is it?

BEN SANDILANDS: Yes, I do. I'm so confident, I'm prepared to say it is it. There's the remotest of possibilities that at some stage in the past, somebody has needed to replace one of those flaperons with a new one and somehow or other the piece - the old piece - got discarded or thrown away. That's an incredibly unlikely scenario. There is only one missing 777 in the world: it's MH370. And this piece shows every sign of having come from it.

MANDIE SAMI: The transport official Abdul Aziz: he's said that he was informed of the confirmation of the part number by Malaysia Airlines. If that's the case, why haven't we had an official announcement?

BEN SANDILANDS: I think anybody - including (laughs) some long-suffering ABC reporters, I might add, who had to sit through the Malaysia Airlines briefings every night in Kuala Lumpur - will tell you that they are not in any way surprised by this process of obfuscation and lack of disclosure.

We've got to remember that we are dealing with a government which has never before had to deal with an aggressive Western media live on TV and radio. They are used to controlling the message. They cannot control this message.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Aviation analyst Ben Sandilands speaking there to our reporter, Mandie Sami.

MTF..P2

[Peetwo]

Recent update courtesy of the Oz:

MH370: Reunion debris discovery lifts hopes for missing flight clues  

From: AFP
August 03, 2015 1:18AM




Police escort an airport vehicle transporting debris from a Boeing 777 plane that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, which will be flown to France. Source: AFP




The wing part that was found washed up on Reunion island and a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, above. Source: Supplied

A senior Malaysian official says that an object found in Reunion has been confirmed as “a domestic ladder” and is not a plane part, amid media reports that a new piece of plane debris was found on the island.  

Malaysian Director General of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said tonight that a piece of debris found on a beach near the town of Saint-Denis on Sunday morning had nothing to do with the investigation involving the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Rahman said “I’m the one leading the investigation in France for the analysis of the (wing flap) piece brought back. I read all over media it (the new debris) was part of a door. But I checked with the Civil Aviation Authority, and people on the ground in Reunion, and it was just a domestic ladder.”

Malaysia yesterday urged authorities in the region to be on alert for wreckage washing up on their shores.

Reunion locals have been combing the shores since a Boeing 777 wing part was found last Wednesday, sparking speculation that it may be the first tangible evidence that the Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.

An AFP photographer saw police collect a mangled piece of metal inscribed with two Chinese characters and attached to what appears to be a leather-covered handle.



Metallic debris found on a beach in Saint-Denis on the French Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, close to where a Boeing 777 wing part was found Source: AFP
The debris, measuring about 100 square centimetres, was placed into an iron case.
Also on Sunday morning it was reported that a man handed police a piece of debris measuring 70 centimetres, guessing it was part of a plane door.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said civil aviation authorities have asked their Indian Ocean counterparts to lookout for further debris.

He also confirmed that the wing part found Wednesday on the French island had been “officially identified” as from a Boeing 777 — making it virtually certain that it was from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Flight MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to ever be lost at sea.

A spokesman for Australia’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss said more “objects are being brought to local stations but nothing ‘obvious’ so far. And no door.”

While the wing part — known as a flaperon —has been sent to France for further analysis, locals on La Reunion are scouring the beach for more debris, in what a French source close to the investigation likened to a “treasure hunt”.

The discovery follows a gruelling 16-month search that has yielded no evidence of what happened to the plane that disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.



Police officers leave the scene with a container holding metallic debris found on a beach in Saint-Denis on the French Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Source: AFP
The flight’s mysterious disappearance has given rise to a myriad conspiracy theories, with speculation focused primarily on a possible mechanical or structural failure, a hijacking or terror plot, or rogue pilot action.

Scientists say it’s plausible that ocean currents carried the wreckage as far as La Reunion.
Malaysia’s deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP that the Boeing 777 wing part “could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean.”

The flaperon will be examined in a lab near the French city of Toulouse that specialises in plane crash investigations.

Four Malaysian officials are in Paris with officials from Malaysia Airlines for a meeting on Monday with three French magistrates and an official from France’s civil aviation investigating authority BEA.

Mr Truss has warned that even if the debris is confirmed to come from MH370 it is unlikely to completely clear up one of aviation’s greatest puzzles, unless the black box is found.

Australian search authorities leading the hunt for the aircraft some 4,000km from Reunion are confident the main debris field is in the current search area.

The discovery has been yet another painful twist for the families of the victims.


[img=558x488]http://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/683565048886460417/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-683565048886460417;1043138249'[/img][/url]


Cordon for MH370 part

Media reporters were barred tonight from a French defence site in Balma in south-western France, to where a piece of plane wing that could be from Flight MH370 was taken.

Analysis of aircraft debris found washed up on a remote island in the Indian Ocean will begin on Wednesday, and the discovery has brought fresh hope of a potential breakthrough in the search for [url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/mh370-five-things-what-happened-the-search-conspiracy-theories/story-fnay3ubk-1227464830537]the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

French authorities have imposed extraordinary secrecy over the two-metre-long piece of wing, putting it under police protection in the hours before it left the island of Reunion en route to the French military site.

Reporters were being kept outside the facility, where French aviation experts will try to establish whether wreckage was part of the Boeing 777 which disappeared March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board.

Wrapped and loaded as cargo, the fragment was transported to the military aviation laboratory east of Toulouse.

Air safety investigators, including one from Boeing, had identified the component as a flaperon from the trailing edge of a Boeing 777 wing, a US official said. The official wasn’t authorised to be publicly identified.

MH370 families lash red herrings

Flight 370, which disappeared March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, is the only missing 777.

Under a microscope and expert eyes, the wing fragment that washed up on the beach of the volcanic island could yield clues not just to its path through the Indian Ocean, but also to what happened to the airplane.

Analysts at the French aviation laboratory hope to glean details from metal stress to see what caused the flap to break off, spot explosive or other chemical traces, and study the sea life that made its home on the wing to pinpoint where it came from.

Even if the piece is confirmed to be the first confirmed wreckage from Flight 370, there’s no guarantee that investigators can find the plane’s vital black box recorders or other debris. A multinational search effort has so far come up empty.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has described the discovery of the wing part, found earlier this week on a beach on the island, as a positive sign for the hundreds of grieving families who may soon be provided with answers.

If the wing part is confirmed as being from flight MH370, it will be the first breakthrough in the search for the plane, which vanished almost 17 months ago en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

“In a sense, this is the first positive sign that we have located part of that plane,” Ms Bishop told Channel Seven on Saturday.

The families deserved answers, she said.

Malaysia’s deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said authorities were now closer to solving the mystery of MH370. “This could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Parts of a suitcase discovered nearby will also be analysed. Authorities are less convinced, however, that the suitcase is related to the missing aircraft, Australia’s Transport Minister Warren Truss said on Friday.

Boeing said in a statement on Friday that it would send a technical team to France to study the plane debris at the request of civil aviation authorities.

“Our goal, along with the entire global aviation industry, continues to be not only to find the airplane, but also to determine what happened — and why,” the US aerospace giant added. However, authorities have warned that one small part of the plane is unlikely to completely clear up one of aviation’s greatest puzzles.

Photographs show the wing component bearing the part number “657BB”.
“From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines),” Mr Aziz said.

Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading the search for the passenger jet, said the agency was increasingly confident the debris was from flight MH370.

AAP/AFP

MTF..P2

[Peetwo]

Christoph Mueller (left) speaks as James Hogan, President and CEO of Etihad Airways looks on during a panel discussion at the 2015 International Air Transport Association AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, June 8, 2015. — Reute

MH370 4 August developments

From the Oz:

Flight MH370 experts holding talks

Malaysian aviation ­experts were to meet their French counterparts and judges last night to co-ordinate the investigation into missing Flight MH370, days after the discovery of a washed-up plane part ­offered fresh hopes of solving the mystery.
 

Technical experts, including from Boeing, will from today begin examining the wing component that surfaced last week on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

The 2m flaperon, already confirmed to be part of a Boeing 777, is virtually certain to have come from the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight, as no other such plane is known to have crashed in the area.

In one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history, MH370 inexplicably veered off course last March and dis­appeared from radars, sparking a colossal hunt that has until now proved fruitless.

In January, Malaysian authorities declared all 239 people on board MH370 presumed dead.

The wing part will undergo physical and chemical analysis in the southern French city of Toulouse in a bid to prove beyond doubt that the flaperon once belonged to MH370.

It will be examined with an electron microscope “that can magnify up to 10,000 times” to try to understand how it was damaged, said Pierre Bascary, former director of tests at France’s General Directorate for Armaments.

Experts have warned grieving families not to expect startling revelations from a single part. “We shouldn’t expect miracles from this analysis,” said Jean-Paul Troadec, former head of France’s BEA flight authority.

In order to provide clues as to what happened to the aircraft, “the part would need to be at the centre of the accident and the chances are fairly small,” he noted. “With two square metres of plane, it will be difficult to be sure.”

More than 9000km away, locals on La Reunion were scouring the beaches for more debris that could offer further clues.

What has been described as a “treasure hunt” mentality has led to false alarms, with locals handing in “plane debris” only to discover it is nothing more than ocean rubbish.

“People are calling us for everything,” said a local source close to the investigation.
On Sunday, there was a frenzy of speculation over what ­locals believed to be a plane door but authorities quickly shot down the hopes.

Malaysia’s director-general of civil aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the metallic part was “actually from a domestic ladder. It is not a door.”

Also on Sunday, La Reunion police collected a mangled piece of metal with Chinese characters and attached to what appeared to be a leather-covered handle, sparking more frenzied speculation. Chinese internet users suggested it may be a kettle.

“People are more vigilant. They are going to think any metallic object they find on the beach is from Flight MH370, but there are objects all along the coast, the ocean continually throws them up,” said Jean-Yves Sambim­anan, the spokesman for Saint-Andre where the wing ­debris was found.

Scientists say it is plausible that ocean currents carried a piece of the wreckage as far as La Reunion, but Roland Triadec, a local oceanographer, said La ­Reunion represented only “a pinhead” in the Indian Ocean and the likelihood of other debris washing up there was low.
AFP

 
Too little to late
Next there was this reported in the West Australian & Yahoo7: 

Plea to search coast for MH370 debris

Geoffrey Thomas August 4, 2015, 12:35 am



Plane debris found on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

Malaysia has asked for help from around the southern Indian Ocean, including WA’s South West coast, to look for possible debris from MH370 but urged caution after false leads.

Yesterday Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of WA, reiterated that computer modelling indicated debris from MH370 could have washed up in the South West.

Modelling also showed debris could have reached as far as South Australia and Tasmania.

Only human intervention could cause crash

Check Malaysia Airlines safety rating

But it is unknown how much debris from MH370 could still be floating.

In April last year debris was found on a beach 10km east of Augusta but it was from a light plane.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told news agency Agence France-Presse that authorities asked counterparts in other Indian Ocean territories to look out for debris that could provide more clues to the missing aircraft.
 
He said Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation was urging authorities to let experts “conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming on to land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft”.

“I urge all parties to allow this crucial investigation process to take its course,” Mr Liow said.

“I reiterate this is for the sake of the next of kin of the loved ones of MH370 who would be anxiously awaiting news and have suffered much over this time.

“We will make an announcement once the verification process has been completed.”

On Sunday, Britain’s SkyNews reported a small aircraft door or panel was found but it turned out to be part of a ladder. But Mr Liow confirmed the flaperon found last week on Reunion Island was “officially identified” as from a Boeing 777 by the joint investigative team of Boeing, the US National Transportation Safety Board and Malaysian and French authorities.

A key identification tag that would link the flaperon to a particular aircraft was missing, so a more forensic investigation was needed.

Confirmation of which aircraft the flaperon belonged to is expected on Thursday.

Do we care?
Finally (for now) there was this...

MH370 ‘social media hype’ hurting Malaysian Airlines’ demand


KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Media coverage of the search for missing Flight 370 is hurting ticket sales at MalaysiaAirlines, chief executive officer Christoph Mueller said.


“Particularly pronounced” coverage of the search for MH370, which is thought to have crashed in the Indian Ocean off Australia’s western coast in March 2014, “correlates unfortunately but very positively with our demand figures” in Australia, Mueller told a conference in Sydney today.

“It is fueled in most cases by social media hype.”

Last  Wednesday, investigators in France will begin testing a wing part from a Boeing Co 777 — the same type as the missing plane — that was found on Reunion island, a French territory east of Africa. If the part, known as a flaperon, is confirmed to be from Flight 370, it will be the first physical remnant recovered from the aircraft.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said a suitcase discovered near the part also will be studied.
“We have been always cooperating with the investigators since day one, and so do we today,” Mueller said.

 He declined to comment further on Malaysia Air’s involvement in the investigation in Paris or specify what assistance the carrier was providing.

Flight 370 was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in March 2014 when it vanished without a trace with 239 people on board.

By analysing satellite signals, investigators concluded the jet turned back over the Indian Ocean.

The wreckage that washed ashore in Reunion is the strongest clue yet in a search that is now the longest ever for a missing commercial jet.

Ships using deep-sea sonar have already scanned more than 55,000 square kilometers of the seabed southwest of Australia.

Demand at Malaysia Air plunged demand last year after the disasters with Flight 370 and Flight 17, which crashed over Ukraine in July 2014 in an accident the U.S. and other countries attribute to a missile attack from pro-Russian separatists.

It’s now wholly owned by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which took the carrier private in a RM1.38 billion buyout and has committed to invest RM6 billion to restructure the airline.

The airline will restart under a new legal identity on Sept 1, Mueller said today.
It will cut expenses to a level where the main carrier is competitive with low-cost rivals such as AirAsia Bhd, Singapore Airlines Ltd’s Scoot Pte and Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd, he said.

“We will embark as a new carrier,” he said.

It’s “a complete reset of the system”. — Bloomberg

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

Christoph Mueller (left) speaks as James Hogan, President and CEO of Etihad Airways looks on during a panel discussion at the 2015 International Air Transport Association AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, June 8, 2015. — Reute

MH370 4 August developments

From the Oz:

Flight MH370 experts holding talks

Malaysian aviation ­experts were to meet their French counterparts and judges last night to co-ordinate the investigation into missing Flight MH370, days after the discovery of a washed-up plane part ­offered fresh hopes of solving the mystery.
 

Technical experts, including from Boeing, will from today begin examining the wing component that surfaced last week on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

The 2m flaperon, already confirmed to be part of a Boeing 777, is virtually certain to have come from the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight, as no other such plane is known to have crashed in the area.

In one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history, MH370 inexplicably veered off course last March and dis­appeared from radars, sparking a colossal hunt that has until now proved fruitless.

In January, Malaysian authorities declared all 239 people on board MH370 presumed dead.

The wing part will undergo physical and chemical analysis in the southern French city of Toulouse in a bid to prove beyond doubt that the flaperon once belonged to MH370.

It will be examined with an electron microscope “that can magnify up to 10,000 times” to try to understand how it was damaged, said Pierre Bascary, former director of tests at France’s General Directorate for Armaments.

Experts have warned grieving families not to expect startling revelations from a single part. “We shouldn’t expect miracles from this analysis,” said Jean-Paul Troadec, former head of France’s BEA flight authority.

In order to provide clues as to what happened to the aircraft, “the part would need to be at the centre of the accident and the chances are fairly small,” he noted. “With two square metres of plane, it will be difficult to be sure.”

More than 9000km away, locals on La Reunion were scouring the beaches for more debris that could offer further clues.

What has been described as a “treasure hunt” mentality has led to false alarms, with locals handing in “plane debris” only to discover it is nothing more than ocean rubbish.

“People are calling us for everything,” said a local source close to the investigation.
On Sunday, there was a frenzy of speculation over what ­locals believed to be a plane door but authorities quickly shot down the hopes.

Malaysia’s director-general of civil aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the metallic part was “actually from a domestic ladder. It is not a door.”

Also on Sunday, La Reunion police collected a mangled piece of metal with Chinese characters and attached to what appeared to be a leather-covered handle, sparking more frenzied speculation. Chinese internet users suggested it may be a kettle.

“People are more vigilant. They are going to think any metallic object they find on the beach is from Flight MH370, but there are objects all along the coast, the ocean continually throws them up,” said Jean-Yves Sambim­anan, the spokesman for Saint-Andre where the wing ­debris was found.

Scientists say it is plausible that ocean currents carried a piece of the wreckage as far as La Reunion, but Roland Triadec, a local oceanographer, said La ­Reunion represented only “a pinhead” in the Indian Ocean and the likelihood of other debris washing up there was low.
AFP

 
Too little to late
Next there was this reported in the West Australian & Yahoo7: 

Plea to search coast for MH370 debris

Geoffrey Thomas August 4, 2015, 12:35 am



Plane debris found on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.

Malaysia has asked for help from around the southern Indian Ocean, including WA’s South West coast, to look for possible debris from MH370 but urged caution after false leads.

Yesterday Charitha Pattiaratchi, professor of coastal oceanography at the University of WA, reiterated that computer modelling indicated debris from MH370 could have washed up in the South West.

Modelling also showed debris could have reached as far as South Australia and Tasmania.

Only human intervention could cause crash

Check Malaysia Airlines safety rating

But it is unknown how much debris from MH370 could still be floating.

In April last year debris was found on a beach 10km east of Augusta but it was from a light plane.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told news agency Agence France-Presse that authorities asked counterparts in other Indian Ocean territories to look out for debris that could provide more clues to the missing aircraft.
 
He said Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation was urging authorities to let experts “conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming on to land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft”.

“I urge all parties to allow this crucial investigation process to take its course,” Mr Liow said.

“I reiterate this is for the sake of the next of kin of the loved ones of MH370 who would be anxiously awaiting news and have suffered much over this time.

“We will make an announcement once the verification process has been completed.”

On Sunday, Britain’s SkyNews reported a small aircraft door or panel was found but it turned out to be part of a ladder. But Mr Liow confirmed the flaperon found last week on Reunion Island was “officially identified” as from a Boeing 777 by the joint investigative team of Boeing, the US National Transportation Safety Board and Malaysian and French authorities.

A key identification tag that would link the flaperon to a particular aircraft was missing, so a more forensic investigation was needed.

Confirmation of which aircraft the flaperon belonged to is expected on Thursday.

Do we care?
Then this arvo we get this...

MH370 ‘social media hype’ hurting Malaysian Airlines’ demand


KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Media coverage of the search for missing Flight 370 is hurting ticket sales at MalaysiaAirlines, chief executive officer Christoph Mueller said.


“Particularly pronounced” coverage of the search for MH370, which is thought to have crashed in the Indian Ocean off Australia’s western coast in March 2014, “correlates unfortunately but very positively with our demand figures” in Australia, Mueller told a conference in Sydney today.

“It is fueled in most cases by social media hype.”

Last  Wednesday, investigators in France will begin testing a wing part from a Boeing Co 777 — the same type as the missing plane — that was found on Reunion island, a French territory east of Africa. If the part, known as a flaperon, is confirmed to be from Flight 370, it will be the first physical remnant recovered from the aircraft.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said a suitcase discovered near the part also will be studied.
“We have been always cooperating with the investigators since day one, and so do we today,” Mueller said.

 He declined to comment further on Malaysia Air’s involvement in the investigation in Paris or specify what assistance the carrier was providing.

Flight 370 was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in March 2014 when it vanished without a trace with 239 people on board.

By analysing satellite signals, investigators concluded the jet turned back over the Indian Ocean.

The wreckage that washed ashore in Reunion is the strongest clue yet in a search that is now the longest ever for a missing commercial jet.

Ships using deep-sea sonar have already scanned more than 55,000 square kilometers of the seabed southwest of Australia.

Demand at Malaysia Air plunged demand last year after the disasters with Flight 370 and Flight 17, which crashed over Ukraine in July 2014 in an accident the U.S. and other countries attribute to a missile attack from pro-Russian separatists.

It’s now wholly owned by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which took the carrier private in a RM1.38 billion buyout and has committed to invest RM6 billion to restructure the airline.

The airline will restart under a new legal identity on Sept 1, Mueller said today.
It will cut expenses to a level where the main carrier is competitive with low-cost rivals such as AirAsia Bhd, Singapore Airlines Ltd’s Scoot Pte and Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd, he said.

“We will embark as a new carrier,” he said.

It’s “a complete reset of the system”. — Bloomberg

Finally (for now) we had this...

Vive la France...

Hunt for MH370: French to Lead Initial Probe of Plane Debris

Closed-door meeting lays out procedure for handling piece of wing suspected of being part of MH370
  

Malaysia's Director General of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, center, arrives at a Paris courthouse on Monday. Photo: miguel medina/Agence France-Presse/Getty
Updated Aug. 3, 2015 10:28 p.m. ET

The hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 reflects the inherent complexities of a global air-accident investigation, compounded by a French criminal probe operating entirely independently of the international effort.

Long-established protocols have guided the 17-month international effort, led by Malaysian aviation authorities, but there aren’t any comparable, widely accepted rules for coordinating such work with law-enforcement agencies from various countries.

Related Coverage

• Australia Won’t Extend Search Effort Without New Clues
  
• More Debris Found on Réunion Island
  
• Debris Discovery Reignites Pain for Families
  

Meeting behind closed doors Monday at a courthouse in central Paris, an antiterrorism judge laid out how France will take the lead in investigating a plane part suspected of being linked to the Malaysia Airlines  Boeing BA -0.33 %   777 that disappeared more than a year ago, a judicial official said.

But safety experts watching the process from the outside worry the French moves—including the appointment of still another independent expert—could further complicate the search. These experts said the result could muddle jurisdictional lines, and in a worst-case scenario, potentially create friction with the larger investigation.

Efforts to ascertain what happened to Flight 370 have already been hobbled at times by the multinational nature of the probe, which slowed the process and sometimes sent conflicting public messages.

From the beginning, Malaysian officials were suspicious of their U.S. counterparts from the NTSB, and gravitated toward seeking help from Australia and the U.K., according to people involved in the process.

Leaders of the countries participating in the international effort pledged to work more effectively together after a series of high-profile snafus. Those included failing to brief families of the victims before publicly announcing that the plane was believed to have crashed; designating early search areas that turned out to be far from the area now believed to contain the crash site; and erroneously linking floating debris to the missing plane.
 
Washed Ashore

Investigators were examining a piece of an aircraft that was found on Réunion Island but they couldn’t confirm whether it was from Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed off the southwest coast of Australia over a year ago.



France had already opened a separate criminal probe after the flight disappeared on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur last year, because four French citizens were among the 239 people on board. That probe largely stayed out of the limelight until recently, when the debris found last week on Réunion Island, a French territory off the coast of Madagascar, prompted Monday’s meeting.

“The French tend to be pretty aggressive” when it comes to asserting the authority of prosecutors, said Robert Francis, a former vice chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board who has years of experience working with the French government.

Because investigators suspect the plane went down as a result of an intentional act, Flight 370 has been “far removed from an average aircraft accident,” Mr. Francis said in an interview. Therefore, he said, French law-enforcement officials “shouldn’t have a great deal of difficulty defending what they have done.”

Réunion Debris Probed for Clues in Search for MH370

A wing part and other debris has been found on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion, raising hopes that the objects may hold clues into the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last year.














But the involvement of French judges has left other aviation experts scratching their heads, with some questioning the prosecutors’ motives.

Under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization—the arm of the United Nations that governs traditional airline-accident probes—the normal procedure after finding the part would have been to assemble representatives of the plane’s manufacturer and Malaysian investigators to determine next steps, according to a veteran safety expert familiar with the rules. But instead, “the French are jumping into the middle of this suddenly, with both feet,” this person said.

The NTSB said it dispatched one of its experts to France to help with the analysis of the part at a military laboratory near Toulouse, scheduled to begin Wednesday.

Boeing Co. representatives also are expected to be at the lab Wednesday, according to industry officials. The company hasn’t confirmed whether it believes the part in question came from Flight 370. But Boeing officials helped Malaysia in its initial determination, based on photographic evidence, that the part came from a Boeing 777, Malaysian officials said.

Historically, French prosecutors often don’t go public with the results of their investigation until years after air-safety experts have finished their work. The criminal probe into Air France Flight 447 is still under way more than six years after air-safety experts determined why the Airbus A330 slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people aboard.

Malaysia launched its criminal probe into Flight 370 shortly after the jet disappeared, though no formal findings have been released. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation finished its review months after the crash. The BEA, France’s air-safety investigative agency, wasn’t a member of the international investigative team that advised Malaysia’s civil aviation officials about aspects of their overall probe and underwater search.

Monday’s meeting in Paris was attended by Malaysian law enforcement and security officials, diplomats from China and Australia, and representatives of the BEA.

For now, the French judicial official said, France’s criminal probe is legally independent of the international investigation into Flight 370. “The BEA is truly the go-between for the Malaysians and the French, because the BEA is part of the international investigation,” said a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office after the meeting.

France’s legal system grants both the judiciary and the BEA the right to lead crash probes, said  Vincent Favé, a French aircraft accident specialist. Though judges have the lead role, Mr. Favé said “it will not influence the technical work.”

Suspected MH370 debris that was found on Reunion Island arrived in France on Saturday, and was taken to a lab where it will be tested. Photo: Getty

Pending laboratory examinations, French officials have indicated it is premature to determine whether the part is from a Boeing 777, the same model as Flight 370. Yet neither Boeing nor investigators have offered a viable alternative theory about the provenance of the part, according to people familiar with the matter.

It isn’t clear what will happen once lab experts finish their work, according to one person briefed on the latest developments, but French law-enforcement officials could turn the part over to Malaysian authorities. The most important thing is to “ensure that Boeing and others who know the most about the plane” are at the center of the investigation, according to Robert MacIntosh, the former top international official at the NTSB.

Australia’s deputy prime minister said Monday the country still plans to end the hunt for the missing aircraft after the current 46,000-square-mile search zone has been covered unless the wing part found in Réunion yields hard clues that alter the current thinking on the fate of Flight 370.

—Robert Wall and Jon Ostrower contributed to this article.
Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com

 
Hmm....the Malaysian Director General DGCA doesn't look real happy does he--- ---

MTF...P2  

[Kharon]

Malaysian Director General of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said tonight that a piece of debris found on a beach near the town of Saint-Denis on Sunday morning had nothing to do with the investigation involving the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Rahman said “I’m the one leading the investigation in France for the analysis of the (wing flap) piece brought back.

This Malaysian fellah may be in for a reality fix:-

Under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization—the arm of the United Nations that governs traditional airline-accident probes—the normal procedure after finding the part would have been to assemble representatives of the plane’s manufacturer and Malaysian investigators to determine next steps, according to a veteran safety expert familiar with the rules. But instead, “the French are jumping into the middle of this suddenly, with both feet,” this person said.

It now becomes (IMO) a question of “sphere of influence”; it may well be easy for a slippery government to play nice with an equally slippery, cooperative, easily influenced Australian ATSB; but now the French have been dealt a hand at the high stakes table.  Unlike Australia, the French and probably the rest of the world are tired, weary to death of the way the investigation and to a lesser extent the search has been carried out.  It is time to get serious about finding out exactly what happened to this aircraft.  If the French and by extension, the USA have found a way past the Malaysian smoke and mirrors perhaps we will see some progress, particularly in the ‘ground’ investigation.  

Boeing Co. representatives also are expected to be at the lab Wednesday, according to industry officials. The company hasn’t confirmed whether it believes the part in question came from Flight 370. But Boeing officials helped Malaysia in its initial determination, based on photographic evidence, that the part came from a Boeing 777, Malaysian officials said.

It still intrigues me why the Chinese have taken a back seat in the ‘ground’ investigation.  That they are reluctant to help defray the costs is understandable and supportable.  One theory which has enough merit to warrant discussion is that the Chinese, as pragmatic people with a good intelligence service providing information, perhaps feel unable to waste money on a search effort they believe flawed, from the outset.  

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the game plays out; the French aren’t quite as accommodating as the antipodean ‘Search Master’. But, it still beats me; a CVR at a known location, under 50 meters of user friendly water, within 10 K of the nearest pub takes six years to even approach recovery and they put the same specimen in charge of what is arguably the worlds most complex search for a missing aircraft.  No invitation offered to inspect the part just about says it all.

Aye well; back to my knitting

Toot toot.

[ventus45]

.....  It still intrigues me why the Chinese have taken a back seat in the ‘ground’ investigation.

....... One theory which has enough merit to warrant discussion is that the Chinese, as pragmatic people with a good intelligence service providing information, perhaps feel unable to waste money on a search effort they believe flawed, from the outset.  

Interesting word that ......... "flawed".

The Chinese were obviously disillusioned early on, and the "grounding" of their IL-76's was probably the last straw for them.

The Chinese do have a good intelligence service - true - very true. Perhaps they determined that the Malaysian/Australian "managed" SIO search was not just "flawed", but fxxxed ?

It is interesting that both Malaysia and Australia clearly telegraphed to the world, back as far as February / March 2015, that they wanted to end the search in May / June 2015, when the 60,000 sq km would have been done.  

It is interesting to note, that it was the Chinese who "forced" the extension of the search at the tripartite meeting in May 2015.

What is more interesting, is that they are not involved in the search at all, any more.

So, it begs the question, what does Chinese Intelligence "know", that the rest of us do not ?
Perhaps the are "rubbing our noses in it", with all to be revealed, in thirty years or so ?

[Peetwo]

MH370 SIO search - Latest developments August 05.

Update to the WSJ article (above) courtesy of the Oz.. - MH370 hunt may be bogged down by French probe

..Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss has confirmed that Australia – at the invitation of the French judiciary – has sent an expert from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to Toulouse, France, to take part in the examination of the B777 flaperon found on La Réunion.
 

Technical experts are preparing to examine whether a washed-up plane part belonged to missing flight MH370, raising hopes that some light may finally be shed on one of aviation’s darkest mysteries.

The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year when it inexplicably changed course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board - including six Australians - and a colossal multinational hunt for the aircraft proved fruitless.

But last week’s discovery of a two-metre-long wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion has raised fresh hopes for relatives desperate for answers.

The piece has been taken the southwestern French city of Toulouse, where it will undergo the high-profile examination. The case containing the wing part will be opened early Wednesday afternoon, a French source close to the case said.

MH370 - fact sheet

It will be opened in the presence of French and Malaysian experts, Boeing employees and representatives from China - the country that lost the most passengers.

It is as yet unclear whether their conclusions will be announced on the same day or later, added the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

“An investigator from the ATSB will join the French and Malaysian-led international investigation team today to examine aircraft wreckage found on La Réunion,” Mr Truss said.

“Malaysian authorities, who are responsible for investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, have determined that the aircraft component retrieved from La Réunion is a flaperon from a B777 aircraft.

“Work is being undertaken by the Malaysian and French authorities to establish whether the flaperon originated from MH370.

“Malaysian and French officials may be in a position to make a formal statement about the origin of the flaperon later this week.

“In the meantime, I am advised that Australia’s CSIRO drift modelling, commissioned by the ATSB, confirms that material from the current search area could have been carried to La Réunion, as well as other locations, as part of a progressive dispersal of floating debris through the action of ocean currents and wind.

“For this reason, thorough and methodical search efforts will continue to be focused on the defined underwater search area, covering 120,000 square kilometres, in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Jean-Paul Troadec, the former head of France’s BEA agency that investigates air accidents, said the analysis would focus on two issues - whether the flaperon belongs to MH370 and if so, whether it can shed light on the final moments of the plane.

He pointed for instance to the paint on the piece - which has already been confirmed as coming from a Boeing 777 plane - as a key element of the probe.

“Every airline paints their planes in a certain way ... and if the paint used is used by Malaysia Airlines and other companies, there may be more certainty,” he said.

Pierre Bascary, former director of tests at the French Defence Procurement Agency, where the analysis will take place, added that the airline may have written maintenance information on the piece such as “Do Not Walk”.

“The phrase used and the way it was written also gives an idea of the origin of the plane.” Troadec said experts would also examine the way the part detached itself from the wing.

“Was it in a violent impact with the sea or not?” he said.

“This piece looks like it is in good condition, it doesn’t look like the part of a plane that fell vertically in the water at 900 kilometres an hour.” He added that experts may also look for traces of an explosion or fire.

Scientists have pointed to the barnacles that are attached to the flaperon, saying these could give an idea of how long the piece has been in the water, and perhaps where it has been. AFP...

Okay & here is the presser from the DPM's office - Australia to help examine aircraft wreckage from La Réunion

Also here is the link for the CSIRO Fact Sheet—MH370 Drift Analysis PDF: 963 KB

The above was also tweeted by the ATSB here & here .

Ben Sandilands on Planetalking has also posted on these latest revelations :

MH370 media messaging risks too much flapping around

Ben Sandilands | Aug 05, 2015 10:27AM |

• 
  

Another pile of rubbish on La Reunion's shores awaits checking for MH370 items
With respect, there is a risk that Australia is engaging in a bit of overreach with an official media release saying it will help in the investigation of the Boeing 777 wreckage from La Reunion which is taking place in Toulouse today.

Australia will have an expert from the ATSB at the testing laboratory today, when the package containing the flaperon is opened.

That is as it should be, and always would be, in an ICAO Annex 13 rules investigation into an air disaster in which Australians (six in total) were among the 239 who died when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing on 8 March 2014.

It doesn’t mean that the Australian attendee will man an electron microscope or became intricately involved in the French examination of the part, which seems highly likely to have come from MH370.  Our man is there to observe, and be consulted, should the French suddenly find themselves stumped in the course of conducting their examination in a laboratory as advanced in its technology and expertise in aviation wreckage dissection as any in the world.

What Australia has done, to its credit, is manage on the direction of the Malaysian authorities, a very difficult and so far unsuccessful sea floor search for the solid and sunk wreckage of the jet in the far reaches of the south Indian Ocean.

There is a valid question to ask, in hindsight, as to whether Australia should have encouraged Malaysia to call for a more intensive and broader search of shorelines on which debris from the crash of MH370 could be expected to come ashore.

The CSIRO’s drift modelling for MH370 debris, which predicted that wreckage could reach Madagascar, which is further west in the Indian Ocean than La Reunion, can be studied here.

That analysis is accompanied by the history of drift modelling done on MH370 debris in Australia which shows that it was taken very seriously. It deals with an erroneous analysis that at one stage forecast wreckage would come ashore in Sumatra in the middle of last year but was promptly corrected.

The question that hangs in the air is whether or not more could have been done to engage authorities in the places where it might come ashore.

There has been much unfounded if not absurd criticism of the ATSB for not being on the shores of La Reunion or Madagascar or near them, awaiting the arrival of any debris.  None of those shores fall within the sovereign authority of Australia or its UN convention defined maritime search and rescue area and responsibilities.

Perhaps there should have been more action on alerting those jurisdictions. But the emphasis, and the dollars spent, in the Australian led sea floor search, was always about the main goal, finding the sunk wreckage....

  

Note: A regular commentator to Ben's MH370 articles - Simon Gunson - has IMO put up his best post so far, see here.

"...Wake up and smell the coffee ATSB. The defined search area was scoured by search planes from 18-31 March 2014, yet obviously this intensive search missed a flaperon found at la Reunion. How plausible is it therefore that they missed debris from an impact along the 7th Arc?...

...Commissioner Martin Dolan refused to consider all these debris because they do not fit ATSB’s theory.

It is grand lunacy when investigators ignore clues because they do not fit their theories. How about fitting theories to the facts?..."

Following on from those developments, this afternoon News Corp put out the following article (note a PAIN_Net tweet is also quoted... ):  

[/url]Independent experts identify new MH370 crash zone — at the opposite end of area currently being searched  



by: MARNIE O’NEILL
From: [url=http://www.news.com.au/]news.com.au
2 hours ago August 05, 2015 3:24PM


MISSING Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 will be found in the Southern Indian Ocean at the opposite end of the current search area, according to drift analysis based on the discovery of a wing part on La Reunion Island.
 

The new likely splash zone was identified by internationally respected physicist, mathematician and algorithm modeller, Dr Henrik Rydberg in a report released on Monday. It lies at the northern tip of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) search area, a significant distance from where searchers have been focusing in the south.

Dr Rydberg, who is based in Sweden and has worked with the independent group of MH370 investigators — a formidable panel of experts known as the IG — believes the Boeing 777 wing component known as a flaperon is “very likely to be confirmed coming from MH370”.

His findings take into account the possibility the flaperon may have washed up on the remote, French-governed island three months before it was announced on July 29.

MH370: More plane parts ‘still afloat’

“In spite of search efforts in other areas around the South Indian Ocean (SIO), nothing has yet been found,” Dr Rydberg said.

“Taken together, it is not unlikely that La Reunion and nearby Mauritius are in fact the initial recipients of debris from MH370. The notion of initial recipient is important. With that assumption, it turns out that we can work out approximately where the debris originated.

“The most likely origin of the flaperon is currently a 120 square nautical miles area, centred at (34S, 94E).”



The search is currently being undertaken in the purple area of the ATSB search zone but new analysis based on the discovery of possible debris from MH370 on la Reunion points to the northern end as the plane's likely resting place Source: Supplied




MH 370 Independent Group researcher Victor Iannello produced this map last August, predicting the same coordinates (34S, 94E) as the likely point of impact. Source: Supplied

Erik van Sebille @ErikvanSebille

Interesting simulation by @deltares showing debris on reunion island likely from northern region of search zone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0W7tcObbEw …

Prof Moninya Roughan @moninya
@ErikvanSebille @deltares The engine texts back to Boeing also pinpoint the aircraft going down in the northern sector of the search zone.

 
That conclusion matches the results of analysis undertaken by specialists from all over the world, working independently of each other, in the wake of the flaperon find.

The momentum has finally reached the ATSB, which released its new CSIRO drift model this morning in a 9.30am email that appears to take credit for the revised crash zone — despite being the last to pinpoint a northern impact zone.

Looking in the wrong place for 16 months has left Australian taxpayers with a bill of $100 million so far.

“The most recent drift modelling indicated that the net drift of most debris in the 16 months to July 2015 is likely to have been north and then west away from the accident site,” the ATSB communication states.

“The drift analysis undertaken by the CSIRO further supports that the debris from MH370 may be found as far west of the search area as La Reunion Island.”

Independent Dutch research institute Deltares has released a simulation model illustrating why investigators are looking in the wrong place.

“The model shows us that the ocean currents are able to carry the debris from the search area west of Australia to Réunion,” hydrodynamics expert Maarten van Ormondt said.

“It also suggests that it is more likely that the debris originates from the northern section of the search area than from the southern part.”

Mike Chillit @MikeChillit

This #ATSB “map” is buffoonish. They came up with it the day they got word something washed up on Reunion. #MH370 pic.twitter.com/oVPoVjJaof
 
PAIN_NET @PAIN_NET1
@MikeChillit UFB the fact they didn't put out a BOLO 4 debris & strategically place SLDMBs along length of 7th Arc will come back to haunt

Erik van Sebille @ErikvanSebille


Interesting simulation by @deltares showing debris on reunion island likely from northern region of search zone

 

Deltares used a particle tracking routine to compute the movement of debris from different locations in the search area. The calculation was made using surface currents (assuming that they are the most relevant for the floating debris) from the global HYCOM model.

“The results show how debris moves with the counter-clockwise gyre in the Southern Indian Ocean and quickly disperses over large areas,” van Ormondt said.

“Particles released in the northern section of the search area arrive at the African coast first within a year of the release time. Those released in the southern section do not travel as far and do not make it to Africa within the simulation period.”

Joel Sudre, an oceanographic engineer at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, agrees MH370 is unlikely to be resting in a position much further north than is currently being searched.

“The chaotic nature of the ocean means that we can’t track the exact location, but we can pin it down to an area a few hundred miles in diameter off the coast of northwestern Australia,” he said.

The ATSB’s new drift model released this morning.

No comment required..... ----

 MTF...P2