Air search for MH370 suspended because of poor weather
Planned air search activities for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been suspended for today because of poor weather conditions in the search area, a statement from the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Perth said.
The statement said the three aircraft that had already departed for today’s search area prior to the suspension taking effect had been recalled.
Current weather conditions have resulted in heavy seas and poor visibility and were making air search activities ineffective and potentially hazardous, JACC said.
However, the 12 ships involved in today’s search would continue.
The search was also called off yesterday because of the poor weather conditions caused by Tropical Cyclone Jack.
The mini-submarine in the hunt for flight MH370 has covered more than 80% of an area believed to be the best hope of finding wreckage from the aircraft, although no contacts of interest have been found.
JACC had said in an earlier statement today that the Bluefin-21 AUV was completing its 10th mission in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean, approximately 855km from Perth, where searchers located pings believed to have from originated from the jetliner’s black boxes.
The focused underwater search area is defined as a circle of 10km radius around the second towed-pinger locator detection which occurred on 8 April.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported today that no decision has been made about what the next step will be if the wreckage wasn't found in the area, citing JACC.
"We are consulting closely with our international partners on the best way forward with the search," the agency said.
"At this point, no decision about a transition to the next phase has been made," the JACC was quoted as saying.
WSJ also said that other organisations are ready to provide submersibles that could go deeper than the Bluefin.
Among them is the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which helped recover the black boxes from an Air France flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. – April 23, 2014.
