MH370 debris will soon wash up in Indonesia, says Aussie expert
It has been nearly nine months since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from radar but a crash investigator from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau believes debris from the missing aircraft will soon begin washing up in Indonesia.
In a report by UK daily The Mirror, Peter Foley who is in charge of coordinating the search for MH370, expressed confidence that the mystery would soon be solved.
“Something is going to wash up somewhere on the beach, most probably in Sumatra,” he was quoted as saying.
“We've had many people handing things in to the local police.
“We send it off to Boeing and they identify it, but as yet we haven't positively identified anything from the aircraft.”
As many as 180 people have been working full time on the search, which is concentrated on the southern part of the Indian Ocean. According to the daily, crews of up to 40 work in shifts to make sure the search never halts. Using “side-scanning” sonar equipment, they brave turbulent weather, sometimes facing waves of up to 10m or 12m high.
Despite the dangers, Foley is certain of success.
“We will find the answer,” he was quoted as saying.
“It's important for the world to know what happened to this aircraft.”
This comes as chief executive of Emirates Sir Tim Clark casts further doubt on the role of the Malaysian military in the disappearance of MH370.
Speaking to a well-known aviation journalist in a formerly unpublished interview, Clark said he believed information was being withheld by authorities.
“I do not believe that the information held by some is on the table,” he said in report by The Mirror.
“Who actually disabled ACARS (the plane’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System), who knew how to do it?
“If you eliminate the pilot on a suicide mission, I'm sure you could have put the aircraft in the South China Sea, rather than fly it for seven hours.
“So if he was on a suicide mission, he would have done it then.”
“Who then took control of the aircraft?” Clark asked in the report.
“Who then knew how to disable ACARS and turn the transponder off?
“This is a very busy part of Southeast Asia, the notion that we should not be able to identify if it is friend or foe, or we can on primary radar and do nothing about it, is bizarre.
“These are the questions that need to be asked of the people and the entities that were involved in all of this,” he was quoted as saying.
“Full transparency of that will help us to find out what went on.”
But despite Clark’s misgivings, Foley remains optimistic that answers will surface.
“Things in the ocean take a long time to come ashore,” he told The Mirror.
Flight MH370 was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared from radar on March 8.
The Boeing 777-200 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it vanished.
It is believed to have ended its flight over the southern Indian Ocean where search groups manning deep sea survey vessels have been concentrating their efforts.
So far there has been no trace of the aircraft despite the largest and most expensive search operation in aviation history.
To date, Putrajaya has spent over RM33 million on search and rescue efforts for MH370 and its counterpart MH17.
Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17 in another blow to MAS, already reeling from the loss of MH370.
All 298 people on board MH17 died in the crash. – November 24, 2014.
