The Australian authorities revealed today new data regarding the fate of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. The flight disappeared off the radar on March 8 while carrying 239 people on board. According to new information correlated by researchers, The Joint Agency Coordination Centre announced there is strong enough proof leading to a new search area for the plain’s debris.
“Specialists have analysed satellite communications information—information which was never initially intended to have the capability to track an aircraft—and performed extremely complex calculations” said Mr Truss, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. It means that the main functions of the plain have been switched off. Instead, the autopilot function has been switched on, in what seems to be an effort to preserve energy. Truss declared that the exact moment when the autopilot function has been turned on is unknown and is a matter of further investigation. The Wall Street Journal claims that the possibility of the autopilot function to have been turned on is not a new hypothesis. Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, advanced the idea far back in mid-April.
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 – New search area
By looking at the last of the seven ping transmissions between the plane and the satellite, the investigators decided to reconsider the search area. After weeks of sustained searches in an area of approximately 330 square miles, the authorities decided to change the search site for the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in a new area. The 23.000 square miles area lies 1100 miles west of the Western Australian city of Perth. After an initial three months process of bathymetric survey – scanning the sea floor, the underwater search will begin in August and will last up to 12 months. The efforts will unfold at depths of around 4.3 miles.
LA Times states that the main financial burden of the whole search process will be supported by Malaysia. The Australian authorities envisions a total budget of $80 million do be spent on the same purpose by mid-2015. The new information will help solve the mystery of why the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 went off track from its Kuala Lumpur – Beijing route. Precise information on why the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 crashed will be used to further improve communication systems and avoid similar tragedies.