MH370: JACC convinced search team looking in the right location

Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston is convinced that the team searching for missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 is looking in the right location.

In a press conference held in Australia yesterday, Houston said the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), Bluefin-21 has commenced its search in the vicinity of the acoustic signals detected in early April by the Towed Pinger Locator deployed from the ADV Ocean Shield.

“I know that there’s been speculation about whether it’s north or south.

“I’m absolutely certain that the southern corridor was the right corridor, that the aircraft turned left out of the Malacca Strait and we are looking in the right broad area,” said Houston.

The mini-sub recommenced its operations in the southern Indian Ocean on Thursday after facing technical problems.

This is the final week of operations scouring the Indian Ocean seabed for signs of the aircraft.

Ocean Shield is anticipated to depart the search area on May 28 and return to Fleet Base West on May 31, where it will demobilise the AUV equipment and disembark the support team.

According to the JACC, Chinese survey ship Zhu Kezhen departed Fremantle on Wednesday to begin conducting the bathymetric survey of the areas provided by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The bathymetric survey – or mapping of the ocean floor – is done in preparation for a commercially contracted deep ocean search, including towed side-scan sonar operations.

Chinese ship Haixun 01 meanwhile had already begun transiting to the survey area to support the survey operations, including the weekly transportation of survey data to Fremantle for further processing by Geoscience Australia.

The Australian Defence Force's Military Coordination and Sub-Surface Planning team, in consultation with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, will partner with Chinese units to conduct the survey.

The work continues to review and analyse all the data and information relating to the likely flight path of MH370, together with the information acquired in the course of the search to date. This work will confirm the best areas on which to focus an effective future search.

The hunt for the missing Boeing 777 aircraft has entered the tenth week since its disappearance on March 8.

The plane with 239 people aboard including 12 crew members vanished on March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

A search operation for the aircraft is underway in waters off western Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean.