Writing from Kuala Lumpur -- The case of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has taken another unexpected turn now that searchers in the South Indian Ocean have moved from the last-best guess of where the airplane might be to an area 1100 kilometers north east.
Ten airplanes and six vessels headed to the new location, off the coast of Perth, as the 30 day clock on the black box locator pingers ticks down.
You may be asking, what new information prompted the moving of all this expensive hardware? I'm here to tell you.
According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau the new area of focus comes after further analysis of radar data of the plane's "movement between the Straits of Malacca and Indian Ocean," in the early morning of March 8th.
The movement of the plane from 1:21 am when the transponder stopped functioning has been something of a mystery. At first, officials said the plane turned on a reciprocal heading back to Kuala Lumpur airport. Silly me, I believed they knew what they were talking about so I disputed a Reuters report that the plane headed west on a zig-zag course to the Straits of Malacca. On March 15th, however a new course was confirmed in one of the nightly briefings for the press.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Here or here? This way or that? |
The Reuters story suggested whoever was in command of the flight may have been trying to evade radar detection. I could not understand why Flight 370 would turn back over land and cross the peninsula when it was already over water nearly out of radar range already and could have quickly gone into the South China Sea with a slight turn to the east.
Well my bad, because Reuters seems not only to have been right, it was first with that news. This week the government has been working double time to get the story out through back channels, while refusing to confirm it to reporters.
For example, in a briefing with families in China, this slide (thanks @TMFAssociates for the photo) was shown, depicting primary radar hits made by the plane moving west then north west, practically to the Thai border at Puket. The plane had 70 minutes to get to this position in Malaysian airspace from the hand-off at IGARI waypoint.
It is the amount of time it would have taken the plane to fly that distance that sent the number crunchers back to their calculators. Still refusing to confirm the route flown by the Boeing 777, acting minister of transportation Hishammuddin Hussein explained the AAIB, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, NTSB and Inmarsat discovered something new.
"They took the point the aircraft was last sighted by a radar in the Straits of Malacca," he said and started from there with the fancy math. "We have taken through so many considerations the aircraft, the range of the aircraft, the fuel and the speed. That’s how they calculated with the performance."
That's how they determined the twin engine plane consumed so much fuel booking westward, it probably went to fumes and hit the ocean farther north than previously thought.
The Australians who are coordinating the air and sea search from Perth, may be delighted. The new zone is easier to get to and outside of the tumultuous section of the ocean known as the Roaring 40s. But there are those who are scratching their heads wondering why it took 20 days to figure out where the plane likely went down. Just as I am wondering why the authorities here won't just explain on what the new search data is based.
Hishammuddin "don't eat his cabbage twice," is the way my old friend Ike would describe the minister's reluctance to repeat himself. But that reticence is selective. When it comes to platitudes and inanities he's happy to repeat how he is "hoping against hope" and "leaving no stone unturned." He "wouldn't have done anything differently" though there are "lessons to be learned."
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Presentation to families in Beijing |
For example, in a briefing with families in China, this slide (thanks @TMFAssociates for the photo) was shown, depicting primary radar hits made by the plane moving west then north west, practically to the Thai border at Puket. The plane had 70 minutes to get to this position in Malaysian airspace from the hand-off at IGARI waypoint.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Australian Maritime Safety Authority Photo |
"They took the point the aircraft was last sighted by a radar in the Straits of Malacca," he said and started from there with the fancy math. "We have taken through so many considerations the aircraft, the range of the aircraft, the fuel and the speed. That’s how they calculated with the performance."
That's how they determined the twin engine plane consumed so much fuel booking westward, it probably went to fumes and hit the ocean farther north than previously thought.
The Australians who are coordinating the air and sea search from Perth, may be delighted. The new zone is easier to get to and outside of the tumultuous section of the ocean known as the Roaring 40s. But there are those who are scratching their heads wondering why it took 20 days to figure out where the plane likely went down. Just as I am wondering why the authorities here won't just explain on what the new search data is based.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
"Why is it taking this long to figure that out? How many radar hits do we have? How hard is it to figure that out?" one seasoned investigator told me, to which I can only answer, it is apparently, pretty darn hard.
Clik here to view.
"Why is it taking this long to figure that out? How many radar hits do we have? How hard is it to figure that out?" one seasoned investigator told me, to which I can only answer, it is apparently, pretty darn hard. But it is entirely in keeping with the way things are develop here in Kuala Lumpur, a place where the man overseeing two of the departments exhibiting significant incompetence for losing the plane in the first place, is also calling the shots in the investigation and controlling the release of information to the press.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Hishammuddin Hussein "honored" faces the cameras |
So before I leave to you ponder this latest twist in the still developing saga, let me share with you how the minister concluded his most recent briefing to the press.
"I am honored to be part and parcel in what is going on here," he said. Illuminating in one perfect sentence the distorted view of the investigation from the man who is trying to controlling it.