Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


     Ships Trying to Verify Whether Pings Coming from Missing Malaysian Jet

   by Steve Herman

   Authorities coordinating the international search from Australia for a
   missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet say underwater signals have
   been heard three times since Friday.
   The transmissions could be from the aircraft's data and voice
   recorders.

   Australian, Chinese and Malaysian officials are cautioning that reports
   from ships of underwater signals in the Indian Ocean do not mean that
   the location of Flight 370 has been determined.

   In Perth, Australia, the search's chief coordinator, Angus Houston,
   tells reporters nothing is yet verified.

   He said, "This is an important and encouraging lead but one which I
   urge you to continue to treat carefully. We are working in a very big
   ocean and within a very large search area. And, so far, since the
   aircraft went missing we've had very few leads which allow us to narrow
   the search area."
   New search area

   The potential breakthrough, however, the retired Australian air force
   chief confirms, is prompting the diversion of ships and planes to the
   area where the Chinese patrol vessel Haixun-01 detected acoustic pulses
   on Friday and Saturday in waters up to 4.5 kilometers deep.

   Houston said, "At the moment, the data we have does not provide a means
   of verification. We have to do further investigation on the site
   itself."

   Signals on a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz were detected two kilometers
   apart by the Chinese ship.

   Authorities say an Australian vessel, the Ocean Shield, several hundred
   kilometers away and carrying a sophisticated U.S. Navy pinger locator,
   also heard a faint signal on the same frequency. It is to listen for
   more underwater sounds at its current location before heading to the
   spot where the Chinese patrol ship's hydrophone detected something.

   A British Royal Navy vessel, the HMS Echo, last week detected a similar
   signal that turned out to be false.

   The batteries for the locator beacon of the missing plane's black box
   are due to run out at any time.
   Nothing found yet

   So far, all sightings of debris in the southern Indian Ocean have been
   determined to not be from the missing Boeing 777.

   A dozen planes and 13 ships are continuing to search.

   The Malaysia Airlines jet veered off course after departing Kuala
   Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing on March 8. It was carrying 227
   passengers - mostly Chinese - plus a crew of 12.

   Investigators say they do not know whether the plane was hijacked or
   otherwise deliberately diverted by one of the two pilots.

   Mechanical problems have not been eliminated as a cause, but
   investigators say they believe the plane's flight management system was
   re-programmed. After the plane's transponder was shut off, the jet
   turned back towards Malaysia and then stayed in an established flight
   corridor.

   An analysis of routine pings from the engines to a satellite led
   investigators to conclude the aircraft ran out of fuel over the
   southern India Ocean
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/china-missing-plane/1887281.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/china-missing-plane/1887281.html