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Geoffrey Thomas
15 January, 2018
The new search team looking for MH370 will almost certainly find the wreckage of the Boeing 777 in a small area as international experts agree that the aircraft struck the water intact and likely in a vertical dive.
The new Ocean Infinity led search onboard the Seabed Constructor will begin this week in the area suggested by an international team led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau that includes the CSIRO.
That area of 25,000sq km is about 1800km west-south-west of Perth.
Ocean Floor showing CSIRO coordinates of 35.5S and 92.8E in the lower right-hand side. GeoScience Australia / ATSB
While considerable wreckage has turned up around the Indian Ocean the majority, including the fuselage, wings, engines, and undercarriage will be on the seabed.
In the case of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, which was lost on June 1, 2009, on the flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France all the wreckage in the mid-Atlantic was in a tight debris field 200m by 600m at a depth of 3,950m.
The depth where experts say MH370 is located varies from 3500m to 4500m.
With AF447 over a period of a month, in 2011, one engine, the avionics bay, and the black boxes were raised along with 104 bodies.
Main landing gear of AF447. BEA
Those bodies were still strapped into their seats.
Fifty bodies had been previously recovered from the ocean surface but 74 were never recovered.
Photos issued by the French investigator, the BEA, of the AF447 debris field, show very clearly the undercarriage, engines and a wing.
Engine from AF447. BEA
The ocean floor in the general area identified by the CSIRO as the most likely location of MH370 has deep canyons, extinct volcanoes and mountain peaks.
However, others believe that MH370 may be a little further north around the area of Broken Ridge which is due west of Perth.
Victor Iannello of Radiant Physics has produced a highly detailed map showing the various search zones and likely locations shown here below. The area outlined in yellow has been searched and the area outlined in green is the area the CSIRO / ATSB says is an area of high interest.
MH370 search graphic. The area to be searched first is CSIRO 1. Radiant Physics
This area is likened to the Swiss Alps with very deep ravines and towering peaks.
Depth in the area is put at over 5000m.
The Ocean Infinity search will cover all areas identified as likely locations.
The deepest recovery of an aircraft was that of South African Airways Flt 295 a 747 that crashed into the Indian Ocean near Mauritius on November 28, 1987.
The 747-200B Combi, which has cargo and passengers on the main deck, was on a flight from Taiwan to Johannesburg and experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area.
All 159 passengers and crew perished.
The new search team looking for MH370 will almost certainly find the wreckage of the Boeing 777 in a small area as international experts agree that the aircraft struck the water intact and likely in a vertical dive.
The new Ocean Infinity led search onboard the Seabed Constructor will begin this week in the area suggested by an international team led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau that includes the CSIRO.
That area of 25,000sq km is about 1800km west-south-west of Perth.
Ocean Floor showing CSIRO coordinates of 35.5S and 92.8E in the lower right-hand side. GeoScience Australia / ATSB
While considerable wreckage has turned up around the Indian Ocean the majority, including the fuselage, wings, engines, and undercarriage will be on the seabed.
In the case of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, which was lost on June 1, 2009, on the flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France all the wreckage in the mid-Atlantic was in a tight debris field 200m by 600m at a depth of 3,950m.
The depth where experts say MH370 is located varies from 3500m to 4500m.
With AF447 over a period of a month, in 2011, one engine, the avionics bay, and the black boxes were raised along with 104 bodies.
Main landing gear of AF447. BEA
Those bodies were still strapped into their seats.
Fifty bodies had been previously recovered from the ocean surface but 74 were never recovered.
Photos issued by the French investigator, the BEA, of the AF447 debris field, show very clearly the undercarriage, engines and a wing.
Engine from AF447. BEA
The ocean floor in the general area identified by the CSIRO as the most likely location of MH370 has deep canyons, extinct volcanoes and mountain peaks.
However, others believe that MH370 may be a little further north around the area of Broken Ridge which is due west of Perth.
Victor Iannello of Radiant Physics has produced a highly detailed map showing the various search zones and likely locations shown here below. The area outlined in yellow has been searched and the area outlined in green is the area the CSIRO / ATSB says is an area of high interest.
MH370 search graphic. The area to be searched first is CSIRO 1. Radiant Physics
This area is likened to the Swiss Alps with very deep ravines and towering peaks.
Depth in the area is put at over 5000m.
The Ocean Infinity search will cover all areas identified as likely locations.
The deepest recovery of an aircraft was that of South African Airways Flt 295 a 747 that crashed into the Indian Ocean near Mauritius on November 28, 1987.
The 747-200B Combi, which has cargo and passengers on the main deck, was on a flight from Taiwan to Johannesburg and experienced a catastrophic in-flight fire in the cargo area.
All 159 passengers and crew perished.
