27 Mar 2014

Missing MH370: Thai satellites spot 300 objects

Thai satellite images pick up images of 300 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean during a search for the missing Malaysian airliner.

The objects, ranging from two to 15 metres in size, were scattered over an area about 2,700 kilometres (1,680 miles) south west of Perth, Australia.

Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency’s Executive Director Anond Snidvongs was tentative about what the images may be, but said that the information had been passed over to Malaysia.

He said the objects were spotted about 200 kilometres away from an area where French satellite images earlier showed potential objects.

The missing Boeing 777 was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared an hour into its flight on 8 March. The search area has been narrowed down to a corner of the southern Indian Ocean, 2,500 kms south west of Perth.

The pictures were taken by Thailand’s only earth observation satellite on Monday but needed several days to process, Mr Anond added. “But we cannot – dare not – confirm they are debris from the plane,” he said.

The search for any sign of the missing plane continued on Thursday, but 11 planes turned back after thunderstorms and gale-force winds stopped in the area. Five ships are staying in the area to try and continue searching, as the international hunt grows more desperate.

Meanwhile analysts have been trying to ascertain where the debris might be in this remote part of the ocean, if it did crash there as expected. A computer model from the University of Western Australia (see below), shows how debris from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 might have spread across the ocean surface during the days since it disappeared.