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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

MH370 search to be expanded 12,000 sq km

MOST of the wreckage of MH370 will be left on the ocean floor when it is eventually found by searchers.

Despite the complete absence of any debris being found, search organisers are well advanced in the process of contracting a company to undertake the recovery operation.

But it seems almost certain any effort will focus simply on components required for the investigation, such as the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said plans for recovery activities in the event the aircraft was found, were agreed to by Ministers from Malaysia, Australia and China at a meeting last month.

“The plans are not a public document at present,” said the spokesman.

“However it is not expected that it would be necessary to recover the entire aircraft but rather selected components.”

Shortlist assembled

He said a short list of suppliers had been identified from the request for expression of interest process for the recovery operation.

WHAT HAPPENED? The theories about MH370’s disappearance

“The formal contracting of services for recovery will only occur if and when MH370 is positively identified,” the spokesman said.

It is not clear if the recovery will include the bodies of the 239 people on board, including six Australians.

The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared on March 8 last year, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

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The lack of floating debris from the aircraft has been described as “not unusual” by ATSB Commissioner Martin Dolan, who said any flotsam was now likely in the middle of the Indian Ocean, or on the sea floor.

Winter stand-down

The search effort in the Southern Indian Ocean has been scaled down considerably for the winter months when bad weather will hamper the use of sensitive sonar equipment.

However crews have already moved out of the initial 60,000 square kilometre “priority area” into the expanded zone covering a total of 120,000 square kilometres of seabed.

“Expert advice is that the highest probability of locating the aircraft is within the 120,000 square kilometre search area,” said the ATSB’s latest operational update.

“Beyond that, it is not possible to refine the search area to one of greater likelihood.”

To date the search operation has cost around $60 million with Australia and Malaysia jointly footing the bill.

Each country is expected to stump up another $50 million for the expanded search, and any recovery.

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