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April 18, 2014

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Samples collected from oil slick not from missing plane

Source: Agencies | April 18, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

INVESTIGATORS were analyzing data collected by a robot submarine after its first successful scan of the seabed yesterday, in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

In another development, tests have ruled out that a nearby oil slick came from the aircraft.

The unmanned sub’s first two missions were cut short by technical problems and deep water, but the Bluefin 21 finally managed to complete a full 16-hour scan of the seabed far off Australia’s west coast, the search coordination center said.

While data collected was still being analyzed, nothing of note had been discovered, the center said. The sub has covered 90 square kilometers of seafloor.

Separately, the center said the oil analysis done in Perth came up empty when the samples tested negative for aircraft oil or hydraulic fluid.

The oil was collected this week from a slick 5.5 kilometers from where equipment picked up underwater sounds consistent with an aircraft black box.

It was hoped that the oil would be evidence that officials are looking in the right place for the Boeing 777, which vanished March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

Searchers have yet to find any physical proof that the sounds that led them to the ocean floor where Bluefin has been deployed were from the ill-fated jet.

Twelve planes and 11 ships were scouring a 40,300-square-kilometer patch of sea for any debris that may be floating on the ocean surface, about 2,200 kilometers northwest of Perth.

Despite weeks of searching, no debris has been found and this week search effort leader Angus Houston said the surface hunt would end within days.

But the search coordination center yesterday said crews would continue searching the ocean surface into next week.

Malaysia’s defense minister, Hishamuddin Hussein, confirmed yesterday that the search would continue through Easter weekend, but said officials would have to rethink their strategy at some point if nothing is found.

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