New satellite images suggest that the search for missing Flight 370 may be honing in on exact location of where the 777 jetliner apparently crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, via the New York Times:
Malaysia’s defense minister announced on Wednesday evening that Airbus Defense and Space, Europe’s main commercial satellite company, had forwarded images taken on Sunday of 122 objects floating southwest of Australia and said that his country had asked Australia to check if they were debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. …
The objects are up to 23 meters, or 75 feet, in length, and are visible through gaps in clouds over an area of 400 square kilometers, or 154 square miles, he said. Some of the objects are bright, he noted without elaboration. Metal objects that had recently entered the ocean might be reflective.
Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein cautioned that until the debris is recovered there’s no way to know for certain that the objects came from MH370. Still, the latest information is “the most credible lead that we have,” he said at an evening press conference in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian officials forwarded the images on to Australia earlier today, although it was unclear whether the Aussies will be able to investigate the area prior to nightfall. Given the search area is a four or more hour flight from Perth, chances are good that they’ll have to wait until the morning to check things out.
If the debris does turn out to be from the missing jetliner, there’s still a long way to go. The objects would have spent the past two-plus weeks drifting at sea, so finding the exact location of where the plane went down will take some more work. Still, it would be a start, and would also provide some needed closure for the families and friends of the passengers and crew who went missing with the plane on March 8.
Read the rest of Slate’s coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
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