The results of the analyses of the oil slick found by Ocean Shield in a search for the missing flight MH370 show that the oil is not aircraft engine oil or hydraulic fluid, Chief Coordinator of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston (Ret’d) confirmed during a media conference.
Today’s visual search will cover approximately 40,349 square kilometers, and it will include ten military aircraft, two civil aircraft and 11 ships.
Until now the Bluefin-21 AUV completed several missions, and searched approximately 90 square kilometers and the data from its latest mission is being analysed.
According to Phoenix International’s analyses there is a small but acceptable level of risk in operating the Bluefin-21 AUV in depths in excess of 4,500 meters.
This expansion of the operating parameters allows the AUV to search the seafloor within the predicted limits of the current search area.
The next mission is being planned after the signals detected by the Towed Pinger Locator on Ocean Shield narrowed the search area.
Related:
No Significant Detections Found in Search for Flight MH370
Bluefin-21 Resurfaces After First Search for Missing MH370
Press Release, April 17, 2014; Image: Australian Navy