GarryP

Looks like they are doing quite well at narrowing down the location of the aircraft. 4 contacts now, all about the final 'chirp' signal they got, and given the fun with acoustics in the ocean, almost certainly from the same device.



My guess is they will either localise it much more with the sonar net they are sowing, or they will run out of time and the pings will stop. Either way, I think they will be moving to an underwater search activity pretty soon.

ozzieeagle

What is/are the Sub(s) doing.... Silly question we wont ever know.

Wonder which one found it first.... The US/Chinese/Russians/French or British.


Quite likely the greatest international submarine exercise in history... For mutual benefit as well... Airline safety.

GarryP

Maximum stated depth of the HMS Tireless is 600m

The seabed there is 4.5km

It's probably listening for pings, but it's doing so from near the surface.

Swerv-o

Well, you can pretty much guarantee it wasn't any of ours - they are all snuggled up for repairs and maintenance...


S

ozzieeagle

Just as well, the noise the Collins Class make would have drowned out any hope of the other(s) finding it.

Amazulu

Collins are very quiet

Swerv-o

They are actually - they have eluded US HK boats - but the reliability and crewing issues mean they very rarely put to sea.


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Amazulu

One of the biggest concerns for NATO during the cold war was the very good Red Navy diesel electric boats as they were so quiet

I read something the other day that the navy has vastly improved the reliability of their subs - so much so that they can now deploy three at a time instead of one

cresta57

Extremely quiet, most of the time they're tied up alongside with maintenance or crewing issues. My boy seriously considered transferring to subs until he found out he stood more chance of going to sea in a beautiful pea green boat........................

Swerv-o

Was there some sarcasm hidden in here?


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Amazulu

Slightly but it is a marked improvement

sj oldfield

Really stupid question, but why are the pings in different areas?
If they are picking up the signal from the black box, which I hope thats what it is, why is it moving? ??
Probably a dumb question as I know nothing about aviation, still baffles me how a bloody jet can take off with all that weight in the first place!

old.sparkles

Sound travels and you can hear it from some distance away but under water sound waves get disturbed by the water so its harder to pinpoint the source

GarryP

Don't forget, the signal is coming from 4.5km down. As such 10km between detections is nothing. When you add in the inversions, reflections, refractions, and general non-linear nature of sound transmission through the ocean from that depth - they are all within the "probably the same transmitter" range.

sj oldfield

Thanks Garry
That makes it a bit clearer, so it looks like they are on to something?
Another silly question, if the black battery dies, and they find the black box after the battery has stopped can they still retrieve the information they need from it, or will all the information die with the battery?