Malaysian jet search halted after underwater drone gets damagedMay 15, 2014 - 10:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 hit a fresh snag on Thursday, May 15, after it was found the underwater drone at the heart of the operation had been damaged, forcing what could be another lengthy delay, Reuters reported. The Australian agency coordinating the search effort, now in its third month, said communications equipment on the sophisticated Bluefin-21 drone was damaged on its first day back after almost two weeks away for maintenance and resupply. The issue was discovered on Wednesday, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said, just two hours into the drone's first mission since returning to the search area in the Indian Ocean about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) northwest of the west Australian city of Perth. "Examination of the communications problem has established that a hardware defect exists in the transponder mounted on the Ocean Shield and that a defect may also exist in the transponder mounted on the Bluefin-21," a JACC statement said, referring to the Australian naval vessel towing the drone. "This inhibits the ability of the two devices to communicate with each other," it said, according to Reuters. The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 along with its 239 passengers and crew during a scheduled service between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, sparking the most expensive search in aviation history. Aerial searches failed to turn up any sign of the plane and officials are now relying on unmanned submersibles like the Bluefin-21, which scour the ocean floor using sophisticated sonar equipment. Officials have said that it could take a year to search the 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq mile) area where the plane is believed to have crashed, and questions about how to proceed and how to split the bill are growing. Parts to repair the Bluefin drone, on loan from the U.S. Navy for less than three more weeks, will not arrive in Australia until Sunday and it will take several days to reach the search area once repairs are completed. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenia: Protesters march to parliament, some spend the night on street The protesters did not disperse despite heavy rain that began at around 2 a.m. local time. Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. |