The ocean water is deep, and a massive cyclone churned through the area just two weeks ago, packing wind speeds of more than 160 mph. At the time, search crews were looking at a different part of the Indian Ocean.But now that the focus of the search area has shifted, the possibility that large waves from the storm made it even harder to find debrisis a reality investigators must face, according to CNN meteorologists.
"This was an area that looked like a washing machine in the first place, but now we know it was even worse than that," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.Cheers erupted Saturday when the team aboard Australia's Ocean Shield first reported a possible signal had been heard.The Australian ship is carrying two key pieces of U.S. equipment to help scan the water for signs of the plane: a towed pinger locator and a Bluefin-21 underwater vehicle.The first detection lasted for more than two hours; a second lasted for about 13 minutes.
The signals, detected about 1,750 kilometers 1,100 miles northwest of Perth, Australia, were consistent with those sent by a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder, Houston said. They were heard in seawater about 4,500 meters 14,800 feet deep."The audible signal sounds to me just like an emergency locator beacon," Houston said. "We are encouraged that we are very close to where we need to be."If they are heard again, an underwater drone could be deployed to take photos before officials would know whether Flight 370 has been found. That process could take days,Two take Villa Grove bank posts and possibly a week or more."Two take Villa Grove bank posts Until we have stopped the pinger search we will not deploy the submersible," Houston said. "We will not deploy it unless we get another transmission in which we'll probably have a better idea of what's down there."
Teams are also still investigating pulses detected Friday and Saturday by a Chinese ship about 600 kilometers 375 miles southwest of the area that the Ocean Shield is searching.
The signals detected by the Chinese weren't as sustained as those picked up by the Ocean Shield, and the Chinese vessel's detection gear isn't thought to be as advanced as the U.S. pinger locator.Houston said Monday that they were probably separate events, pointing out that the search area where they were detected is over 300 nautical miles long.