U.S. Navy Team Detects Signals in Search for Missing Aircraft

Claudette Roulo at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2014 - U.S. Navy personnel continue their support of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Pentagon spokesman said today.

The United States has two P-8 Orion aircraft searching in the Indian Ocean, Army Col. Steve Warren said.

Navy aircraft supporting the search have flown 24 missions, with 220 hours of flight time covering 336,000 square nautical miles, according to a U.S. 7th Fleet news release.

"Additionally, we have two pieces of highly sophisticated underwater detection equipment [engaged in the search] -- the towed pinger locator and the Bluefin-21 [sidescan sonar]," Warren said.

Both underwater devices are operating from the Australian defense vessel Ocean Shield, the news release said.

The team operating the towed pinger locator detected signals yesterday that are consistent with sounds that would come from a black box, the release said. The signals were detected on at least three separate occasions for extended periods of time and at several different depths. The locator also detected two signals at the same frequency, but in different locations, which would be consistent with signals transmitted by both a flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the release noted.

The team is working to reacquire the signal and plans to use the Bluefin-21 to create a picture of any potential wreckage.

The search is a round-the-clock operation, and is currently focused on an area about 950 nautical miles northwest of Perth, Australia.

Determining the location and position of search assets is "a very collaborative effort between Americans, the Australians, the Malaysians and others," Warren said. But, he added, "the Australians right now do have the lead."

Note: In the above U.S. Navy photo taken by Petty Officer 1st Class Peter D. Blair the Bluefin-21 Artemis autonomous underwater vehicle is hoisted back aboard the Royal Australian Navy Defense Vessel Ocean Shield after successful buyancy testing.

U.S. Navy Continues Search for Missing Malaysian Airliner

Cladette Roulo at the American Forces Press Service offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, Mar. 19, 2014 - U.S. Navy aircraft and personnel remain engaged in the search effort for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, en route to Beijing, a Defense Department spokesman said today.

A P-8 Poseidon aircraft previously dedicated to search efforts in the Bay of Bengal has relocated to Perth, Australia, to join the southern search area, Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters.

"It is conducting a search in coordination with the Australians, 1,500 nautical miles west of Perth," he said.

The P-8 can stay over its assigned search area for nine hours, Warren noted. "It is a vast area, ... but the P-8 can search a tremendous amount of space," he added.

Australia is directing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, Warren said.

"We routinely train with the Australians," he said. "They're very close partners to us, and we particularly routinely train in maritime search."

A Navy P-3 Orion continues to search for the lost aircraft in the Bay of Bengal, Warren added.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Kidd, which previously was taking part in search efforts off the coast of Malaysia, has left the search and moved on to other operations in the South China Sea, the colonel said.

Note: In the above U.S. Navy photo taken by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric A. Pastor, sailors attached to Patrol Squadron 16 conduct search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 while aboard a P-8A Poseidon over the Indian Ocean, March 16, 2014.

USS Kidd Continues Search For Missing Airliner

U.S. Navy Ensign Brooke E. Schaffer, serving with the 7th Fleet, offers the below piece:

INDIAN OCEAN, Mar. 17, 2014 - The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Kidd and its crew are stepping up search efforts for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean with round-the-clock coverage.

The USS Kidd has been searching for six days, and the additional measures taken during its mission are apparent both above and below decks. Extra lookouts have been posted for 24-hour coverage topside and the two MH-60R helicopters from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 78 are flying additional sorties each day. The ship's engineers have rigged additional lighting to aid in the search and are maintaining the engineering plant to its highest efficiency to ensure the ship is able to meet her mission.

"The crew has responded to everything that has been asked of them," senior watch officer Navy Lt. Cmdr. Melissa J. Szurovy said. "Additional lookout watches are being stood by non-traditional watch standers, and sailors of their own volition are helping topside in our search for any sign of the aircraft. It is a true testament to the crew's fortitude to find this airliner."

The air department, comprised of seven pilots, three rescue swimmers, and 18 enlisted maintainers has divided into day and night teams consisting of 12-hour shifts to support round-the-clock flight operations.

"Our maintenance teams work long hours to ensure our helicopters are operationally ready at all times to meet the mission," HSM-78 air operations officer Lt. Andrew Hoffman said. "This allows us to constantly have our helicopters in the air to continue our search for the missing airliner. Further, our team is able to configure our helicopters to provide more space for this specific mission set, which allows us to remain in a continued state of readiness for any sign of the aircraft."

The responsibility of the safe launching, recovering and flight of the two MH-60R helicopters involves sailors not only from the air department, but from a variety of other departments from the ship as well.

Boatswain's mates, medical personnel, and engineers are among the many sailors involved in the helicopter operations to provide refueling, firefighting support, emergent repairs, assistance and supervision of all personnel and equipment to ensure the helicopters are able to safely remain in the air to continue the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Note: The above photos were released by the U.S. Navy.