Nine months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing, the very first image of the underwater search was shared to the public.
"The image is a synthetic aperture sonar acoustic image of the seafloor gathered by GO Phoenix. This is indicative of the resolution and quality of the data and that it is revealing important detail of the seafloor," reads a statement from Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, as cited by The Epoch Times.
However, the search that covered 9,000 square kilometers (16 percent) of the seafloor found no wreckage from the missing plane. Assuming that there will be no holdup with vessels, equipment and weather, The Guardian reported that combing the priority zone will take five more months, as it is set to be concluded by May next year.
For the second week of December, ATSB has enumerated its key vessels for the search mission. Fugro Equator has scoured 200,000 square kilometers of the search area to date and she will continue on with its bathymetric survey operations until she completes this month's phase. Meanwhile, Fugro Discovery and GO Phoenix resumed their underwater search operations after returning to the search area on Dec. 4 and Dec. 9, respectively. The ships are employed to inspect the Indian Ocean floor, 6,000 meters (3.7 miles) beneath the surface using multibeam sonar for highly-detailed data acquisition.
"In addition to locating the aircraft, the underwater search aims to map the MH370 debris field in order to identify and prioritise the recovery of specific aircraft components, including flight recorders, which will assist with the Malaysian investigation," the ATSB statement reads.
On its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, the aircraft vanished on March 8, along with all its 239 passengers and crew on board. As per abc.net.au, families (who suspect a cover-up) of the passengers onboard the ill-fated airliner launched a drive in Indiegogo that aims to raise a reward for anyone who can give the much-needed answer that will pave way to the resolution of the missing plane. It has garnered about $100,000 to date.
