How do you lose a plane?

Charlatan · Mar 20, 2014

I am so glad that I am not watching CNN and their endless non-coverage of this event.

ralphie250 · Mar 20, 2014

Just herd that it has nothing to do with the plane.

RedSneaker · Mar 20, 2014

Did they say what it was?

ralphie250 · Mar 20, 2014

RedSneaker said: ↑

Did they say what it was?
Click to expand...

They said it wasn't.

coreylane · Mar 20, 2014

Big ocean, little plane.......so great haha

Street Pattern · Mar 20, 2014

RedSneaker said: ↑

Did they say what it was?
Click to expand...

Probably flotsam and jetsam. De-emphasis on the "jet".

rogue49 · Mar 21, 2014

FYI...
‘The Technology Is Out There,’ but Satellites Don’t Track Jets

ralphie250 · Mar 21, 2014

I still have a hard time understanding how Google earth can show you numbers on a mailbox but we can't find a plane.

Baraka_Guru · Mar 21, 2014

ralphie250 said: ↑

I still have a hard time understanding how Google earth can show you numbers on a mailbox but we can't find a plane.
Click to expand...

The short answer is that satellite imagery isn't a simple matter. When it comes to such imagery, the world is a big place.

A bit of a longer answer...

Understanding Google Earth imagery

When is imagery collected?

Google Earth acquires the best imagery available, most of which is approximately one to three years old. The information in Google Earth is collected over time and is not in 'real time'. For example, it's not possible to see live changes in images.

[...]
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Understanding Google Earth imagery - Earth Help

[...]

Once the imagery is taken, it takes time to process the data by a commercial provider like GeoEye before it is available to customers. Google is one of these customers (a really big one). Google has to evaluate the new imagery against the current imagery to determine whether the new is better than the current. I assume they are trying to automate as much of this as possible. But, for important areas with large populations the process most likely involves people. This process takes time – especially when you think about the quantities of land mass of the Earth. Once an image is selected, it has to be processed into the format and coordinate system of Google Earth’s databases. Then it has to go through a quality control process and fed into a processing system before it gets distributed to the live Google Earth database servers. This is one reason why you usually do not find any imagery younger than about 6 months in Google Earth. And why updates only happen about once every 60 days.

Not all the imagery in Google Earth comes from satellites. A lot of the imagery comes from aerial photographers mostly in airplanes with special high resolution cameras. Some of the imagery even comes from kites and balloons. Google acquires imagery from a variety of providers. Some of the imagery is given to Google by city or state governments. The age of the imagery varies greatly, but most of the high resolution imagery is between 6 months and 5 years of age. Again, because the imagery comes from a variety of sources, the process to get this imagery into Google Earth is complex and involves a great deal of time and effort. [...]
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About Google Earth Imagery - Google Earth Blog

redravin · Mar 21, 2014

I think the sub searching planes are going to be our best bet as long as they get close to the right area.
The Australian P-3 Orion and the American P8A Poseidon are designed to do searches similar to this.

Sub-Hunting Planes Use High-Tech Gear To Search For Flight 370 : The Two-Way : NPR

Two of the most advanced maritime surveillance aircraft are being pressed into service to search for possible wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Australia's U.S.-made P-3 Orions and U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidons bring high-tech sub-hunting gear to bear in the search for debris. They are combing a remote stretch about 1,500 miles from Perth, Australia, where satellite images taken March 16 showed floating objects.
As sophisticated as the search planes are, the task is
daunting.
Weather and the sheer distance from bases near Perth to the target zone are complicating efforts to answer the question of what — if anything — is out there. Because of ocean currents, the search area has also expanded since the satellite snapshot was taken. And it's possible that whatever was seen by satellite is now thousands of feet deep at the bottom of a vast ocean.
Click to expand...

ralphie250 · Mar 21, 2014

They say that the Australian airplanes that are searching can refuel and hair because of a kind of plane that they are okay I understand that then why not send some planes that can

Street Pattern · Mar 21, 2014

ralphie250 said: ↑

I still have a hard time understanding how Google earth can show you numbers on a mailbox but we can't find a plane.
Click to expand...

Google Street View can show house numbers that are readable if they're relatively large and/or close to the road. I don't think you can read any house numbers through Google Earth: the resolution is nowhere near high enough.

Charlatan · Mar 22, 2014

What it really comes down to, regardless of the technology being used, is that the Earth is a really big place and we don't really know where to look. Needles, haystacks and that...

rogue49 · Mar 22, 2014

ralphie250 said: ↑

I still have a hard time understanding how Google earth can show you numbers on a mailbox but we can't find a plane.
Click to expand...

Actually, you have to remember this...Google Earth is not real time...it's a collections of images taken over time...if not years.
And often they use images that are decades old to "fill in the blanks" without cloud cover.

This search is real-time...over a large area in a dynamic environment and they have to compensate for weather...even a simple cloud.

But, if anything, this situation is showing two things that may lead to positive results in the future.
First, it's showing the weaknesses and the holes in our monitoring capabilities and satellite capacity.

Second, we're seeing an unprecedented cooperation of many nations using all their resources (including satellites) to look for this.
This makes international global observations even more likely and the norm.
And helps interaction between all the systems...for unified tasks.
This is an amazing thing.

What you are wishing for, will be more likely.
Just think of what we could do with that...

ralphie250 · Mar 22, 2014

Yeah, I agree. I think in the future we as a whole will have better tracking.

proof · Mar 24, 2014

I believe it was golfer Payne Stewart's jet that flew for hours after an explosive decompression. The only reason they knew what happened is because it happened over land and an AF fighter followed it trying to establish contact. The same thing could have occurred here, though less likely. Once the plane was several hundred miles offshore, radar would lose contact and there is nothing in the Indian Ocean to see it go in.
To the flight that took off from Malaysia
Enroute to a country in Asia:
We would all like to know
Where the hell did you go?
Not one satellite photo displaysia.

Charlatan · Mar 24, 2014

ralphie250 said: ↑

Yeah, I agree. I think in the future we as a whole will have better tracking.
Click to expand...

I was listening to the guy from UK firm that is saying they have been able to track where the plane went using some predictive software. He pointed out that with ships at sea, they track where they are at all times. The same could be done with planes at a cost of less that $1/hour.

This most recent announcement says they know roughly where it went down. I hope they find it there. If they don't find it, all we have to go on is this rough estimate and that's not enough.

Fangirl · Mar 25, 2014

Early Tuesday morning news update.

Taliesin · Mar 25, 2014

The search has been resumed today

The search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has resumed off the West Australian coast after a day-long pause due to heavy rain, rough seas and gale-force winds.
Click to expand...

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Search for wreckage resumes after conditions improve - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Taliesin · Mar 26, 2014

New satellite images have revealed 122 objects in the southern Indian Ocean that could be debris from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia's acting transport minister has announced.
Click to expand...

Malaysia Airlines MH370: 122 new objects spotted in search for debris - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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