As Long as It Takes

By+Chen+Ran

“Please Come Back Soon！” Those are the opening words shown on a verified account on Sina Weibo， Chinas largest Twitter-like social media platform. The profile photo for the account is heart-shaped candle lights placed in front of a message board full of wish notes. A flight landing in front of a sunrise is used as the header photo.

The user behind the account is from a Beijing-based group whose family members were on board Malaysia Airlines MH370. The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft， which carried 227 passengers including 154 Chinese nationals and 12 crew members lost contact with air traffic controllers in the early morning of March 8 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The incident garnered worldwide attention. New leads surfaced as the international search operation entered its second week.

The missing flight steered off course after all communication systems were disabled deliberately， Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on March 15. The last signal between MH370 and a satellite came at 8：11 a.m. Malaysian time on March 8. “This new satellite information has a significant impact on the nature and scope of the search operation，”he said.

Based on the data， the Malaysian authorities tried to trace the missing plane along two possible “corridors”—a northern one from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand； and a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. The search being primarily conducted in the South China Sea was suspended.

“Due to the type of the satellite data， we are unable to confirm the precise location of the plane when it last made contact with the satellite，” the Malaysian prime minister noted.

Twenty-six countries， the largest number in modern aviation history， have been involved in the new search area.

The Chinese search-and-rescue team adjusted its operation plan accordingly after the new findings—four vessels with three helicopters searched 120，000 square km along the northern Bay of Bengal， while five vessels with three helicopters headed south， searching 180，000 square km along the Sunda Strait， connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean.

According to Huang Huikang， Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia， China has conducted investigations into the backgrounds of the 154 Chinese nationals on board MH370. “We have found no indications of any sabotage or hijacking by these passengers，” Huang noted.

Moreover， 15 space organizations under the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters carried out satellite searches for any possible leads after the China Meteorological Administration activated the charter on March 11. Since then， 21 Chinese satellites and 11 from other countries have been working around the clock on the search effort.endprint

Although the charter has been activated over 600 times since being declared formally operational in 2000， the search for MH370 is unprecedented. “Past operations had fixed observation points， for example， earthquakes. But this time， there is no clear target and the search area is huge，” said Wang Zhigang， a researcher with the Beijing-based China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application， in an interview with China Central Television.

On March 20， Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said satellite imagery had found two objects possibly related to the missing plane in the southern Indian Ocean. The location was about 2，500 km southwest of the Australian port city of Perth.

“Our hearts have always been gripped by the safety of the passengers from different countries on board，” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation with Abbott later that day. “Despite the increasing difficulties in the current search and rescue due to the complicated circumstances in relevant waters， all-out efforts should be made as long as there is still a glimpse of hope.”

In the following days， China， France， Thailand and Japan all subsequently released satellite images of possible wreckage related to MH370 in the same area. Six countries including Australia， China， the United States， New Zealand， South Korea and Japan have sent aircraft to the site. Unfortunately， efforts were hampered by poor weather.

Turning point

Frustrated family members of the missing passengers in Beijing set up instant messaging groups from day one to share updates， and more importantly， to help boost one anothers morale. They also formed the MH370 family member committee to keep daily communication with representatives from Malaysia.

The idea of making a social media presence， according to their Weibo accounts biography， is to “exclusively release real-time information and voices from the family members of the missing passengers.” In less than a week， it comprosed 27 posts， attracting over 145，000 followers.

“We pray for our loved ones， hope for their comeback and also reinforce our belief in their survival at 9：30 a.m. every day [which is 30 minutes before the first daily routine meeting with Malaysian representatives].” wrote one of the Weibo posts at 11：23 p.m. on March 23.

However， they received an SMS message from Malaysia Airlines the next day， prior to Malaysian prime ministers urgent announcement at 10 p.m.endprint

“MH370 has been lost and none of those on board survived. We must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean，” the message read.

The prime minister said he was briefed by representatives from the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch （AAIB）， who informed him that Inmarsat， the British company that provided the satellite data， had been performing further calculations on the data.

They had been able to shed more light on the missing planes flight path by using “a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort，” he said. “Based on their new analysis， Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor， and its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean， west of Perth.”

The Chinese Government has asked Malaysia to provide all information and evidence leading to that conclusion. President Xi， who was in The Hague for the Nuclear Security Summit， ordered a special envoy to be sent to Kuala Lumpur to consult with Malaysian authorities. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng made an urgent appointment to meet with Malaysian Ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin on Najib Razaks announcement. Chinese officials also paid a visit to family members at Beijing Lido Hotel on March 25 to show support.

Daunting task

Searching for the missing plane has remained the top priority and must be carried on unremittingly， said the Chinese special envoy to Malaysia Zhang Yesui during meetings with Malaysian officials including the prime minister.

The search area has been reduced as a result of the new data to 1.6 million square km， but only 20 percent of that area has previously been searched， according to Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

As of March 27， five Chinese vessels—icebreaker Xuelong， merchant ship Zhonghaishaohua， amphibious transport dock Kunlunshan， missile destroyer Haikou and supply ship Qiandaohu joined the search along with Australian vessel HMAS Success in the waters where Australia spotted floating objects that might be related to MH370. Four vessels were still searching the eastern part of the southern Indian Ocean. A further three vessels will head for the designated area in the coming days， according to Hong Lei， Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

“We are not searching for a needle in a haystack. We are still trying to define where the haystack is，” Australias deputy defense chief， Air Marshal Mark Binskin， told reporters at a military base in Perth， Australia.endprint

Binskins view was echoed by Hu Zhen， deputy chief designer of Chinas manned deepsea research submersible Jiaolong， which set a record of 7，062-meter trial dive in 2012. “The most difficult part for conducting deep-sea search is we dont know the exact location of the missing plane，” he said.

In the ocean， the unmanned submersible has the ability to mark a general location， while the manned submersible is capable of marking the location more precisely. “Jiaolong could have taken the lead on the scene if the debris field were located precisely and the water were no deeper than 7，000 meters，” Hu explained.

The U.S. Navys black box locator， the Towed Pinger Locator 25， arrived in Perth on March 26 and is expected to reach the designated area on April 5.

Everyone working together is in a race against time to calculate a precise search area where the vessel-towed locator should be deployed as the battery in the black box from MH370 is likely to expire in early April.

“The searchers would not lose spirit although they were not getting any closer to finding the aircraft，” Hishammuddin Hussein said. “We will carry on until MH370 is found.”

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