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Search crew not giving up [New Straits Time (Malaysia)](New Straits Time (Malaysia) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PERTH: THE steady, constant drone of the four Rolls-Royce T-56 Allison turboprops, unflinching in their cadence, numbs the senses. I look out the tiny window of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Lockheed Martin C-130H Hercules tactical transport and see them whirring merrily in a blur of grey and red. Below us is the azure southern Indian Ocean, calm and serene. Almost looks like the perfect place for a dip. The crew aboard RMAF Rescue 281 had been tasked with dropping six buoys on a patch of ocean where Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is believed to have impacted the water. Barely 24 hours upon arriving at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Pearce from RMAF Subang, the men and women of No. 20 Squadron jumped right in and flew a full-up search-and-recovery (SAR) mission, a testament to their commitment to the mission and their professionalism. That was a week ago. Today, the buoys will have stopped sending their precise calculations of wind speed and ocean drift to a constellation of Iridium satellites suspended in low earth orbit at an altitude of 781km and orbital inclination of 86.4o, which could aid investigators in locating the downed airliner with all 239 on board. Today is also the day the batteries inside the Boeing 777- 200ER's flight data recorders run out of juice. In an act of finality, the last ping would be sent out. From then on, there will be no more. This means that from trolling the high seas based on an "educated guess" using all the cutting-edge technology available today, the search has now devolved into "a 99 per cent, systematic, grid-by- grid, rolling-up-your-sleeves kind of search of vast tracts of ocean, coupled with one per cent blind luck," said a SAR flight crew member. On Friday, two of the most sophisticated vessels -- the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo -- began a systematic underwater search for the twinjet, but officials admitted that they were not optimistic about finding her any time soon. Arriving at RAAF Pearce for the first time 12 days ago, I was struck by the enormity of this story. At regular intervals, aircraft lift off of Pearce's Runway 18 Left, bank starboard and head out to sea. The earliest would be airborne by 6am, the latest by 5pm. Over the next 11 days, we watched as aircrew from the eight nations involved in the multinational effort walk to their aircraft, strap in, spool up their engines, taxi out to the runway and firewall the throttles. As investigators narrowed down the search box closer and closer to Perth, confidence was at an all-time high. The search area had been refined from an initial 2.24 million square kilometres to 217,000 square kilometres, roughly 1,700km west of Perth. "We've moved pretty much to an area directly west of Perth. We're pretty confident if there's anything in the water, we'll get visibility on it," RAAF Orion pilot Capt Josh Williams told the New Straits Times last week. Now, it's anybody's guess. The weather in this region is unforgiving. Days of wild weather would be punctuated by a break that would last only for a few hours. A United States Navy P8 Poseidon pilot I bumped into in downtown Perth yesterday told how bad it could get. Even for seasoned airmen. "One of the sensor operators barfed on his console. And I'm not talking about the 'soft stuff' either. That was some serious industrial-waste puke," he said, laughing. A typical mission lasts between six and 10 hours, depending on the aircraft type and its tasking for the day. It starts with a daily briefing by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre that outlines the "big picture". "From there, individual aircrew are handed out their tasking and NOTAMS, or Notice to Airmen, which outline potential hazards. Preflights are often done by the ground crew, under the supervision of the plane captain. "And then we go," a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3C Orion pilot told the NST. And at the end of every day, they would stream in. Against the backdrop of a spectacular burning sky, they come in, one after another. After shutting down their engines, the aircrew would slowly walk or be driven back for a debriefing, bathed in the ghostly glow of sodium lights. They fly seven days a week, often in foul weather, without any let-up in tempo. Those scouring the seas have it even worse. The search area lies in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. Gale-force winds and mountainous seas batter the 11 ships that are out there, constantly. Raging waves, sometimes six to seven metres high, pound their hulls and ice-cold sea sprays hammer the weary bodies of the sailors. Sitting down with the RMAF detachment commander, No. 20 commanding officer Major Mohd Jafri Suboh, I ask him what drives these men and women to lay it all out on the line. He draws a deep breath. "We're all aviators. I know it's been a month and many out there believe that any hope of survival is extremely slim. "But, closure for the families is important. Everyone involved in this effort, from the aircrew to the maintenance guys, to the sailors, we all know that. "If you were the one out there... you'd want us to keep trying. You'd want us to keep flying the mission. No matter how bad it gets. No matter how tired we are. You'd want us to not give up. "I know I would." (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |