INTERPRETING sonar data and turning it into credible image scenes will be the primary challenge in a fresh search for Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370, which went missing in March 2014, aviation experts said

Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) test pilot Prof Mohd Harridon Mohamed Suffian said the process involved transforming discreet sound data into three-dimensional image data.

“This transformation process tends to involve losses of discreet data., thus rendering the transformation or interpretation as inaccurate. 

“But I believe the United States-based seabed exploration company, Ocean Infinity Limited has in-depth algorithm to ensure optimum interpretation of the data,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.

On January 11, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai announced that under an agreement with Ocean Infinity Limited, a search for MH370 would resume in mid-January, in which the vessel, Seabed Constructor would scour an area of 25,000sq km over 90 days.

The primary mission of the ship is to identify the location of the wreckage or both of the flight recorders; the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR).
 
The “no cure, no fee,” payment terms of the search means that Ocean Infinity Limited will only be paid when it finds parts of the missing jetliner that are verified by a third party.

Harridon said rough or bad weather was another challenge awaiting Seabed Constructor in the southern Indian Ocean.

“It depends on how forceful the vessel is during the search. Weather in that part of the ocean is terrible at times and could hinder the search effort. But I do hope the vessel can wade through the harsh environment to provide us with answers within the best possible timeframe,” he said. 

Reports said the vessel was expected to reach the search area on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a researcher at a local airline, Ahmad Maulan Bardai said after almost four years, any wreckage and components would have been buried deeper under sea bed debris and might not be found. 

“These may include the black boxes. Learning from the QZ8501 incident, the aircraft black boxes were found separated from its tail section but with Ocean Infinity’s capabilities, such as the (utilisation of)  eight underwater autonomous vehicles, the area will be covered quickly,” he said, adding that effective analysis of the scanned documents from the vehicles was the vital factor for the success of the search.

AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 crashed in the Java Sea near Pangkalan Bun in central Kalimantan while ferrying 155 passengers and seven crew members from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on December 28, 2014.

Meanwhile, former Royal Malaysian Air Force investigating officer Captain Abdul Rahmat Omar Mohd Haniff said he hoped that Seabed Constructor would trace and identify any wreckage as soon as possible.

“Search should also be conducted where the currents flow towards East Africa,” he said.

Flight MH370 with 239 people on board vanished from radar screens while on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. It is  classified among the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Australia, Malaysia and China jointly suspended a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January last year. No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-sq km search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

So far, only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them, including a two-metre part of the wing called the flaperon,  on Western Indian Ocean shores. – Bernama, January 15, 2018.