PERTH, Australia – France provided new satellite data Sunday showing possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, as searchers combing a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean tried without success to locate a wooden pallet that could yield clues to one of the world’s most baffling aviation mysteries.
The new data consists of “radar echoes” in the same part of the ocean where satellite images previously released by Australia and China showed what might be debris from the plane, French authorities said.
The latest satellite data came to light as Australian authorities coordinating the search, conducted about 1,550 miles southwest of Perth, sent planes and a ship to try to “re-find” a wooden pallet that appeared to be surrounded by straps of different lengths and colors.
Wooden pallets are often used by ships, Barton cautioned. But airlines also commonly use them in cargo holds.
An official with Malaysia Airlines said Sunday night the flight was, in fact, carrying wooden pallets. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with company policy.
Sunday’s search was frustrating because “there was cloud down to the surface, and at times we were completely enclosed by cloud,” Royal Australian Air Force flight Lt. Russell Adams told reporters.
Gathering satellite echo data involves sending a beam of energy to the Earth and then analyzing it when it bounces back, according to Joseph Bermudez Jr., chief analytics officer at AllSource Analysis, a commercial satellite intelligence firm.
Satellite radar echoes can be converted into an image that would look similar to a black-and-white photo, though not as clear, he said. “You’d have to know what you’re looking at,” Bermudez said.
