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Satellite Spots Debris in Flight 370 Search; Malaysia Air to Meet with Passengers' Families

Aired March 20, 2014 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, is this it?

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, MALAYSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We now have a credible lead.

COSTELLO: Brand new satellite images taken more than 1,000 miles off the coast of Australia showing debris floating on the surface.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is probably the best lead we have right now.

COSTELLO: The American Navy and a group of 18 ships scouring the area. Aircraft taking to the skies. Storms at sea, though, hampering efforts.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: They're dealing with white caps, bigger waves. Tough to see things. Ships move more slowly.

COSTELLO: Families just finishing up a press conference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should a miracle be required? Then that's what we're hoping for.

COSTELLO: As Malaysia manages expectations.

HUSSEIN: For the families around the world, the one piece of information that we want most -- that they want most is the information we just don't have, the location of MH-370.

COSTELLO: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Good morning. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. And this is a special edition of NEWSROOM. This morning, breaking news and a possible big break in the search for that missing plane. The latest lead satellite images of two large objects floating nearly 1500 miles off Australia's southwest coast. In one of the most remote areas on earth.

The debris, one large, one smaller, is triggering a race by sea and air to get a closer look. But here's what we know right now. The larger object on the left measures about 79 feet. That's roughly the length of a wing on a 777 but again there can be no confirmation until a ship actually retrieves these objects.

The first ship has just reached the area. It's a Norwegian vessel named the "Hoegh St. Petersburg." It's a massive -- look at how big that ship is. It was on its way to Melbourne when it got a request from Australian authorities to assist in the search.

CNN's Andrew Stevens is in Perth, Australia. A hub of this new search.

So, Andrew, aerial searches ended at nightfall but those efforts face big challenges. Wild weather, strong currents and the fact that these satellite images are already four days old.

Tell us about that.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. At this hour, it's the weather that's proven the biggest problem, Carol. We've just had the third of the four search planes landing here at this Australian Air Force base behind me. And our cameraman was on that flight. He said -- he said the weather wasn't too bad but they weren't over the search area for too long. They did drop a couple of buoys and then came back.

It just gives you an idea just how far away it is. It's a four-hour flight to get there and four hours to get back which only gives them not a lot of time on the -- on the actual target area. But we were getting tweets from one of the planes that went -- landed back here a little earlier and they were saying that the visibility was a big problem. There was rain. It was low cloud.

We know that there is a cold front moving in there and these two objects if they are there, behind the cold front, so aircraft are going to have to go through that. It's not going to be an easy task. I mean, this is a very, very difficult task in the best of times. As you say, this is one of the most remote places in the world. And to get a bearing is very difficult. Just to get there is very difficult.

There was warnings from the Australian Maritime Authority. They're the people who are actually leading the search. And they were saying today, even though this is the best lead they have had, they are still saying it could be days before we get anything further. And certainly, the news coming back from these long range reconnaissance planes, including a P-8, which is a very sophisticated U.S. Navy plane, turning up nothing at this stage, Carol.

So tomorrow the search begins anew. The flights will head out there once again. We do know there is a commercial ship in the area. We do know that the Australian Navy is sending one of its vessels there. It's going to take about at least another day to get there. And we also know that the Chinese are sending ships as well. At this stage, we think it's two ships. But that's going to take two or three days to get there. All this time, that -- those objects, the debris if there is any, moves further away and will become more and more difficult to find. So it sounded good a few hours ago. It sounded promising but we really are no further forward since then -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Andrew Stevens, thanks so much.

With me to talk about this latest clue, well, we have experts and reporters, you name it. But I want to start with Tom Foreman in Washington.

Tom, this is roughly 2800 miles from where the plane took off in Kuala Lumpur. Tell us -- tell us more about this remote place on our planet.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, you recall yesterday we were talking about how this would be the place that produced news of the day if anything did. Not simply because mathematically it's where the searchers believe the probability was the greatest to do it but because where they were focusing the most effort. Indeed now it's what we're talking about.

U.S. officials haven't wavered in days in their belief that of these two routes, these two arcs, described by satellite data, the northern route could be ignored more than the southern route. The southern one is where they thought it was possible and doing very careful mathematics, essentially, they narrowed it down to that square you're looking at right there and that is indeed where these images have emerged.

We're taking a look at them because this is something that's troubling to a lot of people. We've been looking at them all night. We've been talking about this. You know the analysts have. There's not a whole lot to be told from this. But the data around them, everything that leads to this discovery, that does give us an ability to break down the pros and cons here. So let's go ahead and do that if we can.

The first one is credibility. The simple fact that the government of Australia came out and said so clearly, we're interested in this. This seems to matter. They're not going to say that if they don't have some reason to feel that they're going to look OK with this. They have a reason to do that. But doubt, every guest we've had on since midnight last night said the same thing. You have to have healthy doubt here because the other thing is you get wishful thinking to a degree.

Here's another factor to consider in this. The size. You hinted at this a minute ago. Size in this case is both a pro and a con. This plane is a big plane. About 200 feet across. About 200 feet in length. The bigger of the two pieces is about 78 feet long. Can you get a 78-foot piece out of this plane? Absolutely you can.

There are plenty of places where you can subtract such a thing. But here's the puzzle of that. And it came up when that Chinese debris was spotted. When those images were released. If you have a piece that big from this plane, can it float out here in stormy seas for 12 days? Many people wonder about that. Many of the experts and aviation people say that's a difficult trick to pull off.

Seat cushions, they can float. Yes. Life rafts. All sorts of other lighter debris can float for a long time. But they're smaller, harder to spot. Big pieces like that could come from the plane, yes. Could sink, yes. Last part, location. We're going to talk about location in this case. The location is good as we mentioned. This is where they are looking. But locating it is hard as we're already seeing.

Four days old in a difficult part of the world. And everybody keeps talking about the pingers. They keep saying, let's reach out and listen to the pingers. Let's bring a reality check to this. If you fly in here and you think about all this vast amount of ocean here, the range of these pingers in the best conditions may be about two miles.

There's a whole lot more ocean out there and if it's at the bottom of the ocean, that really limits how far they can go, especially in warm waters -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. A little glimmer of hope, but you're right. It's good to be skeptical because so many factors have come into play.

We're going to talk about all of those factors in just a bit. But we want to focus on the weather right now. It's 9:00 at night in Australia now. The search for more debris has ended. And not just because it's nighttime but because this area is known as the roaring 40s because it's so windy there.

Indra Petersons is here to tell us why this area is so dangerous -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You're exactly correct. First before I touch on that, look, Carol, I want to talk about the weather that's actually been affecting the region specifically, even just today. Very easy to see right now as you look at the satellite picture. This long line of clouds.

So this is the cold front they've been having to deal with. And yes, it has passed the region where they're looking at the potential debris on the radar or the satellite image. But notice anyone that's trying to fly into the region will have to pass through that. Of course, once they get closer, the good news here is that conditions will be improving as visibility will start to decrease.

Now here's the concern. What everyone has been talking about. A gyre hearing that (INAUDIBLE). It's located in this circular kind of fashion. And runs here. You can almost see all of this red. You're talking about some very strong currents and strong winds in the area. You mentioned the roaring 40s. That's exactly we're talking about. That latitude of a 40-degree latitude and 50-degree latitude which is called the furious 50s many times.

Because these are strong westerly trade winds. A lot of ships use typically because they can kind of take advantage of that. But keep in mind you have strong winds here. Of course that's difficult for flying conditions. It also can produce some rough seas out there.

Now as the cold front has passed now already this morning from the region, winds are starting to die down a little bit. We're talking about 20 and 30-mile-per-hour winds. But not out of the question at any point in time you start to see even 40, 50-mile-per-hour winds do kind of kick into that area.

And keep in mind, winds correlate with those wave heights. Of course they go together. So a lot of times you do start to see some very strong surf out there. Right now seeing about eight-foot surf. But many times especially farther down to the south you see some 20-foot waves, you can see those kind of make their way into the area. A lot of white caps were seen this morning. And of course farther south, you can even see some 40 and 50-foot waves. The reason we keep saying farther south because it depends on where some of these boats are coming from.

Of course they may have to navigate through some of these rougher waters. Currently as far as rain that was hindering the effects this morning, right now it looks like the rain is dying down as that system is making its way out. But keep in mind, we are still going to be having to fly through that rain as you make your way from Australia into that region.

Talking about the ocean. A lot of people have been touching on this. We've been talking about the surface. But in that region where they did find the aircraft potentially, you're talking two to three miles of ocean depth there. And keep in mind, the satellite images, those are a good four days old so you really have to take into account where the potential debris was four days ago.

Look at these currents, all these conditions and manipulate where could this have been 13 days ago? That's the concern and of course where would that debris now be also today moving forward in time. So that's all of the things that they're going to have to factor in. And of course very difficult situation with very strong winds typically in that region -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I think difficult is an understatement.

Indra Petersons, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Malaysia Airlines scheduled to meet with the families of the missing.

Our Atika Shubert is inside the briefing room. We'll have an update for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This morning, breaking news in a possible big break in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The latest lead: satellite images two of large objects floating nearly 1,500 miles off of Australia's southwest coast, in one of the most remote areas on the planet. The debris, one large, one smaller, triggering a race by sea and air to get a closer look.

It will not be easy to find the debris or anything else in this part of the world because of the sheer size of the area, the weather and so many other factors. With me now CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest, and Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the Department of Transportation.

Richard, a few things to keep in mind here. These satellite images of this debris, four days old. Why are we just seeing them now?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We're seeing them now because that's the length of time for them to realize what they had.

Remember, Australia only was invited to take the primacy in that region. We don't know where these satellite images came from. We don't know which country provided them but we know it was the Australian Geographic Society or the AGIO as it's called, that actually did the work of looking at those pictures and determining that there was, in the words of the prime minister, credible reasons to believe that they might be from MH370.

And that's the issue here, Carol. The reason we have all sort of grabbed on to this isn't just some false hope and a wing and a prayer. It's because last night, the Australian prime minister, even though he caveated his comments, he did go before the Australian House of Representatives. He did describe them as credible and he did say they've been identified.

In other words, they were sure they had something. They just weren't sure what it was. And then we had a very long news conference later on from the Australian search authorities in which they basically said this is the best lead we have.

And that's why so many assets were not only being redeployed from the north to the south but also everything was being poured into going to that part, going to where the debris had been and trying to see to find out what it was.

COSTELLO: Mary, are there other images? Can they zoom in closer?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I think they have. You know, you look -- it's like Google Earth. If you pay for the service you get clearer images. If you get the freebie, they're not as clear.

And they have, I think, most likely clearer images. And we ran into that in the 9/11 investigation, too. They would purposely degrade them so the general public or more appropriately, the criminal element out there won't know how good their images really are. So I suspect they are better than what we see, what they've released.

COSTELLO: So, Mary, do you think that this is a credible lead?

SCHIAVO: I do. And they gave us a hint. I'm always looking for little clues in what they are saying. In the one of the press conferences in the wee hours of the morning, they also said they credited the NTSB. They said the U.S. NTSB had also given them some of these paths and looked at the data.

So, it's pretty clear there were a lot of heads put together on this, on the path. Looking at where they should look on the data. So I think there have been a lot of minds put together and there is hope, by the way, some of this can still be hoping because Boeing on these planes takes great pains and we want them to, hopefully they did on this one and all planes, they seal all the seams even in the composite wing and they seal them up inside and they -- it's not calk. It's lots better than calk.

So, they should be pretty buoyant. Now for how long on composite pieces, I don't know. But there's a chance that wing is still floating.

COSTELLO: Everybody around the newsroom is talking about this endlessly. We came to the consensus that investigators must know something they're not sharing. Is that a reasonable thing to guess?

QUEST: I think it's reasonable to say that they know more than they're letting on. But they don't know whether this is or is not. You have to remember, if they knew that this was definitively part of the plane, they would announce it. There are 239 families or so who are desperate, grief-stricken. There's an entire aviation industry that is waiting to know whether there's a problem with a plane. And the world is watching.

So I think they may not be telling us every little nook and cranny of what they know, simply because that will be improper and the rules won't allow it anyway. But I think that they've got a -- I'm sure they are keeping something back for themselves.

But ultimately, I don't believe that they are keeping, quote, "the secret". I don't think there's a fact out there that is so definitive that they're not revealing.

COSTELLO: Mary, if the plane did, indeed, fly this way, where was it on its way to? The South Pole? There's nothing out there. What does that tell you?

SCHIAVO: Well, to me, it says they were -- that the plane, the mystery here is the lack of motive. The lack of what was going on in the cockpit. But I think it tells us the plane flew until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.

Why it was doing that, because the pilots were dead or because hijackers took over and the plot went horribly afoul, who knows? But I think, to me it seems very clear the plane was flying on until the fuel was exhausted. And it's, of course, really sad news for the families, but, you know, that's -- after Thailand said it did not enter their airspace and it was clear they didn't go north, this was the only route left and there was nothing to be heading to except Antarctica where you can't land in March.

COSTELLO: Mary Schiavo, Richard Quest, thanks so much.

QUEST: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come -- if this is debris from that missing plane, how did it get there? We'll check in with Martin Savidge from inside that flight simulator.

Hi, Martin. Hi, Mitchell.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Refueled with seven hours of fuel, we'll take our 777 and point it in the direction of the debris. Could it actually reach that area? We'll test the theory, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: For the first time in several days, the satellite images of this potential debris have brought hope. The head of the Australian agency leading the search warns us all not to get our hopes up too much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN YOUNG, AUSTRALIA MARITIME SAFETY AUTHORITY GM: This is a lead. It is probably the best lead we have right now. But we need to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it's really meaningful or not.

I caution again, they'll be difficult to find, and they may not be located -- associated with the aircraft. And we have plenty of experience in that in other searches.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the families of passengers on board Flight 370, the wait for answers has been agonizing. Some are holding out hope their loved ones will be found alive. Others say they're prepared forward the worst. Malaysia Airlines is supposed to meet with the families at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Our Atika Shubert is at that hotel. She joins us now by phone.

Has the meeting taken place yet, Atika?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, my understanding is the meeting has just started. We've seen a number of families arriving and officials and grief counselors here. And our understanding is that the meeting is under way.

Now, we don't know what's happening inside. It's closed to the press. I have spoken to some of the family members before going in.

And, you know, I think there's a lot of caution about this news that's come out. One father told me while he's thankful to Malaysian and Australian forces for the search, he still holds out hope that everybody on board is alive, but he said he will accept, you know, whatever the fate is, if this is in fact, the plane. Others say they don't want to make any decisions. They want to know the facts.

So, we'll have to see what happens as a result of this meeting. It's interesting to note there's quite a bit of security here as well as an ambulance. There's a lot of concern about the well-being of a lot of these families that have been waiting now for more than a week, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, after yesterday, when that poor mother broke down and screamed out her agony, I suppose that's why Malaysian officials felt this need to hold this special conference just with the families today.

SHUBERT: Yes. You know, it's interesting because Malaysian airlines has been saying they've been keeping the families, you know, abreast of all the information and they've had daily briefings, but the family members I've spoken to say they've not had daily briefings, and they have to chase Malaysian airlines officials to get more information. This is the real first big meeting we've seen.

I have no doubt that this is going to be brought up with airline officials and families that want more information. There's not enough clarity. What do you know about what's been found off the coast of Australia.

COSTELLO: Atika Shubert, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much.

Those new satellite images show what could be debris from the missing jetliner. Clues are trying to get a closer look at two objects floating more than 1,400 miles off Australia's coast, along the southern search corridor.

The question now, how could Flight 370 have ended up there? It's in a remote area on Earth.

Martin Savidge and pilot Mitchell Casado join me from inside that flight simulator.

So, take us through. If that plane flew on for seven hours after its last communication, could it have made it to this debris field?

SAVIDGE: Right. That's the beauty of this simulator. Good morning, Carol.

What we've decided to do and for the experiment for your program is to essentially set everything up as 370 was, we're sitting on the ground on the runway in Kuala Lumpur, and we'll take off in just a minute.

I want to show you something. Fuel is going to be the real consideration. We believe they were loaded with seven hours of fuel.

Let me show you something here on the dash board here. I can call up the fuel load. It's listed here on this TV screen and these are the wing tanks. It's got, well, nearly 20,000 kilos of fuel in each wing tank and nearly 30,000 in the center tank. So, our total fuel is nearly 70,000 kilos.

That's not anywhere near as full of fuel as this plane could possibly be. But it's a good start. We think that's what we were at.

So, if you would, please, take us off, Mitchell.

And the whole idea here, Carol, is to, again, this aircraft is simulating everything we know about Flight 370, including, of course, they took off at night and were originally headed to Beijing. That's what they fueled for. They would have given themselves extra fuel. Every commercial pilot, every pilot would do that to build in for any potential delay.

So, they had extra fuel on board, but as I say, nowhere near as full as they could be.

We will take off. We'll climb out and then we'll make the turn and head south. We'll be approximating the route.

But once we're in the air -- the thing about the simulator, we can make it do whatever we want. But we always have to take off. It's part of just synchronizing everything with the computer.