Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Mystery of Flight 370; Chinese Ship Reportedly Detects Pinger Signal; China State News: Ship Detects Pulse Signal; Are "Black Boxes" Outdated Technology?
Aired April 05, 2014 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. The NEWSROOM begins right now.
All right. We begin with this breaking news. What could be -- could be a major break in the search for Flight 370. China's state news agency reports that a Chinese patrol ship detected a pulse signal with the same frequency as a black box. This is the spot where the signal was picked up according to the Chinese report. But there is no confirmation as yet that this is connected to the missing plane.
If this signal did come from the black box, it could be just in time, the batteries for the box's pingers typically last about 30 days and it has been almost now 30 days since the plane vanished.
China's state news agency also says a Chinese air force plane spotted several floating objects earlier today. It's not clear yet if those are connected to the plane either.
Also today, Malaysian officials announce they are forming three committees to handle all the aspects of the plane's disappearance now. The committees will work with families, the investigation and the deployment of assets.
We also learned today officials played a recording of the last words from the cockpit to friends of the pilots. Families have not been allowed to hear it. A source close to the investigation says officials are trying to determine who was speaking.
We have reporters and experts around the world to bring you every angle of the story.
First let's get an update on the search from Perth, Australia. Will Ripley is there live for us. So Will, what are officials in Australia saying about the Chinese report as it pertains to the pulse as well as a Chinese airplane saying that they spotted debris?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we haven't gotten any comment about these latest sightings of objects, Fred. Although I do need to point out that we have had so many sightings of objects over the past few weeks. And so we need to have a healthy dose of skepticism here. We were reporting satellite images of what we thought were debris fields but turned out in an area completely unrelated now, not even being searched anymore. So as far as the objects go, it's something that obviously is going to be looked at. But we don't have any official word on that. We do though have official word on these -- the possible ping that was detected. We know that the Australian Defense Force from our source in the defense force, they tell us that they got word around lunchtime on Saturday that the Chinese ship had detected something and at that moment and now for the past, you know, 10 to 12 hours or so, they have been trying to establish communication with the Chinese ship that reported this, the Haixun. They haven't been able to establish a line of communication.
Unlike the other countries involved in this search that communicate directly with the command center here in Australia. The Chinese ships and planes first send their information to Beijing; Beijing then communicates with Malaysia and Australia and as far as we know from our military source that has not happened. Now whether there's something happening on the diplomatic channels we just don't know.
But what we do know is that at least militarily they haven't been able to establish a direct connection with this ship to get more information about this. So there's -- there is, you know, cautious optimism but also a lot of skepticism as well.
WHITFIELD: All right. Will Ripley, thanks so much.
Let's talk more about this. Let's bring in Richard Quest, he's an aviation correspondent for CNN. So Richard, let's take a look at the map one more time where the Chinese patrol ship reportedly discovered this pulse signal and now we understand as well Chinese air assets may have also spotted debris in that same general vicinity. We understand that Australian authorities who are leading this investigation at least nearby have not heard or at least have not confirmed with us what Chinese news agency material is.
Where does this investigation go from here? What do you need to hear that the next order of business is?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Very simple, we need to hear from the JACC, the Australian Joint Coordinating Center, that they have now received officially a report about this, a credible report and that they are sending further assets to investigate it.
Even the Chinese television reporter who broke this story with Xinhua news agency says that on board the Haixun there is some -- they even warned that this might not be anything because of other ships in the area.
Look at the map. Let's go back to the map, if we can, Fred, because I think the first most important thing, the circle where you're seeing the pulse detected by the Haixun is not in the search areas that were undergone on the 5th of April.
So the first question has to be what were they doing searching in that area anyway? It wasn't in the designated search zone. It looks small on the map, a small distance, but we're talking hundreds of miles are involved here. So why were they there? What did they see? All these sort of questions.
And now we know some ten hours, according to Will Ripley's reporting, eight to ten hours later, the Australians still haven't received confirmation. An hour or two ago I said this looks a bit of a mess the way these command and control structures on something so important seems to have frayed at the edges. I'm being charitable.
But if Beijing is now saying the families don't believe it to be true, this is exactly, exactly why you can't just have these everybody announcing things at the drop of a hat to the races, because it gives unfair -- it gives cruel false hope to families.
WHITFIELD: Ok. Well a couple of things that you said there. First, let's talk about whether this Haixun was in an area that is not the concentrated search area. Might it be that this ship was just kind of doing its own thing, deciding to go off course from the search area of April 5th as it continues to kind of mow the area with its apparatus? Or are you saying that it would have to be in concert with this joint multinational effort, that they wouldn't go off course, they would have to stay in the areas designated by Australian authorities?
QUEST: Well, if you don't want to get a circus, then you've got to follow the rules. And in this case the rules are that Malaysia is the investigating country, Australia has primacy in terms of organizing search and recovery. And it's Australia that each day through answer (ph) sends out the various blocks where they're going to search and designate the assets that are to go and search in that area. That's the way it's being set up.
Now, I'm sure there may be some very strong reasons why this ship was not searching where it had been authorized to search. It may be that it was on its way and picked up the ping. It may be that it had received per other authorization to search in this area. But the way this is being announced the way this pinging information has got into the public domain is exactly the way you don't want it to happen.
WHITFIELD: All right, Richard Quest, we're going to check back with you momentarily. Right now we're joined on the phone by CNN analyst David Gallo who is in Boston. He is the director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. All right so David, you know, it is easy to be skeptical about these reports, especially since we have not heard any confirmation coming from other entities outside of the Beijing, this Chinese news agency. But what sounds credible about this potential picking up of a pulse in this area to you?
DAVID GALLO, DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS AT THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION (via telephone): Hi Fred. Well you know any lead at this point is worthy of further investigation. And I agree completely with everything Richard said about the haphazard nature of this because that's the last thing you need as a circus.
But so the frequency is right. There's something. It's apparently something that can be verified. So the next steps will be to do just that is how do we verify this location and that is a credible sound coming from somewhere beneath the waves. WHITFIELD: And how -- how do you do that? How do you verify this? Is this an issue of getting either the Australian ship nearby or the British ship to bring in its assets to also see if it detects this kind of pinging or pulse?
GALLO: Yes that's a great question. Because you know does everyone collects now in this area, all these other assets? It will be interesting to see exactly what they do. You know, if it were -- I have to say that in the Aircraft 447 search, in mid search while the team was on the water there was an announcement in the French media the plane had been located that people have looked at the sounds and found the aircraft. So we had our own version of a false alarm during the Air France 447 search and it was completely disruptive.
So you know, I guess what will happen is that there will be a certain time where the Chinese will be allowed to verify and then probably some of other assets is going to move into the area and see if they -- if they hear anything. You know, it's not the prime search area but it's not out of question that this could possibly be from the black box.
WHITFIELD: But -- and of course we're talking about the urgency of time because we're talking about the life expectancy of the battery on this pinger, on this flight and voice recorders. And if today may be one of the last days of the life expectancy of that battery then it would seem those other assets, those other ships would have to get to that Chinese vessel or at least that location in a matter of hours and what we're talking about hundreds of miles, these ships can't move that quickly. So what are the other ways or could they? Are you about to correct me? How could they get there fast?
GALLO: No, no, that's part of the problem. And you know maybe the submarines could get there. They can move fairly quickly underwater. And they have substantive listening equipment. So we don't know what technology is onboard that Chinese patrol boat. They are very capable oceanographers. In fact they are moving quickly in lead in terms of the globe, in terms of studying the deep ocean.
So it wouldn't surprise me if they got very sophisticated equipment. But you're absolutely right. And one of the worst things that could happen is that we never hear that sound again from that area because that means that you've got to devote something else like autonomous vehicle or robotic vehicle to go down and actually start looking in that area on the seafloor. So the next steps are critical about what happens in that search for those boxes.
WHITFIELD: Ok. David Gallo thank you so much, I appreciate that.
Let's talk about this further. Tom Fuentes is a CNN law enforcement analyst joining us from Washington, David Soucie is a CNN safety analyst and Art Wright is operations manager at Williamson and Associate and also a retired Navy Captain he's in Seattle.
So Art, let me go with you first. You just heard from David Gallo who says the next step is critical. Are you in agreement with that and if that's the case, what are the next steps to try and verify what this Chinese ship says it has detected?
ART WRIGHT, OPERATIONS MANAGER, WILLIAMSON & ASSOCIATES: Certainly. I am in agreement with David.
Number one, the signal is not the signal that the pinger on the aircraft would put out would be a signal every second, thereabouts. This is a single pulse as I understand it, which is the wrong signal.
Number two, we have seen pictures of this -- of Chinese crewmen from a small boat putting a hydrophone in the water at the surface. This pinger on the airplane can't reach the surface. It's 4,400 meters at that point depth of water. So they can't physically hear that signal from the surface.
Number three, we don't know what sort of equipment the Chinese are using. They say 37.5 kilohertz. But that's -- it could be a wide band frequency, it could be anywhere between 40 and 70 kilohertz. So there are a lot of questions that have to be answered.
WHITFIELD: Ok.
WRIGHT: So I would discount that.
WHITFIELD: So, Art, let's play some sound now of what this pulse or the pinger would sound like. You were talking about this single pulse is unusual, that sounds like the wrong signal. Here's an example of, I guess, what the correct signal would be, what the sound would be from that pinger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a click. Yes. You got it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. So that's what it should sound like. We don't know if that's what the Chinese vessel says it has heard. But apparently this Chinese vessel, Art, has the kind of sonar equipment that would be able to detect this kind of pulse. And this was unbeknownst to many.
Very few thought that this Chinese vessel even had this kind of equipment. Many thought that only this Australian vessel, as well as a British vessel, had this kind of equipment. But come to find out this vessel, this Chinese vessel might have the right apparatus.
But what do you need to hear from them to verify whether the signal we just heard matches the signal that they picked up?
WRIGHT: They could play that signal on the area. We could listen to it.
WHITFIELD: How do we know they're not doing that perhaps with Australian authorities?
WRIGHT: That's quite possible. WHITFIELD: How would they do that while at sea?
WRIGHT: Well, you can talk on the radio, so you can send a signal, too.
WHITFIELD: Tom, do you think it's as simple as that or do you have a level of skepticism?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I have a huge level of skepticism, Fredricka. But as far as radio transmitting that signal to shore I'll leave that to the other experts. But -- but in terms of the way this has been handled and both by the Chinese and the Australians for that matter, I mean if they were given this information 12 hours ago, that would have been midday lunchtime in Australia. And they certainly could have made some announcement that we've received -- don't get all excited and raise false hopes but just say here are the facts. We received this information. We're responding to this information. And it will take so long to get the equipment there that we need. And when we find out what -- what we have, we'll get back to you. You know, basically sit tight until we get that.
But, you know, they say nothing which is the same mistake the Malaysians made and we crucified them the first couple of days of the incident when the Malaysians said we're not going to say anything until we can confirm it. Well, in this situation, the Australians aren't going to be able to confirm this for who knows how long and they should say how long.
So they're playing into the same mistake that if you don't put something out about your process, not your result, you don't have results yet, but what your process is to respond to the lead, then you create this media vacuum and everybody, including the families, including us, get excited and maybe for nothing.
WHITFIELD: So, David, especially since we're talking about time being so critical, this battery life may only have a matter of hours to go, would it be your view that you could kind of empathize with the Chinese as to why they would feel this urgency to publicize this information without confirmation just for the sake of the fact that its Chinese nationals have a larger interest in the outcome of this investigation -- David.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Are you talking to David Soucie?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fine.
SOUCIE: Ok. Thank you.
Yes, I actually think that the reports here I want to clarify. Someone said there was a single pulse but that's not what was reported. What was reported was a 37.5 kilohertz signal at one second intervals. There are other machines that operate in the area, submarines, other things that use that specific frequency. However, it's important to say that this is denoted by one-second interval. There's nothing else that I'm aware of or maybe David Gallo can address this but nothing else I'm aware of that would put out that signal.
Now, it came in one and a half minutes at one-second pulse intervals from what I understand. So that is very specific to me as to what this thing is. Now, what I don't understand is how the people that reported this can then go off line for eight hours -- the Australians have been trying to reach them for eight hours saying is this verifiable, what's going on. And then they just go off line. To report something like that and then not be able to communicate with them is reprehensible.
WHITFIELD: Ok. We're going to continue this conversation. We're going to take a short break -- David Soucie, Tom Fuentes and Art Wright. And when we come back we're going to talk more about this black boxes, how it works. I'm actually going to talk with one of the people responsible for helping to build, engineer these boxes and actually provide them to 777s just like this one that continues to go missing. We'll have that conversation right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.
We're continuing to discuss what a Chinese ship is now saying it detected in the Southern Indian Ocean, that perhaps its device was able to pick up a ping, a pulse that may be that of the voice or flight data recorders there in the Indian Ocean as it pertains to Flight 370.
My next guest is someone who believes -- his company actually manufactured the pingers that went into Flight 370 and he says he's highly skeptic about this reported pulse signal.
Anish Patel joining me now by phone -- he's the president at Dukane Seacom. So, why is it that you are skeptical?
ANISH PATEL, DUKANE SEACOM (via telephone): Well, see it's not that we're skeptical. It's the right number, 37.5 kilohertz. But let's get multiple sources to validate. Let's get additional assets on- site, some sonar buoys, other towed listening devices to validate before we conclude or jump to the conclusion that we've identified where these devices, debris field may or may not be. Let's just get some validation. That's what makes me skeptical.
WHITFIELD: Ok, so Anish, we have an actual -- we have a device here on the table which is a flight data recorder, a replica of it. On it your company doesn't necessarily make the flight data recorder or the voice order but instead you make the beacon which is here on the end of this flight data recorder. It also kind of has a double purpose, it serves as a handle.
When we talk about black boxes they're actually orange with this reflective tape. And usually the flight data and voice recorders are at the rear, the tail of the plane because it's believed upon impact it's the tail that would then go at a slower speed and have a greater likelihood of survival and that's why you have these are usually embedded in the tail.
Talk to me about the beacon that your company helps manufacture and then is it the case that once this beacon hits water, that's when it's activated, that's when sonar equipment would be able to detect or hear the pinging of this device. Do I have that part right?
PATEL: Yes. Dukane Seacom, a (inaudible) company manufactures these beacons for the global market or voice and data recorders for aviation as well as submarine application. You're exactly right in terms of installation. The way these devices operate, they are designed to automatically begin emitting a ping at 37.5 kilohertz approximately, you know, one ping per second, when they are immersed in water.
That ping will continue until the device is recovered for a period of 30 days, possibly a bit more depending on the condition and age of the battery. And that is what authorities are hopefully listening and hearing in this situation.
WHITFIELD: And so it's fascinating about what we're hearing from the Chinese news agency is that this Chinese vessel, unbeknownst to anyone else apparently had the kind of -- the proper kind of sonar equipment on its ship and so it just happened to be potentially in the right location which is a few hundred miles from that central April 5th latest search location, northwest of Perth.
And that it was able to detect this beacon which what might be on the 30th day, which will be the life expectancy of that battery. That's what's so remarkable here. And that ship is saying that that signal is 37.5 kilohertz per second which is in concert with what you're saying.
But what more would you need to hear from this Chinese vessel or anyone else leading this investigation to help verify whether what they're hearing is, indeed, potentially the pulse from a flight or voice recorder?
PATEL: Sure. First thing we would want is multiple sources that can pick up this signal. Also, keep in mind, there should be two beacons in that general debris field. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder both have our -- these beacons installed on them. So ideally you should be receiving a signal from both devices at the same frequency at the same period of one pulse per second.
So when we get that validation that they're, A, hearing a single beacon and multiple sources can hear it or they've identified two signals, then you know, hey, we might have found the proverbial needle or at least we know now where the haystack is.
WHITFIELD: Ok, if I can interrupt you there, Anish really quick, because we're talking about a matter of hours perhaps because of the life expectancy of this battery, it's going to take many hours for another vessel to get into that area. So is there any verification you would be able to get from this Chinese vessel because it may potentially be right on top of this location that it says is confident is a pulse. What would you need from that Chinese vessel?
PATEL: Just a validation that it is a continuous pulse, it wasn't just for a minute or just for a few seconds. If they continue to hear it, then that's a good sign that there at least is a signal being emitted at the right frequency. Then obviously we need to go down and detect and study the specific location. But if they have an intermittent or a brief signal, that to me, you know, says let's be skeptical until we validate.
WHITFIELD: All right. Anish Patel, thank you so much for your expertise. Appreciate that and your explanation.
PATEL: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world right now. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
A Chinese state news agency says a Chinese patrol ship detected a pulse signal with the same frequency as a black box. But there is no confirmation that this is connected indeed to the missing plane.
Families of the passengers have been clinging to every piece of news hoping that it's good but there's also been a lot of skepticism as well.
Pauline Chiou is in Beijing. Pauline, what are you able to tell us about what the families are saying and thinking as it relates to now a Chinese vessel saying it believes it has picked up a pulse that may be connected to these black boxes?
PAULINE CHIOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredericka, they are cautious and their expectations are quite low. As soon as these reports came out about this possible ping we reached out to many of the relatives and one man whose sister was on the plane said to me, "I don't believe this. Listen, no debris has been found so how can you actually find the black box." He said, "Let's wait until tomorrow. Get more information and maybe we'll find out this is a mistake again."
Also, a relative who is in Kuala Lumpur told CNN "We're waiting patiently. There is no confirmation yet."
And Fredericka, we also have been tracking social media. There's a big group chat among the family members here in Beijing as well as in Kuala Lumpur and they've been talking to each other over the past 29 days. But on this particular report about this ping we noticed that there was a lot of chatter but mostly between journalists -- local journalists about this. And we noticed that not much reaction from family members. They were really keeping sort of a low profile on this particular issue. And I think that gives you a sense that there's a tentativeness because there have been so many false leads over the past 29 days and it's just created so many emotional ups and downs.
Relatives just want more information and we may get more of that at daybreak when we see more analysis, more searching, more data. WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Pauline Chiou. Appreciate that. It's clear why there's so much trepidation from those family members. They've been through so much.
This search area -- this concentrated search area is one that officials have been zeroing in on since April 5th but now this Chinese vessel saying that it is detecting this ping or pulse in an area just a few hundred miles outside of that search area.
So what are the weather conditions for that area as other assets try to make it to that location to see if indeed they can verify the pulse of the Chinese vessel is here?
We'll have more on the forecast for that area right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANICA WEEKS, HUSBAND WAS ON FLIGHT 370: -- know, and sometimes I catch myself seeing the excitement from him coming home and I have to get rid of that out of my brain quickly because I can't let myself go to that level of excitement because it would only -- it's only going to make me crash when I find out the real truth, which we're all expecting will be that the plane has crashed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's Danica Weeks keeping hope alive as she waits for information about her husband who was on Flight 370. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and from around the world. You'll hear more from families of that missing plane later on this hour.
Now to the search for Flight 370, a tropical cyclone is actually forming near that search area. So will it disrupt the efforts? CNN's Jennifer Gray joining me now. So Jennifer, what are the conditions like?
JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't think it's going to have a direct affect. Tropical cyclone is in the area. It's packing winds of about 50 miles per hour. But look, it's to the west of this search area. We're really seeing pretty decent conditions within this red box. So this is going to slide down to the south. Eventually curve over to the east. A lot of times in these tropical systems they suck a lot of the energy right around the center of them so areas outside of that are actually pretty decent.
That's what we're going to see over the next couple of days. Doesn't mean we won't see cloud cover because we will over the next several days. Old search area down to the south, the storm is actually going to plow right through the middle of that one. But this new area looking like it's going to be in pretty good shape. As far as winds go, we could see a slight uptick in winds. We could see winds anywhere from 20, maybe 35 miles per hour. Of course, we've been dealing with winds like this the entire time, but it looks like as we get into Wednesday or so we will see those winds drop. We'll see winds ten miles per hour. Maybe even lower. Fred, it looks like the clouds will start to clear out of the way by the end of the weekend as well. So all in all, the weather looks to be OK.
WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Thanks so much. Hopeful situation, Jennifer Gray.
All right, meantime, let's go to our Will Ripley there in Perth, Australia, because Will, we've been reporting all morning what could be hopeful information, a Chinese patrol ship saying that it has equipment that detected a pulse that they believe might be connected to the beacon on a black box. What are you hearing?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, yes, just moments ago, we now have our first official communication from Angus Houston. He is heading up the Joint Agency Coordination Center here and I just going to read this quote to you as it's just coming in to us now. Angus Houston says, quote, "I've been advised that a series of sounds that have been detected by a Chinese ship in the search area, the characteristics report," he says, are consistent with the aircraft black box.
He also points out a number of white objects were sighted on the surface about 90 kilometers from the detection area. However, he says, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft.
So as of right now, Australian authorities, Angus Houston, this is a quote from him, they cannot verify any connection to MH-370. They have Australian authorities have spoken with the Chinese authorities. They are asking for more information, more specific details.
Angus Houston also saying, and this is a quote again, "the deployment of RAAF," that's the Royal Australian Air Force, "the deployment of assets to the area where the Chinese ship detected the sounds is being considered."
So we now have heard it from Angus Houston who is heading up the operation here. They're very interested in this data. They want to get more specifics from China. They're considering deploying resources to this area, but they still need to work to get more information. So we need to be cautious here.
We owe that to the families of these 239 people. We don't want to give them false hope, but this is certainly a lead that they are looking into very seriously even at this late hour here in Perth -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And so you said there's consideration being made to get any kind of air assets, Australian or otherwise, up in the air. We're talking about many hours from now if you're near midnight there. We are still talking about at least another five to six hours before they can actually start to take off though, right? RIPLEY: Yes, absolutely. Because you have to give times for the flight crews to mobilize. You have to get specific data about where they need to fly, what they need to look for because we're talking about two different things here. We're talking about underwater, the detection of possible pings, and then on the surface, the sighting of possible objects.
As we've seen repeatedly over the several weeks, Fred, you know, objects that have been sighted by satellite or by aircraft have turned out not to have any connection to Flight 370. So we just need to point out that that we obviously are hopeful for any clues, but we need to be careful as well.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it would also be pretty extraordinary because we've been talking about drift patterns and if this ping sound would be in close proximity to where Chinese air assets believe they actually spotted debris that would be just so remarkable given the amount of time that has elapsed. But Will, thank you so much for that information.
We're going to talk about our -- to our panel about all of these latest developments and how Australian authorities are preceding from this point forward. More after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the NEWSROOM. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. We're following breaking news right now. We just heard from the head of the Australia search effort saying there is no confirmation that pulse sounds that were detected from a Chinese ship are that of the plane's.
But white objects have also been seen according to a Chinese plane flying over the search area, but again, the Australian authorities are saying they are proceeding with caution. They are considering deploying some assets, of course, by daybreak. The Royal Australian Air Force is also being considered to do flyovers to see if any more can be seen of this reported debris that Chinese authorities are reporting by way of the Chinese news agency.
And, also, some verification, Australian authorities are expressing they want to do as it pertains to the pulse that a Chinese ship also says that it was able to detect from its sonar equipment. Now, apparently this pulse is the same frequency of the pingers on flight data recorders, but there's no confirmation, again, that this discovery is related to the missing plane.
And there has been a lot of skepticism about this report, mostly by way of a lack of confirmation from what is being reported. The Chinese news agency is, again, sticking by its reporting that a Chinese plane spotted debris as well as a Chinese ship detecting the pulse.
Let's bring back our panel right now. Richard Quest, Tom Fuentes, David Soucie, and Art Wright, all with me again. Art, let me go to you because you expressed the most skepticism about the pulse, but now hearing from Australian authorities that while they acknowledge they have been in contact with Chinese authorities about the pulse and perhaps even debris.
They are now considering putting assets in the air and on the water to see if they can get any verification from these reports. What more do you need to hear about the cooperation between these countries and what evidence is needed to try to confirm these reports, Art?
ART WRIGHT, OPERATIONS MANAGER, WILLIAMSON AND ASSOCIATES: Well, for the debris, yes, I would certainly like them to continue to determine what that debris is. That's in the area. That can be very important. As far as the pulse goes, one, we need to know the characteristics of the Chinese hydrophone. We need to confirm how far the pinger can actually reach and we didn't know what that signal is actually like. We need to talk to Chinese a lot more.
WHITFIELD: And, Richard, Australian authorities now saying and you had mentioned them earlier, wanted to hear from them. Now we have heard from Angus Houston saying that there's an acknowledgement that communications are under way between Australia and the Chinese, but they have yet to get assets in the air or on the water. There's a lot of caution, but we're still talking about five or six hours away before daybreak and before they can assemble all these assets and the personnel to go along with it.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Right. So what the Australians reading Air Chief Marshall Houston's statement. What he's basically done is firstly he's confirmed he knows about it. He's been informed about it. Secondly, he does agree that that which he's been told is consistent with a black box. In other words, if it's true, it sounds like a black box. So they're not ruling it out.
But then he goes on to say, they cannot confirm it. And so they're going to put more assets into the area or they're considering moving further assets. Also interestingly, he talks it being in the search area, which suggests that phrase has a fairly wide definition from what we were talking about earlier in this hour.
Pulling the strands together he hasn't used words like credible. He hasn't used authoritative, he hasn't done anything that raises more hope other than saying if what they say is true it is consistent with being a black box. That is just about as far as the Australians or at least the coordinator is prepared to go tonight.
WHITFIELD: But, David, I think that sounds pretty far, don't you, that the Australian authorities are willing to at least say at this juncture and, David, I think you're still on the phone with us, that the series of sounds are consistent with sounds from the black boxes.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST (via telephone): Yes, just being able to say that confirms what we've been saying earlier this morning about it. You have people discounting it saying there are other things that operate at those frequencies and indeed there are, but the fact that they're operating at those frequencies and sending out a one-second pulse is unique to this box. It's the reason it was done this way so it can be unique. So the fact that now what we're focusing on is, is it credible. As Richard pointed out, he didn't say this is credible, but the fact that they've been in communication with them. I was very disappointed that they would have made this report and then waited eight hours and gone off line and not be able to confirm or discuss or anything else with this information is incredibly irresponsible of those reporting it.
WHITFIELD: And so, Tom, it's clear why there's so much skepticism, simply because there have been so many false hopes already, whether it be sightings of debris by a matter of 70 feet or, you know, something that was a foot long and then much of it has turned out to be trash in the Indian Ocean and now you have a Chinese vessel as well as a Chinese plane, both saying that they are spotting things that are consistent with debris or some evidence of the plane.
It's understandable why there's so much caution, but at the same time all of these things had to be taken so seriously, everything does, so assets have to be devoted to investigate to further investigate these things, right?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's right, Fredricka. When you're running a major crisis, you can set up the fanciest grid, search, maps that have ever been devised by investigators, but if you receive new information that has even a remote possibility of being credible or possible, you change, you make a change, you do something.
The problem I'm having with this flow of information is, you know, right now it's almost midnight in Australia. If in fact they got this information in the middle of the day 12 hours ago, lunchtime, they had planes up in the air doing their regular search pattern. They had ships nearby. They certainly it looks like from the map they could have gotten a plane or two diverted from that other grid search area and been on-site of the debris within an hour, I would think, given the place they were already airborne and already at the nearby search area.
You divert somebody over there. You don't wait and contemplate. This last statement makes no sense, we're thinking about it, we're contemplating, we're studying? Twelve hours after you receive the information, we might send a ship and the ship might take three days to get there. Something is amiss here.
I mean, we know that already with the flow of information from the ship to Beijing and Beijing back to Kuala Lumpur and down to Australia. But if, in fact, the Australians have this new information in the middle of the day 12 hours ago, why are they still thinking about what they might do 12 hours later?
WHITFIELD: I guess we're not sure if they did get that information 12 hours ago, and, Richard, I see you shaking your head. We're going to take a short break. We'll get back to David, Tom, Art, Richard right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, we want to welcome back our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You're at CNN. The inside of a plane's black boxes hold cockpit voice recordings and flight data information and being able to read the flight data recorder would be the key to solving the mystery of what may have happened to Flight 370. How exactly is the information stored and recovered?
CNN's Zain Asher is here right now. So Zain, you have the inside look at the workings of the black boxes and we're talking about that particularly today because a Chinese ship believes that it heard the pulse of what could be connected to a black box to Flight 370 and perhaps even a Chinese plane says it may have seen debris. All of that is being investigated but for now --
ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- help us understand how this works, how it can be detected and what's the future of it?
ASHER: Black boxes are absolutely crucial because every time a pilot flips a switch or turns a knob in an aircraft that information is recorded by the flight data recorder so we're talking everything from speed, altitude, acceleration, where that plane may have gone down, that information will be in the flight data recorder.
So I actually spent the day with an engineer in Buffalo, New York, who walked me through the process of how the information in the flight data recorder would be downloaded and read on a computer in order to figure out what may happened to a flight like MH370. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crash protected and shock-mounted --
ASHER (voice-over): This is what investigators will see once the black boxes of flight MH-370 are found and data from the memory downloaded for analysis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll pull the data up on the screen and we'll see the data in's tabular format and graphical format. We connected the record to a power supply.
ASHER: Black boxes contain hundreds of data points or parameters about the flight's movement, pilot maneuvers, speed and altitude all displayed with a series of graphs.
KEVIN BALYS, TECHNICIAN: Every flight data recorder records the data in binary values. It's a series of ones and zeros. In order for humans to understand that we need to convert it into engineering units and engineering units simply mean feet for altitude and airspeed is recorded in knots.
ASHER (on camera): OK, so this right here is airspeed, correct?
BALYS: That's correct.
ASHER: So here as you see getting faster that represents takeoff. BALYS: Yes.
ASHER (voice-over): It's through graphs like these that we'll learn if someone on board deliberately nosedived the aircraft, if there was a pilot error or a mechanical problem.
SOUCIE: In an engine or mechanical failure, there would be all kinds of indications. They will be able to determine, which engine turned off first if it was because of fuel starvation, they would know that versus if it was again intentionally cut off.
ASHER: This line represents the plane's altitude. If Flight MH-370 suddenly dropped to a lower altitude mid-flight here's where we would see a change and if someone on board deliberately altered the flight path, we will see this line start to dip or rise depending on the direction.
BALYS: I think one of the important things that people will be looking at is who was in control of the aircraft. So when we look at the data from the flight data recorder, you can see if it was coming from the autopilot or the left seat or the right seat in other words the pilot or the co-pilot.
ASHER: Technicians can also use latitude or longitude positions here to pinpoint where the plane was located at any point during flight.
BALYS: What you see in the front of this recorder is in case of the memory module.
ASHER: And although the memory chips on flight data recorders are rarely ever damaged, airlines still need to perform regular flight data recorder maintenance and pre-flight testing to ensure the black boxes are up to par. The biggest challenge now is to locate them before the batteries die.
BALYS: To find that pinger in those trenches or to find it after the pinger is stopped in those trenches is going to be extremely difficult.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Right. So the flight data recorder is crucial in terms of figuring out the pilot's maneuvers, right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
ASHER: But in this particular case with the missing Malaysia MH-370, you really would need the cockpit voice recorders as well as flight data recorder and there is anticipation given the pulse signals that may have been --
WHITFIELD: Right. Those pulse signals actually come from right here this device that is attached to the flight data or the voice recorder and there is a sensor on here so as soon as it hits water, that's when the pulse signal goes off and at least right now, Chinese authorities believe that they have sonar equipment that may have detected the pulse signal.
And of course, the Australians are now saying we're thinking of devoting assets to try and verify, but for now, this is the best that any commercial airline has, but the future might involve a flight data recorder, a voice recorder that might not just be embedded in the tail of the plane, but it would actually have a deployable device or an apparatus to break free from the plane?
ASHER: They're called deploy black boxes and used by the military. The U.S. Navy jets use them. Basically, when a plane impacts the ocean, the flight data recorder, the deployable flight data recorder would break off and float making it a lot easier to find and this when you find them you can figure out where the plane may have gone down. The flight data recorder was about $20,000.
The deployable black boxes used by the military is roughly $60,000, which is three times that amount. My argument is the cost of finding these planes, you take Air France Flight 447. The cost of that search was roughly $40 million. You've basically spent the money of 600 deployable black boxes.
WHITFIELD: It's an incredible investment and nobody wishes it would be put to use, but things happen and the best they can improve technology, of course, that would improve investigations. Zain, thank you so much. We'll have much more on the investigation of MH-370.
And right now the Chinese authorities standing by their story, at least by way of the news agency that they believe they have found a pulse and perhaps even debris in an area that Australia are considering assets to investigate and verify. Much more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
