[Simon_Gunson]

The trouble with Chinese whispers is they tend to have a life of their own; take the story - unbeknownst to us downunda folk - that somehow filtered across the pacific, across mainland USA and into the Big Apple, all apparently while we were sleeping...

Here 'tis from the New York Times:

Australia Says Hunt for Missing MH370 Jet May Be Called Off Soon

By REUTERS
MARCH 1, 2015, 4:04 P.M. E.S.T.

CANBERRA — The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 cannot go on forever, Australia's deputy prime minister said, and discussions are already under way between Australia, China and Malaysia as to whether to call off the hunt within weeks.

No trace has been found of the Boeing 777 aircraft, which disappeared a year ago this week carrying 239 passengers and crew, in what has become one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

MH370 vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, early on March 8. Investigators believe it was flown thousands of miles off course before eventually crashing into the Indian Ocean.

The search of a rugged 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq mile) patch of sea floor some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of the Australian city of Perth, which experts believe is the plane's most likely resting place, will likely be finished by May.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told Reuters that a decision would have to be taken well before then as to whether to continue into the vast 1.1 million sq km area around the primary search zone if nothing has been found.

Discussions had already begun about what to do in that event, including the possibility that the search might be called off, said Truss, who is also transport minister.

"For many of the families onboard, they won't have closure unless they have certain knowledge that the aircraft has been located and perhaps their loved ones' remains have been recovered," Truss said in an interview.

"We clearly cannot keep searching forever, but we want to do everything that's reasonably possible to locate the aircraft."

Truss compared the search, already the most expensive of its kind, with another great mystery from an earlier era, the hunt for missing aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 during an early attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

Four vessels owned by Dutch engineering firm Fugro, equipped with sophisticated underwater drones, have searched about 40 percent of the previously unmapped expanse of sea floor that has been designated the highest priority.

DECISION TIME
Australia and Malaysia contributed to evenly split the costs, estimated at up to A$52 million ($40.5 million), but Truss warned that continuing the search beyond that area would be impossible without more international help.

"We put in the amount of money that we believed was necessary to do this job well and thoroughly with the best available equipment," he said. "We have to make other decisions, then, about how long the search should continue."

      
Then it filters backwards & forwards evolving again &.. again, till the latest on twitter is that it will be quite literally a matter of weeks till the official MH370 search will be called off...sheesh talk about snowball effect...

Fortunately here in Oz - in aviation journalist circles - we have our resident Tendentious Blogger Ben Sandilands who is very good at sifting out the facts from the bollocks, so here is his take on the NYT MH370 apparent scoop: 


[url=http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2015/03/02/australia-is-keen-to-quit-mh370-search-soon-but-why/][/url]....

Which is all very interesting, however IMO one thing is for certain the MH370 exit strategy by the JACC/ATSB/OzGovt is now firmly in play....

MTF...

Peetwo

Back in April 2015 I advised Danica Weeks, who was fretting at the imminent cancellation of the seabed search that MH370 is actually insured with Allianz Germany for search & recovery costs up to US$2.5 billion. I suggested to her that relatives should agitate for the Australian government to access those funds.

Danica will not be happy with me for disclosing this, as she asked me not to, but she wrote to Dr Truss asking him why these insurance funds could not be used to extend the search?

As I understand it Dr Truss was rather cornered by her question and wrote back to her along the lines of, leave it with me, but mention this to no one else. .

They then announced they would not cancel the search but continue with it however there would be no more searching after 2016.

Well my apologies to Danica. Congratualtions to her that she convinced Truss not to cancel it in May 2015 (as was being threatened) however a mere reprieve until 2016 does not merit keeping silent to placate Dr Truss.

Tony Abbott and Warren Truss somehow seem to think the Australian taxpayer should not be compensated by insurance money and that the taxpayer need not be told about insurance funds anyway. Of course the people should know and shame on Truss for not claiming search costs back from MAS who can claim against their own insurance.