04-06-2016, 11:20 AM
Interesting how the CSIRO have been ignored and I guess misquoted, refer David Griffin's last update below.
28 February 2016 update: 'No step' item found on a sandbank off Mozambique
An item which appears to be a wing fragment, with NO STEP printed on it, has been found by Blaine Gibson on a sandbank in the Mozambique Channel. The item has been handed in to authorities for investigation. If it can be identified as being from MH370, this brings to two the number of items potentially usable for oceanographic back-tracking.
Unlike the flaperon found on La Reunion, however, this item is not heavily encrusted with sea life, so it has probably spent a significant length of time either weathering in the sun and/or washing back and forth in the sand at this or some other location. The time at sea is therefore possibly much less than the 716 days that have elapsed since 14 March 2014, and the path taken may have been two or more distinct segments.
The tracks of Global Drifter Program drifters arriving in the Mozambique Channel (during 1985-2015) were overwhelmingly from the east, as shown at right. Two were close to the ATSB search area 700d prior to being in the Mozambique Channel, suggesting that the 'no step' item could very well have followed a similar path. But other drifters arrived near Mozambique from very different points along the 7th arc, showing that those, too, could also be regarded as possible origins of the item.
As with the flaperon, therefore, we conclude that while the location of this finding does not cast doubt on the ATSB's choice of search area (based on the Inmarsat handshakes), it can not provide particularly strong support for it either, because the trajectories of drifting items are so chaotic.
It's probably easier to quote David's earlier comments!
28 February 2016 update: 'No step' item found on a sandbank off Mozambique
An item which appears to be a wing fragment, with NO STEP printed on it, has been found by Blaine Gibson on a sandbank in the Mozambique Channel. The item has been handed in to authorities for investigation. If it can be identified as being from MH370, this brings to two the number of items potentially usable for oceanographic back-tracking.
Unlike the flaperon found on La Reunion, however, this item is not heavily encrusted with sea life, so it has probably spent a significant length of time either weathering in the sun and/or washing back and forth in the sand at this or some other location. The time at sea is therefore possibly much less than the 716 days that have elapsed since 14 March 2014, and the path taken may have been two or more distinct segments.
The tracks of Global Drifter Program drifters arriving in the Mozambique Channel (during 1985-2015) were overwhelmingly from the east, as shown at right. Two were close to the ATSB search area 700d prior to being in the Mozambique Channel, suggesting that the 'no step' item could very well have followed a similar path. But other drifters arrived near Mozambique from very different points along the 7th arc, showing that those, too, could also be regarded as possible origins of the item.
As with the flaperon, therefore, we conclude that while the location of this finding does not cast doubt on the ATSB's choice of search area (based on the Inmarsat handshakes), it can not provide particularly strong support for it either, because the trajectories of drifting items are so chaotic.
It's probably easier to quote David's earlier comments!