THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 9:11 am
Emiliano Sala missing plane underwater search has begun: What will happen this weekend
Saturday 2nd January 2019
The search for the missing plane carrying Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson is set to take a significant step forward this weekend as underwater searches of the seabed begin.
Two separate below-the-surface operations are set to be launched to try and trace the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane almost two weeks after the light aircraft went missing near the Channel Islands on Monday, January 21.
The plane vanished from radar shortly after making a request to descend from 5,000ft to 2,300ft.
The discovery of parts thought to have come from the missing plane, which washed up on a beach in France this week, has meant authorities are to put an underwater search into action on Sunday. This search is being operated by the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Alongside this a second and private underwater search – funded by an online fundraising campaign – will also launch this weekend. This was planned before it was confirmed seat cushions likely to be from the plane had washed up in France. Both operations say they will work with each other.
Here we look at what is set to happen this weekend and in the following days.
What's happened in the search so far?
The official search operation, based out of Guernsey, spent days searching for the aircraft and those on board after the alarm was first raised about the aircraft's disappearance.
Air and sea search assets covered around 1,700 square miles, with a significant portion of that area being searched more than once.
After the rescue effort entered its third full day the search was stood down on January 24 when no trace of the plane or those on board was found.
The end of the official search prompted an online fundraising campaign to pay for a private search to be carried out. More than £325,000 has since been pledged, allowing for marine scientist and wreck hunter David Mearns to be brought in to coordinate a private search.
On Monday parts of seat cushions washed up on a beach near Surtainville on the Cotentin Peninsula, on the north-west coast of France.
Surtainville, where the cushions were found
The Bureau d’Enquêtes & d’Analyses (BEA) – the French safety investigation authority – informed the AAIB part of a seat cushion had been found on the beach, with a second cushion found in the same area on the same day.
After a preliminary examination the AAIB said "it is likely that the cushions are from the missing aircraft". Confirmation of this was made public on Wednesday.
The AAIB told WalesOnline on Friday they have not "had any further validated items reported to us".
A spokesman said: "Ours is an underwater search. A surface search was carried out by other authorities. We will, of course, continue to liaise with the relevant authorities where items that are believed to have come from the missing aircraft are found on the coast."
The official search
The AAIB say they have been considering the feasibility of conducting an underwater search of the seabed in a bid to trace aircraft wreckage since they were first notified of the missing plane.
Based on an assessment of the flight path and last known radar position, a priority search area of around four square nautical miles will be the focus of a search mission expected to last three days.
Subject to weather and sea conditions this is being planned to begin on Sunday. The location of the target area is not being disclosed at this time.
Through the Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) Project Team, a specialist survey vessel has been commissioned to carry out the underwater survey.
This ship has specialist equipment on board, including side-scan sonar equipment to try and locate wreckage.
If any is found a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) will be used to visually examine the wreckage.
An AAIB spokesman said: "We will have two AAIB inspectors onboard and a number of AAIB personnel coordinating activities from our HQ. Our onboard inspectors will be accompanied by survey specialists and of course the ship’s crew.
"As with most air accident investigations a number of international authorities are represented on the investigation but these are not expected to be onboard the ship.
"We anticipate that three days will be sufficient to carry out the search. It’s a dynamic environment and if potential items of interest appear in a scan we may need to stop to lower other equipment into the sea."
Referring to the private search for the missing plane the AAIB say they are "liaising closely with the private search and will be searching in the same area, maximising the chance of locating any wreckage and ensuring a safe search operation".
The AAIB's remit is to carry out safety investigations to establish the cause of accidents, not to apportion blame or liability.
The private search
A privately-funded search for the missing plane actually began last Saturday. It came about after hundreds of thousands of pounds were pledged in a crowdfunding campaign to enable search efforts to continue.
It is being led by marine scientist and wreck hunter David Mearns, on behalf of the Sala family.
Last Saturday two vessels were deployed out of Guernsey to visually scan "the area of the last radar contact for any clues to the plane’s whereabouts”.
The next stage of this search is an underwater survey, which was announced on Monday – the same day seat cushions were found in France, but two days before that news went public.
Detailing plans of the private below-the-surface search, Mr Mearns said: "Worst case, we are looking approximately at a search area of 25 square nautical miles.
"It is north of Hurd's Deep – the area that everybody is concerned about.
"The water depth in the primary area is about 65m."
Hurd's Deep, off Alderney, is said to have been used as a dumping ground for World War One chemical weapons and 17,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive waste.
Mr Mearns has revealed the area they are planning to search underwater is a "relatively small" one in terms of something being lost in the ocean.
He said: "This is nothing like MH370 but there are complications in terms of it being a small plane.
"We are working in the worst time. If this was the summertime our confidence level would be much higher, almost to the point of a guarantee.
"We can't do that here. That's the biggest complicating factor."
The wreck hunter leading the private search
American-born Mr Mearns heads up Blue Water Recoveries and his profile on the site says he is "one of the world’s most experienced and successful deep-sea shipwreck hunters".
He has led the research and discovery of 21 major shipwrecks over 25 years, with an overall success rate of 88%.
In October 2010 he was awarded a Maritime Fellowship Award by the UK-based Maritime Foundation for an outstanding lifetime contribution in a particular maritime field. In November of the same year, he was awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to Australia by locating the wrecks of HMAS Sydney II and AHS Centaur .
Saturday 2nd January 2019
The search for the missing plane carrying Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson is set to take a significant step forward this weekend as underwater searches of the seabed begin.
Two separate below-the-surface operations are set to be launched to try and trace the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane almost two weeks after the light aircraft went missing near the Channel Islands on Monday, January 21.
The plane vanished from radar shortly after making a request to descend from 5,000ft to 2,300ft.
The discovery of parts thought to have come from the missing plane, which washed up on a beach in France this week, has meant authorities are to put an underwater search into action on Sunday. This search is being operated by the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB).
Alongside this a second and private underwater search – funded by an online fundraising campaign – will also launch this weekend. This was planned before it was confirmed seat cushions likely to be from the plane had washed up in France. Both operations say they will work with each other.
Here we look at what is set to happen this weekend and in the following days.
What's happened in the search so far?
The official search operation, based out of Guernsey, spent days searching for the aircraft and those on board after the alarm was first raised about the aircraft's disappearance.
Air and sea search assets covered around 1,700 square miles, with a significant portion of that area being searched more than once.
After the rescue effort entered its third full day the search was stood down on January 24 when no trace of the plane or those on board was found.
The end of the official search prompted an online fundraising campaign to pay for a private search to be carried out. More than £325,000 has since been pledged, allowing for marine scientist and wreck hunter David Mearns to be brought in to coordinate a private search.
On Monday parts of seat cushions washed up on a beach near Surtainville on the Cotentin Peninsula, on the north-west coast of France.
Surtainville, where the cushions were found
The Bureau d’Enquêtes & d’Analyses (BEA) – the French safety investigation authority – informed the AAIB part of a seat cushion had been found on the beach, with a second cushion found in the same area on the same day.
After a preliminary examination the AAIB said "it is likely that the cushions are from the missing aircraft". Confirmation of this was made public on Wednesday.
The AAIB told WalesOnline on Friday they have not "had any further validated items reported to us".
A spokesman said: "Ours is an underwater search. A surface search was carried out by other authorities. We will, of course, continue to liaise with the relevant authorities where items that are believed to have come from the missing aircraft are found on the coast."
The official search
The AAIB say they have been considering the feasibility of conducting an underwater search of the seabed in a bid to trace aircraft wreckage since they were first notified of the missing plane.
Based on an assessment of the flight path and last known radar position, a priority search area of around four square nautical miles will be the focus of a search mission expected to last three days.
Subject to weather and sea conditions this is being planned to begin on Sunday. The location of the target area is not being disclosed at this time.
Through the Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) Project Team, a specialist survey vessel has been commissioned to carry out the underwater survey.
This ship has specialist equipment on board, including side-scan sonar equipment to try and locate wreckage.
If any is found a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) will be used to visually examine the wreckage.
An AAIB spokesman said: "We will have two AAIB inspectors onboard and a number of AAIB personnel coordinating activities from our HQ. Our onboard inspectors will be accompanied by survey specialists and of course the ship’s crew.
"As with most air accident investigations a number of international authorities are represented on the investigation but these are not expected to be onboard the ship.
"We anticipate that three days will be sufficient to carry out the search. It’s a dynamic environment and if potential items of interest appear in a scan we may need to stop to lower other equipment into the sea."
Referring to the private search for the missing plane the AAIB say they are "liaising closely with the private search and will be searching in the same area, maximising the chance of locating any wreckage and ensuring a safe search operation".
The AAIB's remit is to carry out safety investigations to establish the cause of accidents, not to apportion blame or liability.
The private search
A privately-funded search for the missing plane actually began last Saturday. It came about after hundreds of thousands of pounds were pledged in a crowdfunding campaign to enable search efforts to continue.
It is being led by marine scientist and wreck hunter David Mearns, on behalf of the Sala family.
Last Saturday two vessels were deployed out of Guernsey to visually scan "the area of the last radar contact for any clues to the plane’s whereabouts”.
The next stage of this search is an underwater survey, which was announced on Monday – the same day seat cushions were found in France, but two days before that news went public.
Detailing plans of the private below-the-surface search, Mr Mearns said: "Worst case, we are looking approximately at a search area of 25 square nautical miles.
"It is north of Hurd's Deep – the area that everybody is concerned about.
"The water depth in the primary area is about 65m."
Hurd's Deep, off Alderney, is said to have been used as a dumping ground for World War One chemical weapons and 17,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive waste.
Mr Mearns has revealed the area they are planning to search underwater is a "relatively small" one in terms of something being lost in the ocean.
He said: "This is nothing like MH370 but there are complications in terms of it being a small plane.
"We are working in the worst time. If this was the summertime our confidence level would be much higher, almost to the point of a guarantee.
"We can't do that here. That's the biggest complicating factor."
The wreck hunter leading the private search
American-born Mr Mearns heads up Blue Water Recoveries and his profile on the site says he is "one of the world’s most experienced and successful deep-sea shipwreck hunters".
He has led the research and discovery of 21 major shipwrecks over 25 years, with an overall success rate of 88%.
In October 2010 he was awarded a Maritime Fellowship Award by the UK-based Maritime Foundation for an outstanding lifetime contribution in a particular maritime field. In November of the same year, he was awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to Australia by locating the wrecks of HMAS Sydney II and AHS Centaur .
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Re: “ THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PLANE “
Sat Feb 02, 2019 9:25 am
The search goes on
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Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALE/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 9:55 am
Update by the search team later today
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Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALE/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:07 am
bluepagey wrote:Update by the search team later today
Cheers
Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALE/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:18 am
I pray they find them just for closure for the families.
Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALE/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 10:55 am
WelshPatriot wrote:I pray they find them just for closure for the families.
Agreed !
Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:52 am
A few days ago they were considering looking at a much smaller area, around 4 nautical square miles (7 miles) now they are looking at 25 nautical square miles (53 miles).
Hope the weather eases for the search team to get the search done safely, good luck to them and hope they bring the families and us back some news
Hope the weather eases for the search team to get the search done safely, good luck to them and hope they bring the families and us back some news
Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:15 pm
Latest update re press briefing
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Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PILOT/PLANE
Sat Feb 02, 2019 6:08 pm
Need a good result for the family. If it's the worst news, we will all be grieving.
Re: THE UNDERWATER SEARCH HAS BEGUN FOR SALA/PILOT/PLANE
Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:07 am
I think it began around 3.00am
The weather is holding but very difficult situation. I hope it’s a good outcome for the sake of the families especially but I don’t think things will turn out as we would hope for especially with regards to recovering bodies.
Hope I’m wrong.
The weather is holding but very difficult situation. I hope it’s a good outcome for the sake of the families especially but I don’t think things will turn out as we would hope for especially with regards to recovering bodies.
Hope I’m wrong.