Searchers dispute company’s claim that it may have found aircraft wreckage
Miguel Marquez, David Molko and Holly Yan, CNN
Updated
5:40 AM EDT, Wed April 30, 2014
Story highlights
Site where it says the wreckage lies is several thousand miles away from current search area
Relatives of passengers hear never-before-publicized audio from the plane
More than 600 military members from around the world end their air search
Crews will now search a larger, 60,000-square-kilometer area of the ocean floor
(CNN) —
A private company declared that it has found what it believes is wreckage of a plane in the ocean, but leaders of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are dismissing the claim.
The reasons for the skepticism are obvious – the site where GeoResonance says it found the wreckage, in the Bay of Bengal, is several thousand miles away from the current search area in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Joint Agency Coordination Centre, which is coordinating the multinational search, dismissed the claim.
“The Australian-led search is relying on information from satellite and other data to determine the missing aircraft’s location,” the JACC said.
Photos: The search for MH370
Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board.
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Visual China Group/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight.
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Lucas Marie/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft.
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ATSB/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was.
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Blaine Gibson
Photos: The search for MH370
Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead.
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MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public.
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014.
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Peter D. Blair/U.S. Navy/UPI/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014.
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Greg Wood/Pool/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014.
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British Ministry of Defence
Photos: The search for MH370
A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014.
A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014.
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STRinger/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014.
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Lt. Ryan Davis/Australian Defense Force/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014.
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Kelly Hunt/Australian Defense Force/UPI/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014.
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Nick Perry/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370.
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Rahman Roslan/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions.
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Ng Han Guan/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014.
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Michael Martina/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014.
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Michael Martina/Pool/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014.
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Aaron Favila/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived."
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014.
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GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014.
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Rufus Cox/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia.
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China's State Admiration of Science
Photos: The search for MH370
Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search.
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Digital Globe/AMSA/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight.
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DigitalGlobe/AMSA via Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014.
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AZHAR RAHIM/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014.
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U.S. Navy/Eric A. Pastor/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean.
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XINHUA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014.
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LUONG THAI LINH/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014.
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Rahman Roslan/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014.
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HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014.
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EPA/TIENPHONG.VN
Photos: The search for MH370
A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand.
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Chris D. Boardman/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014.
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Lai Seng Sin/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014.
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Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: The search for MH370
The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014.
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Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014.
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MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014.
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MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said.
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Lai Seng Sin/AP
“The location specified by the GeoResonance report is not within the search arc derived from this data. The joint international team is satisfied that the final resting place of the missing aircraft is in the southerly portion of the search arc.”
Malaysian acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia “is working with its international partners to assess the credibility of this information.”
GeoResonance said it analyzes super-weak electromagnetic fields captured by airborne multispectral images.
“The company is not declaring this is MH370, however it should be investigated,” GeoResonance said in a statement.
The company’s director, David Pope, said he did not want to go public with the information at first, but his information was disregarded.
“We’re a large group of scientists, and we were being ignored, and we thought we had a moral obligation to get our findings to the authorities,” he told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday.
GeoResonance’s technology was created to search for nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry under the ocean or beneath the earth in bunkers, Pope said.
The company began its search four days after the plane went missing and sent officials initial findings on March 31, Pope said. It followed up with a full report on April 15.
By going public, the company says it hopes it will spur officials to take its claim seriously.
Malaysian authorities contacted GeoResonance on Tuesday and were “very interested, very excited” about the findings, Pope said.
Inmarsat, the company whose satellite had the last known contact with MH370, remains “very confident” in its analysis that the plane ended up in the southern Indian Ocean, a source close to the MH370 investigation told CNN.
The Inmarsat analysis is “based on testable physics and mathematics,” the source said, and has been reviewed by U.S., British and Malaysian authorities as well as an independent satellite company.
After seven weeks of intense but fruitless searching, the international air effort to find the plane is over. But some ships will stay on the Indian Ocean to gather any debris that might surface.
More than 600 military personnel from at least seven countries solemnly posed in front of search planes Tuesday for a commemorative photo. Some traded military patches and mulled over their disappointment in not finding the Boeing 777.
Also on Tuesday, relatives of missing passengers heard new details from officials, including audio recordings from the plane that had never been released to the public before.
The final words between the cockpit and a control tower weren’t extraordinary. But after 52 days in limbo, families say they’re finally starting to get some of the answers they’ve been looking for.
More intense underwater search
Most of the international air crews will leave the Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce, near Perth, over the next few days.
The likelihood of finding any debris on the ocean’s surface is “highly unlikely,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Monday. By now, most of the debris is probably waterlogged and has probably sunk, he said.
So officials are moving on to the next phase: a more intense underwater search that will use private contractors and could cost about $56 million.
Crews will now scour a much larger area of the ocean floor – 60,000 square kilometers. The process could take at least six to eight months, officials said.
The Bluefin-21 underwater probe will continue scanning the ocean floor. But the submersible couldn’t search Tuesday because of weather and very high seas.
No one knows exactly what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board. The plane was headed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
New details for relatives
Relatives of Chinese passengers have been furious about the perceived lack of information given by Malaysian authorities.
But on Tuesday, Malaysian officials briefed scores of family members in Beijing and played never-before-released audio of the plane’s final chatter with a control tower.
“Malaysia three seven zero contact Ho Chi Minh 120.9, good night,” says a voice identified by Malaysian officials as that of a radar controller in Kuala Lumpur.
“Good night Malaysian three seven zero,” answers a male voice believed to be a crew member on board.
Officials also showed family members maps of the flight’s route, including a questionable turn at Penang over the Strait of Malacca. That turn sent the plane veering far off course.
Malaysia Airlines representative Subas Chandran said the plane probably ran out of fuel about seven-and-a-half hours into the flight.
Such details, while sobering, were welcomed by relatives.
“They are making progress,” said Jimmy Wang, a member of the families’ committee aimed at seeking answers.
Miguel Marquez and David Molko reported from Western Australia; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Ivan Watson and Allen Shum contributed to this report.
