Air search operations for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370 have been suspended for today due to poor weather, just as a robotic mini-submarine almost completed its underwater search. This decision was taken on Tuesday by the Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), heading the search operation.
Tropical cyclone Jack, heading south over the Indian Ocean, is resulting in poor visibility and hazardous conditions for an effective search operation.
However, the agency confirmed that surface search will continue and 10 vessels have been deployed in today’s search for floating debris. Tropical cyclone Jack adds a new twist to the controversies involving the aircraft with 239 people, including five Indians, on board. The world has been tracking the news of the aircraft that went in thin air after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on 8th of March.
Rescue teams had been sent into the vast Indian Ocean but with no success. We should understand the apathy of the rescue teams as Australia's deputy defence chief, Air Marshal Mark Binskin said, "We are not searching for a needle in a haystack, we are still trying to define where the haystack is."
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), Bluefin-21 equipped with side-scan sonar, has also been deployed in a search area centred about 1500 km northwest of Perth. The underwater drone is in its ninth mission and has already completed two-thirds of the focused underwater search with no signs of wreckage till now.
What is a Tropical Cyclone?
The word cyclone has been derived from the Greek word ‘cyclos’ which means ‘coiling of a snake’. Tropical cyclones are low pressure systems that form over warm tropical waters. This includes everything from tropical depressions to massive category five hurricanes.
An important ingredient for storm development is a warm sea surface temperature. Tropical cyclones do not form unless the sea-surface temperature is above 26.5°C. Vertical wind shear and high relative humidity in the surrounding air also influence the development of tropical cyclones.
The third cyclone of the season called Jack, developed into a very severe storm as it moved into the Mauritius region and at present is just about 700 kilometres west south-west of the Cocos Islands and moving south south-east earlier today, according to Bureau of Meteorology.
