Page 31 - Auv News Today

Operations and submersibles specialist. colonel michael kay, former uk military pilot and cnn aviation analyst. tim, youve joined the panel since the last hour. and youve brought with you a very significant prop. better known as an auv. explain how this is significant in whats happening on the other side of the world. >> actually, this is more than a prop. it is an actual auv. it just is a shallow water version. when we talk shallow water were talking 200 meters, 650 feet. so it will actually go...

Pinger locater device. as we speak, that super-sensitive microphone is following a 150 mile straight line track at a depth of some 10,000 feet, strange straining to pick up this. [ clicking sound ] it is a faint set of pings hopefully coming from the flights data and voice cockpit recorders. the british ship "echo" is trolling in the opposite direction and working its way right towards the "ocean shield." with zero physical traces of flight 370 located by the dozens and dozens of planes and ship...

Them so divers dont get hurt. >> underwater obstructions are a concern. we tend to fly the auv at about a 45-meter altitude of the bottom. keeps us usually out of the way of obstructions. >> reporter: these types of searches can take months or years. but the payoff is high. wreckage that gives clues about what happened, data recorders and the thing that matters most, the fate of the people on board. rosa flores, cnn, new york. >> so thats an idea of how its going out there. but right now, chad m...

So they have to pass virtually over the top of the pinger in order to locate it. >> and they do it sort of like a lawn mower. they go back and forth and back and forth. and just move across that area, is that how they do it? >> theyre moving in a long, straight line, trying to minimize the other noise disturbances that are in the ocean. and listen very, very carefully for the faintest possible sign. >> so were familiar with some of this high-tech equipment. i assume that if -- we know at least o...

Is capable of picking up a weak sound if they are in the right area. the auv, launched, once they find a signal -- we keep mentioning side scan s.o.n.a.r. these can be programmed with a variety of sensors, which one would be a magnet to himter, which would pick up in addition to sound, any metal objects. >> so when we heard this shift is moving under water from whats effectively an an air search until now, it made me wonder if you know the answer to this question, colonel. and that is, what happ...

Those who havent heard reporting up until now are those two specific devices the tow pinger locater 25 and the blue fin 21, theyre saying theyll be inside the box. i dont know if that makes sense to you, but were told that will be in the search area in the overnight hours local time. i dont know that that means that things have changed now theyre going to get there sooner. a big operations announcement? what on earth could that be? youre just as surprised? >> i am surprised. but i would think, o...

Would attenuate the sound. alsorts of ways to lose that pinging sound. and especially distance. it may not even be close to it. air france, the pinger itself was at a depth of two and a half miles, so it was quite deep. so you really had to be right on top of it to hear it. >> and the pinger locator that can be towed, it can even get to some of the deepest parts of the search area, is that right? >> well the pinger -- the tpl can go to about 6,000 meters. that will get to most of the area. the a...

Some of the deepest parts of the search area, is that right? >> well the pinger -- the tpl can go to about 6,000 meters. that will get to most of the area. the auv can get to most of it. but there are pockets it may have problems with. >> it had got to be towed at a slow speed, 3 miles an hour, i think. in terms of the area you can search, youre only going to be able to search 150 square miles a day. thats a big challenge for searchers. >> its a very big challenge for searchers, unless they get ...

Additional three to five days of life before the battery starts to diminish to the point where the output signal below minim minimums. >> reporter: cnn safety analyst cites his sources saying malaysia airline stored batteries for pingers in a place much hotter than recommended. malaysia airlines said we are unaware of issue with the under water locater beacon or batteries. >> i know they are trying everything they possibly can. you are reporting on the towed pinger locater. that is not the only ...

Even towed equipment, low water to the air or especially in the water has that problem, if you think of the pinger, think the one-mile limitation of the pinger when its active and think vertically that you are really at about one mile or more depth. >> so and when they talk about these underwater vehicles, what are their limitations and what are their strengths? this is also not something you can just plop in there and go looking. >> well, you can use a tethered remote vehicle from a vessel, but...