wouldn't be used until debris is found. the pinger manufacturer tells cnn flight 370's pingers were due for a maintenance overhaul and new batteries in 2012 but they were never returned for the fix. that could mean malaysia airlines got brand new pingers, they had maintenance done someplace else or the airline had outdated pingers. and if they were outdated, they may not be working at all. we did reach out to malaysia airlines to hash this all out as far as the pingers go. we have not received a response as yet. >> no response at all? >> not yet. >> let's go to perth, australia, for more on the search operation that's about to begin. kyung lah standing by with the latest on that. what's going on in perth right now, kyung? >> well, the very first of the planes has indeed taken off. we understand just getting this latest news from the australian authorities that there will be a total of ten planes in the air