23 days since the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 along with its 227 passengers and 12 crew members, the search continues for the missing Malaysian airliner, using just about every tool available to narrow down the possible locations where the Boeing 777-200ER could have went down.
While satellites have been able to capture imagery of the designated search area in the southern Indian Ocean where Flight MH370 is believed to have gone down, the International search team has relied on various tools to take a closer look, both low-tech and high-tech to aid in their search.
In the air, Lockheed P-3 Orions, Ilyushin IL-76s, Boeing P-8 Poseidons, Lockheed C-130s and various helicopters have been scouring the sea from above, looking for any sign of wreckage from Flight MH370. While these various aircraft contain radar equipment and other tools to aid in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, the crew on board have also relied on less sophisticated methods to spot any sign of Flight 370. Using binoculars, plain sight and digital cameras, crewmembers have been constantly looking out of plane windows, hoping to discover any leads on the disappearance of Flight MH370.
While several debris pieces were found in recent days, the airplanes flying overhead had to rely on other methods to retrieve anything spotted in the water.This was achieved by dropping GPS locator buoys or other signaling devices, so ships below can later retrieve the debris pieces and determine if they were related to Flight MH370.
In the sea, ships relied on various methods to aid in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. While some ships have been used to retrieve pieces of debris spotted by planes, others have been tasked with the role of searching below sea level, in hopes of locating the flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box.
A combination of sophisticated sensors such as a towed pinger locator and underwater mapping robots deployed on Sunday to aid with the underwater search for Flight MH370. Search teams hope to narrow down the search for the black box, whose battery is estimated to have a life of about 30 days.
Even with the narrow window to locate the black box, search efforts continue to find any sign of Flight 370.
Take a closer look at the tools used in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the photos below.
Crew member Garrick Anderson prepares to throw a GPS tracking buoy into the Southern Indian Ocean to mark the position of a solid object in the water aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean March 22, 2014.Reuters/Jason ReedA Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion aircraft is pictured in the sunset twilight after returning from a search flight for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, at RAAF Base Pearce near Perth, March 27, 2014. Severe weather on Thursday halted the air search for a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet presumed crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, frustrating hopes of finding what new satellite images showed could be a large debris field.Reuters/Jason ReedA Chinese Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft used in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is pictured on the tarmac of Perth International Airport, March 31, 2014 following a flight to the Indian Ocean. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had no time limit, despite the failure of an international operation to find any sign of the plane in three weeks of fruitless searching.Reuters/Jason ReedRadar specialists are pictured aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean March 22, 2014. China said on Saturday it had a new satellite image of what could be wreckage from a missing Malaysian airliner, as more planes and ships headed to join an international search operation scouring some of the remotest seas on Earth.Reuters/Jason ReedWing Commander Rob Shearer looks through binoculars on the flight deck of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft during a search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean, March 29, 2014. Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.Reuters/Jason ReedThe digital screen of a Royal New Zealand Air Force photographer's camera shows unidentified debris, taken from a P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean, March 29, 2014. Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.Reuters/Jason ReedA marine marker sets off smoke after being deployed from a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion as part of the RAAF No. 11 Squadron's search over the southern Indian Ocean for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 March 29, 2014. Fresh objects spotted by planes searching for the missing Malaysian passenger jet in a new area of the southern Indian Ocean have again raised hopes of unraveling the three-week old mystery. Australian authorities coordinating the operation moved the air and sea search 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the plane traveled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8.Reuters/Greg WoodChinese ship Nan Hai Jiu is pictured in the southern Indian Ocean, in this picture taken from the flight deck of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, March 29, 2014. Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.Reuters/Jason ReedA U.S. Navy P8 Poseidon aircraft returns from a search flight for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 over the Indian Ocean, at Perth International Airport March 31, 2014. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had no time limit, despite the failure of an international operation to find any sign of the plane in three weeks of fruitless searching.Reuters/Jason ReedA U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) towed pinger locator is pictured on a dock at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth, March 30, 2014. The undersea Navy drone capable of exploring waters nearly 15,000 feet deep will be put aboard Australian Defense vessel Ocean Shield on Sunday and used to help locate the black box pinger from the sunken wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.Reuters/Jason ReedThe current search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as of March 31Australian Maritime Safety AuthorityRoyal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion co-pilot Brett McKenzie looks at a hand-written list of other flights in the area searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean, March 29, 2014.Reuters/Jason ReedA digital screen on the flight deck of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft shows yellow markers where sightings of debris, possibly from the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, were sighted and recorded, over the southern Indian Ocean, March 29, 2014. Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.Reuters/Jason ReedTactical Co-Ordinator Stephen Graham is pictured aboard a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft during a search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean, March 29, 2014. Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris.Reuters/Jason ReedLeaders of the international forces currently based in Perth to search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 stand in front of a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion aircraft before a visit by Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott at RAAF Base Pearce near Perth March 31, 2014. Abbott said on Monday there was no time limit on the hunt for MH370, missing for more than three weeks in the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board. Pictured from left are representatives from Malaysia, China, U.S., Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force, Japan's Coast Guard, South Korea and New ZealandReuters/Jason ReedAustralia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks with China's Air Force Senior Colonel Liu Dian Jun, head of China's effort to locate Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, during Abbott's visit to RAAF Base Pearce near Perth March 31, 2014. Abbott said on Monday there was no time limit on the hunt for MH370, missing for more than three weeks in the Indian Ocean with 239 people on board. Abbott met on Monday with members of various international military forces currently searching for MH370 in the Indian Ocean. Reuters/Jason ReedA Phoenix underwater mapping robot is pictured on the dock at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth, March 30, 2014. The device will be placed on the Australian Defense ship Ocean Shield on Sunday and used to help map the location of the sunken wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.Reuters/Jason ReedA U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) towed pinger locator is pictured on a dock at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth, March 30, 2014.Reuters/Jason Reed
