Search for plane heads to ocean floor with underwater drone

  • 10 years ago
The hunt for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane is heading to the bottom of the Indian Ocean --- thanks to this U.S. Navy underwater drone.

Officials are hoping Bluefin-21 will give then a clear acoustic picture of the sea floor --- which it can reportedly scan for periods of up to 16 hours at a time.

Authorities did caution that it could take up to two months to scour the 230 square mile (596 square km) area where the plane is believed to have disappeared.

Bluefin-21's first foray on Monday was cut short after it plummeted below its depth limit. The coming days will hopefully be smoother. Many are hoping the drone will be able to follow up on the success it had last year --- leading authorities to a missing F-15 fighter jet that crashed off Japan.

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