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i'm going to start with michael holmes in perth. on this first day, bluefin-21 had to return to the surface many hours earlier than planned. what can you tell us about that, michael? >> i suppose, don, it speaks to what we don't know about the ocean floor there, as we've said before we know more about the surface of the moon than the ocean floor in that part of the ocean. the bluefin-21 went down there. the best guess they had was that the ocean floor might be 42 to 4400 meters down. well the bluefin got to 4500 meters down and it triggered a safety mechanism which said i'm too deep below my operating maximum. it went back up to the surface after only six hours of going along the bottom and mapping that surface with the side-scan s sonar. they will be analyzing the data and sending it back down soon. it is a very laborious process. but this one is cut short. one interesting observation, the ships searching for debris on the surface, 200 to 300 miles to the west of where the bluefin is operating they turned and headed south in the las

live now to perth, australia, cnn's michael holmes. michael, the prime minister tony abbott says he is still confident about the search. what about the search crews, do they share that optimism? >> well, they share a determination to keep on going. i think it's fair to say, don. optimism about finding wreckage now certainly on the surface, boy, that's got to be wearing thin. i mean, just imagine, we're into the sixth week now and they still haven't found one piece of wreckage. they are continuing to tow that ping locator on the ocean shield vessel and that smaller search area. smaller than it's been. there's also the "echo" there, a british ship that sends down its own sonar and tries to pick up any hard objects on the bottom. but, yeah, you've got to think and you were just saying this and you're right, don, you've got to think it's got to be only a matter of a day or two before they say those pingers are dead now and we've got to use the information we've got. and send down that submersible and have a look on the bottom and see what w

michael holmes is live in perth, and nic robertson in kuala lumpur.ick, good morning to you down under. what is the latest on the bluefin mission? ongoing again? >> reporter: yeah, it is ongoing. we're waiting to get the latest update from the search organizers. it should have been in by now, and you think about it now, bill, that is three out of five missions had some sort of trouble. the fifth mission was aborted shortly after launch due to some problems with the navigation system, we're told. that is according to the u.s. navy. since the bluefin did not go to the ocean floor, of course, there was no side scan sonar data to review on that mission. of course, the bluefin-21 was relaunched. we're told it is on its sixth mission. there were no problems with the first five. bluefin-21 had not identified any wreckage, but had when it was working performed pretty well in terms of the detail of that 3-d side scan sonar images of the ocean floor, bill. >> okay, you know, for weeks, we were under the impression, nic robertson, that the pilots turned off the

wolf. >> michael holmes in perth, thank you. malaysia airlines has put some new security procedures in place since the disappearance of flight 370. some key members are deeply upset over these new rules. what are their concerns? let's bring in nic robertson. he's joining us from kuala lump lumpur. what are you hearing? >> well, wolf, we're talking to crew members here, and what they are telling us is they've been asked by the airlines to provide additional security on board the aircraft. they've been told to provide additional security around the cockpit. that is, if any -- in either of the pilots come out to go to the bathroom or for whatever reason, they need to provide additional security outside the cockpit. block the way of passengers who might want to go in. if either of the pilot or the co-pilot leaves the cockpit, a seni senior person from the cabin must go take his place. we're being told by the cabin members over the past year or so they've seen their hours increased, they're short staffed, people have left the company

that and much more, let's start with michael holmes, so the air force michael detecting another signal after the other four that were heard. how did they detect it? >> yeah, it is fascinating, anderson, what they are. they are called sonobuoys, or buoys, they are dropped from the aircraft and are being spread around the search area as an added tool if you will. electronic ears, listening to anything from malaysian flight 370. they can carry up to 70 of these, peppering the ocean field. one has already picked up four pings from the towed pinger locator. they drop a line down from a thousand feet and listen basically. it seems one of them got a hit, a ping from the frequency hit from the data recorder. that has given even more optimism to those searches. preliminary data, though -- >> let's talk about that preliminary data. i understand the testing was done overnight to try to analyze if the signal came from flight 370. do we know when we'll get an update on that, or when the process is? >> well, yeah, hopefully today. you're right. the plane gets the signal back from these buoys. and th

michael holmes, the latest on the search, what is it? >> reporter: yeah, bluefin-21, we heard just a short time ago anderson that it completed mission 12 under way. the search officials are telling us how 90% of that, let's call it a focused search area that we have been reporting on has now been scanned. and the news of course is saying nothing of significance. a few days ago we would suggest the entire area would be covered by week's end. that seems to be likely by the numbers, but the australian defense minister said it could take two weeks. no estimation on why they believes that. some experts say the remaining area could involve deeper area but with 90% covered one imagines that focused area will wrap up pretty soon. >> and the next phase of the search, do we know any details of it? >> yeah, there have been consultations with china and the next phase of the search, details could be likely announced next week. but we can say certainly it will involve that wider arc of several 100 miles along the flight path just to the north really o

michael holmes, appreciate the update. joining us is cnn aviation correspondent, richard quest, in kuala lumpur. and author of "why planes crash" and accident investigator. and director of special projects at woods hole oceanographic institution, he co-led the search for france flight 477. we heard from the australian defense minister saying it could take another two weeks to cover this last 10%. does that -- >> the only thing i can think of is if they're going to go slower and slower for some reason, or if they're going to go back over some areas or fill in gaps maybe. something like that. but it's hard to understand exactly why. it's going to take so much more time. >> richard, there's a preliminaryiary report in the plane's disappearance, prepared by malaysia since the international civil aviation organization, malaysian officials haven't released it publicly. i think you have details of what's in it. >> yeah. i asked at the press conference yesterday whether the report had been sent as was required by annex 13. the mal

michael holmes still live at the search base in perth, australia. s the latest on the search? this is the time of day when you start to hear back from what the bluefin 21 heard and i guess the planes start going up in the air as well. >> yeah, exactly. both of those things. the planes and the ships continue their search. we normally hear from search headquarters around now or in the next couple of hours about how the latest mission went. of course, they're still focusing on that six-mile radius around where one of those acoustic sounds was heard back on april 8th. and with the mission that's carried out so far by the bluefin they've carried out half of that. they still feel this is their best shot at finding the plane. the eighth mission should be over by now if not very soon. we're waiting to see if it was more successful in the previous seven dives which, of course, turned up nothing. how long the plane and sea search for surface debris will go on, we don't know. it was angus houston last week who said it would be a matter of days that he thought t

and as we have said before, to cover the area could take six weeks, could take two months. >> michael holmes in perth, michael, thank you very much. you know, nic robertson, we learned the co-pilot's cell phone was on at the time. and there could have been other cell phones that hit the tower. what are you hearing about any developments on this front? >> reporter: well, we've asked those questions here and we're not getting any answers. we're not even getting any confirmation from malaysian officials about the reports that we've heard the confirmation from u.s. officials that the co-pilot's cell phone made a connection to the tower. officials here don't say anything. they don't deny it. they certainly wouldn't come on record and back it up. and they're not at the moment giving any additional details. we know there is a potential that one cell phone had made connection to a cell tower. there was a potential for any of the other phones belonging to the other 238 people on board to have made a connection. but nothing from malaysian officials. and of course, that is very, very difficult for the

michael holmes, cnn, perth, australia. >> and michael mentioned tropical cyclone jack heading into the region. how soon before the storm gets here? >> the storm is about 600 miles away and we're seeing some thunderstorms beginning to develop ahead of the cyclone itself. we also know wave heights, according to the joint typhoon warping center, wave heights as high as four meters. once the storm gets here inside the next two days, wave height also be 7 to 10 feet on the water. so any visual search will be impacted. plenty of rainfall over this region as the storm system nears the zone. winds about 60 miles per hour once the storm gets here. but the strongest winds at this point look to stay just outside of the search zone with cyclone jack. the season as the waters cool off is beginning to come to an end. i want to talk about what's happening in the eastern united states. we've had one fatality associated with rip currents on the coast of florida sunday afternoon. something to note, today being the 21st of april, if no one passes away from tornadoes, this will tie a record for the latest

michael holmes is joining us from perth, australia. what's the latest there, michael? >> reporter: wolf, predawn here off the coast of perth and soon the aircraft will join them as they do every day being looking for any wreckage on the surface. it's day 36 of the search and they are hoping that they will find something. the confidence is growing they will find something either above or below the surface. >> reporter: crews are relentless. they are searching for the smallest target zone and the hunt for pings from the black boxes is in an area smaller than that. prime minister tony abbott says he believes the plane's recorders are down there. >> we have very much narrowed down the search area and we are very confident that the signals that we are detecting are from the black box. >> abbott was referring to the four pings picked up between thursday and saturday. a fifth was picked up using a sonobuoy. but after analysis, the search coordinator now says it is unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes. crews racing against the clock to try to hear more signals be

michael holmes, thank you. let's bring in miles o'brien and aviation analyst, managing director peter goelz along with former fbi assistant director tom fuentes. this latest suspected ping, if you will, miles, a fifth, if in fact it's serious, what do you make of it? >> well, it just adds to the case. we have a strong case that continues to build. you know, i think the people heading up the search are reluctant to say we have the wreckage until they actually have eyes on it or virtual eyes on it. but as they build this case, the evidence grows and, more importantly, the box becomes a little bit smaller into which they decide to search and ultimately put on the bluefin device, the underwater vehicle that will go down and paint the surface with sonar. so it's very encouraging with the weather getting worse and winter ko winter coming, this is good news. >> peter, are you confident that they are getting closer and closer to one of the two black boxes? >> i am. five pings are better than four. ten would be better t

michael holmes is in perth. michael, let's start with you. at this point, one of most interesting leads is a sample from the oil slick in the search area. what's the status on the testing, michael? >> we're going to say it has taken a while, hasn't it, since the slick was first spotted, but you have to look at the logistics of this. the slick was over 1,000 miles out to sea. what they had to do is move a navy vessel out to the slick. they then helicoptered from that area to that ship. the ship then went back to the coast until it was close enough to helicopter it back to land. quite a task. it is here. it's in perth. it's being examine and we expect that analysis anytime now. in the next couple of hours we hope to get a feedback whether that is linked to malaysian flight 370 or whether it is not. >> michael, bluefin back after completing a full mission. the data is current currently being analyzed but how encouraged are searchers that the sub managed to complete a full mission this time? >> they are. the third time was a time. the first two w

cnn's michael holmes, live. good morning to you, michael. what is the latest? >> reporter: yeah, that is right, bill, the search is done right now. 80% covered and single nothing found. no sign of mh-370. no word on the data results from the latest mission, but the previous nine of course turned up nothing, bill. >> and talk to metro about the weather. we heard there were reports of a typhoon, is that still threatening? >> reporter: yeah, this is a cyclone jack, hurricane jack you would call it in the u.s. it is breaking up and dissipating. but it is having an impact. it is going to have eight and a half meter swells out there. low clouds and visibility down to less than a mile. so that will impact things. last we heard, the planes and ships still looking for surface debris. but the weather is not helping as if they needed something else to help search. >> and we understand they're mapping out sort of broader strategies for the long run, what do you know about that? >> reporter: yeah, because they're not going to give up, even if this focused area turns up noth

. >> michael holmes visited the nation's transport safety bureau to meet the people who may eventually decode the data. >> reporter: in a nonscript area, the secrets of malaysia flight 370 may be unblocked. >> what's this room? >> this is our audio laboratory. it's a specially designed screen room that's shielded. >> from noises? >> it has pretty good screening. >> reporter: this is where neil campbell and his team forensically examine data recorders from planes, trains and ships. >> the reality is there are very few countries who have the technical know how to work out what's inside one of these things, and this lab is one of those places. >> reporter: boxes from other investigations torn apart, burned, damaged in many ways suggest a tough assignment, but here they say the story of what happened is usually found. >> a lot of our work is with undamaged recorders. it's very easy to download them. >> reporter: even with very damaged ones, your success rate in getting the information off is good. >> yes. we've always been able to recover the information from recorders we've seen. >> repor

cnn's michael holmes has that and more on what's to come from perth, australia. >> reporter: hopes that the object of interest might lead to something concrete in this search quickly dissipated overnight. it was an object about 2.5 meters long and a meter wide. it was made of fiber grass, had rivets in it. they said this morning, quote, we do not consider this to be of use to our search for mh-370. he went on to say at that analysis of photographs of the object was enough to warrant no further analysis of the material. nobody ever overstated this discovery. there was caution urged from the outside. that caution was justified. meanwhile, mission number 12 of the blue fin 21 is underway. search officials are telling us that 90% of what they're calling a focused area of search has now been scanned. the news, of course, nothing of significance seen so far. a few days ago it was suggested the entire search of this area, this focused area, would have been covered by the weekend and that is looking likely now. the australian defense minister, senator david johnson, said australia was in consul

did i hear that correctly, michael holmes? >> yeah, you did, don. he said wreckage needs to be seen before there's any confirmation of the resting place. you know, those ships -- what you have is that smaller what he called a manageable area where the "ocean shield" and "hms echo" are located. they are doing the sonar work and the rest of those ships are like 400 miles further to the west and that's because of the storms and the movements of the motion and that's where they detected would be the best chance for any floating wreckage to have moved since the suspected impact area. now, obviously they have founding in. six weeks into this, they have found absolutely nothing. and so i imagine from what he's saying there, they have decided they are not going to find anything. there was that one big storm, a cyclone, a hurricane in the area and some experts suggested it was so strong and the waves so big that pretty much anything that was floating might have been pushed to the bottom or dispersed so widely, they are not going to find it in a several. sear

first michael holmes in perth on today's search efforts. what's the latest, michael? >> reporter: anderson, good morning from perth. the bluefin-21 down doing its work at the moment. by our calculations it is almost exactly halfway through the ocean floor segment of that. as we know, it takes two hours to get down and 16 hours on the bottom and two hours to get up and then they download the data. also, planes and ships out there again today. we had been told that that phase of things looking for surface wreckage would be scaled down this week. but no sign of that yet. they are still in the air and on the ocean looking for any wreckage. of course, none found so far. we're now in to our sixth week. andersson anderson. >> none found so far. the data, has it been processed from the bluefin's first dive which was called off because of unexpected depth that it suddenly faced. do you know, did they find anything of note? >> yeah, good question. in fact, only in the last hour, anderson, we did get word about that. it covered about four square miles during that aborted mission

cnn's michael holmes joins us from perth on the latest from the operation. michael it seems that the bluefin was able to map the area, but so far nothing reported. how long is the effort supposed to take? >> reporter: yeah, third time is the charm, john, from the bluefin-21, as you said, the first two missions were cut short, although they did get data when they were down there. they coordinated the search, these were not wholly unexpected. it is working now. the data they got on the first two runs showed nothing of significance. the data from this last full mission on the ocean floor or just above it is still being analyzed. and we're hoping to hear in the next few hours what if anything they found on that run. of course, they are concentrating their work on the area where the strongest ping came from. so where they will be going over the background pretty thoroughly, in fact going back over the ground that the bluefin missed on that first mission cut short, john? >> okay, let's look forward here, we get to the point where the bluefin maps that entire area a

michael holmes is in perth. joe jones is in kuala lumpur and richard quest is with me in the studio. michael, just when it looked like the trail was going cold, the search of flight 370's new signals are heard yesterday. what's the latest on today's search? >>. >> the planes haven't headed out yet but they will be. there will be more than a dozen planes and ships out continuing to search for that elusive jet. as you said, we had two more pings on tuesday. that, in addition to the two that we had on saturday. what thauz that does is it helps those out there searching, who are dragging that ping locater on loan from the u.s. navy. they are trying to get more pings today. what that will do is help them triening a late, if you like -- think of it looking for a cell phone tower and the pings of the towers, it helps to work out where the best spot to search for those flight data recorders are. of course it's a very difficult task. it's a vast area. on the bottom of the ocean floor, by all accounts, there's perhaps mete

up next with michael holmes. he will take us inside a lab with the technology that can unlock the secrets with the plane's black boxes if they're found. >>> also ahead, the teen boy who flew from san jose to hawaii, what he told investigators about where he was actually trying to go when we continue. sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. and that's epic, bro, we've forgotten just how good good is. good is setting a personal best before going for a world record. good is swinging to get on base before swinging for a home run. [ crowd cheering ] good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it and do some experiments. ♪ so start your day off good with a coffee that's good cup after cup. maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop . >>> well, if search teams were able to find fligh

anderson. >> yeah, michael holmes, i appreciate the update. the pings, and the wreckage cell, the call to what comes next when a debris field is actually located. now, in a moment we'll show you just how truly deep the ocean is and the challenges conducting the recovery operations. first, i want to focus on the latest news about the pings and the scramble to hear more. cnn analyst, david souci, author of why planes crash, and david gallo, director of special projects of the woods institution. also, richard quest, richard, just big picture, in terms of the optimism that we heard from that last press conference from angus houston, i mean, we've never really heard him come as close as what he did today, saying what he did. >> yeah, and going one stage further was his natural reluctance to take that step until he has hard physical evidence. and that is what he said again and again in his late night press conference. i want to see evidence. not just because that is what he needs but because that is what the families require. so that they have certa

. >> michael holmes, thank you so much, news about this phase could come any time now. >>> and what is news to us is deeply personal to anyone with connections to anyone on the flight. they have a hunger for the truth that so far has gone largely unmet. it is not that they're expecting the final word on what happened to the boeing triple 7 more than a month and a half ago. many are demanding far more information from the officials, especially from the malaysian authorities. right now you're looking at chinese families marching on the embassy in beijing. similar confrontations have been taking place in kuala lumpur. tonight, we'll speak to one of the most passionate critics of the investigation. sarah bajc, whose life partner was on the plane. and tonight, we learned about answers taking them to the very top. he spoke exclusively today with malaysia's prime minister asking him many of the questions the families have been asking. including why after the jump -- jumbo jet left that area, why did they not scramble to find it? >> no planes were sent up on the night to investigate? >> no, be

we want to turn to michael holmes had a is live in perth, australia.chael. people have to time to digest what has come out of that news conference. angus houston explaining the next phase, this new phase of the search operations. what is being said there on the ground? >> yeah, well, i think a lot of people around here. we've been speculating for the last day or two, if they did not get another of those pings from the black boxes, they would move on to this. i suppose in some ways it is expected on day 39. those pingers are meant to last for at least 30 days. so we're well past that use by date for the batteries on those black boxes. i think a lot of people were expecting we would get to this phase. they've been desperately hoping to get another one, two, or more pings. they use them to triangulate, if you like, to narrow down the search area. the ping locator that is being towed along behind the ocean shield or has been until now. it is not a directional receiver, if you like. it is omnidirectional. so it gets an idea but not to pinpoint it. the more

live in perth, western australia, cnn's michael holmes.reporting that blue-fin 21 drone should be wrapping up its seventh run about now. do we know if it saw anything? any results of this search today? >> nothing official yet, jim. we are getting more details the last day or so of the narrowed search area. that more defined search area we have been talking about basically centered around where they got that second acoustic sound on april 8th. talking of an area about six square miles and that is the area they are focused on now. after mission six ended yesterday around 50 square miles or so have now been covered. around 40% of that focused area, by the way. we are awaiting news of the seventh mission by our judgment it should be up by now. the mission should be completed and we normally get the data results within an hour or two of that. yesterday, we heard the acting malaysian transport minister saying the search was, in his words, at a critical juncture but if this phase was unsuccessful the hunt would condition. >> explain to our viewer

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michael holmes from perth, st l australia. what is the very latest?reporter: yeah, wolf, we're 12 hour as head of you on the u.s. east coast. it's officially the start of day 34 of the search. as you mentioned, those recorder batteries have an estimated life of around 30 days. so, time is very tight as those batteries start to run down. >> reporter: after three long and frustrating days since the first pings were detected, crews on the ocean shield found what they were looking for. two new sets of underwater pulses, similar to the pings detected on saturday, all within 17 miles of one another. it was the strongest signal of hope since flight 370 vanished a month ago. >> i'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft in the not too distant future. >> reporter: search leaders are more confident now that the pings likely are coming from the plane's black boxes, after a new analysis of the first set of signals. the pulses are getting weaker. the first and strongest lasted two hours and 20 minutes. the newest lasted 5 1/

michael holmes, what are you hearing about the blue-fin's progress?close to finishing the last 5% is it? >> reporter: very close. should be in the next couple of hours that we will hear how that mission has gone. mission number 13, as you said, had a bit of a software glitch apparently. that mission ended pretty quickly. then they got 14 under way and should be be done soon. before 14 began, they said 95% of that more focused search area that we have been talking about had been covered so we would expect that mission 14, when it surfaces, will lift that to 100% of that area. also confirmation of what we have been talking about in recent days and that is that the next area to be looked at just adjacent to that current six-mile radius you mentioned where the most promising acoustic sound was, this is going to be just a little bit north of the current site around where they got the first sound what they hoped then and hope now was a ping from one of those black boxes. >> i believe the last press conference that angus ouston gave where he said we are goin

we'll go straight to perth and cnn's michael holmes. he's there. what can we expect when the sun comes up? we're getting a sense and i think our viewers are probably getting a sense as well that we're settling into a long, slow period in this search now. >> reporter: yeah. you're absolutely right, jim. yeah, those planes will be taking off in the next couple of hours. the first ones are normally the chinese planes. they're the ones that take off from perth airport and australian and new zealand planes will take off. of course, the ships are still out there. they're out there 24/7 at the moment being resupplied by a u.s. naval ship so they can stay out there and continue the search. you mentioned australia's prime minister, tony abbott, yeah, repeating on saturday that he had a high degree of confidence, his words, that those acoustic sounds that they heard in the ocean are from at least one of the two black boxes from the missing plane. did as you said predict also something that we've been saying for ages that even if those boxes are located, it j

michael holmes is live in perth, australia, with the latest on the search. michael, why do they think now is the right time to switch from listening for this box to looking for it? >> reporter: well, victor, as we've been reporting all along, those black boxes, the pingers on them have a shelf life, if you like, of 30 days minimum. well, we're at day 38 now, and what the searchers have decided is those four pings that they did get is probably all they're going to get. we're at day 38. the pingers are probably dead now, so they've moved on to the next phase. kind of expected this to happen. the bluefin-21, that submersible, was expected to be going down today. it's about 4:30 in the afternoon here. haven't heard yet any confirmation that it has gone down. as you mentioned, it's a tedious process. it covers about 15 square kilometers in a 24-hour period. it's 2 hours down, 16 hours on the deck, 2 hours up and then 4 hours to download the data and then start all over again. the search leader or the man who's running the search here, angus houston, really exercis

. >> michael holmes, thank you so much, news about this phase could come any time now. >>> and what is news to us is deeply personal to anyone with connections to anyone on the flight. they have a hunger for the truth that so far has gone largely unmet. it is not that they're expecting the final word on what happened to the boeing triple 7 more than a month and a half ago. many are demanding far more information from the officials, especially from the malaysian authorities. right now you're looking at chinese families marching on the embassy in beijing. similar confrontations have been taking place in kuala lumpur. tonight, we'll speak to one of the most passionate critics of the investigation. sarah bajc, whose life partner was on the plane. and tonight, we learned about answers taking them to the very top. he spoke exclusively today with malaysia's prime minister asking him many of the questions the families have been asking. including why after the jump -- jumbo jet left that area, why did they not scramble to find it? >> no planes were sent up on the night to investigate? >> no, be

michael holmes is on the scene for us. what's the latest there, michael? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, dawn just about to break here in western australia. you know, it's five weeks now, five weeks today since that plane went missing and it's hard to believe there hasn't been any visual confirmation, no visual sightings of wreckage, just those pings. the four pings that everyone seems to be pretty certain comes from those flight data recorders. there was that fifth ping that we heard about from the sonabuoys that were dropped from the aircraft. that has now pretty much been discounted as being from the flight recorders, but they're ever trying to narrow down that search area as much as they can. try to pinpoint where this wreckage might be. you've got the ocean shield out there still towing the ping locator, trying to get one more ping or two more pings so they can further triangulate and narrow down the search area any further. the batteries, of course, well, they were designed to last 30 days. it's day 36 now. so hopes of finding, they'll get much more in the

michael holmes is on the scene for us. what's the very latest there, michael? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, well, certainly hoping they are going to get more out of this new dive than they got out of the last one that aborted mission, of course, not something that they wanted to see. but, you know, it's interesting, those involved in the search say they actually hope that the bluefin will be capable of going down lower than 4,500 meters, so they are going to be giving it all sorts of test on this dive, seeing if it can stay down there below that level. initially, of course, that was thought to be the extent of its range. they are actually hoping to see if it could go even further, so you're right, they are several hours into this mission. they are hoping to get that side sonar to give them good data about the bottom of the ocean, but it is really only the beginning, as we've been discussing. this is a search area that it could take them up to two months to cover at the pace that the bluefin goes. meanwhile, as you say, just after 6:00 a.m. here in perth, and the pla

michael holmes is on the scene with more. what's the latest there, michael? >> reporter: yeah, we're going to have the search planes out again. more than a dozen of them, wolf. they'll be leaving in the sectithefection few hours. also, those ships, again, are going to be scouring the ocean today. something rene mentioned is really interesting. ocean shield joined now, we reported this to you yesterday, that it was headed to the ocean shield area. the search area where they've been getting these pings. now, hms echo, it's a british naval ship. now, what it is, it has the ability, it's an oceanography ship. it has the ability to scour the ocean using echo sonar. scouring the floor obviously trying to find evidence of wreckage below. now, as rene said, this bluefin submersible, it's a tedious operation with that. it goes literally at walking pace, takes a full day to go down, cover some space, come back up. the hms echo, though, it's got a two-mile-wide coverage. it's not high resolution like the bluefin submersible, but way broader brush strokes, if you like, a

michael holmes is on the scene for us with the very latest. what's going on over there, michael? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, according to angus houston, they're going to wind down the air and sea search in the next few days. in fact, we've been looking at a marine tracking website. you can see from looking at it that the ships that were in that search area, which is several hundred miles to the west of where the ocean shield has just launched that submersible, those ships have left that area. it all seemed to be steaming to the south at the moment. so we're keeping an eye on them. now, when it comes to that submersible, as rene was saying there, it is a tedious process. in that 24 hour operation, if you like, each time to goes down, that 24-hour cycle. it will cover only about 15 1/2 square miles or 40 square kilometers. at that pace, it could take anywhere from six weeks to two months to cover the search area that they're looking at. and as angus houston makes very clear, there's no guarantee they'll find anything even though they are hopeful, wolf. >> how frustrated have those air

cnn's michael holmes is on the scene for us with more. i guess they're getting ready to take off at daybreak. is that right? >> reporter: yeah, i can hear in the background actually some engines happening, maybe they're going it get going soon here, wolf. it is still early morning, predawn. but re we expect to see another dozen planes out again combing that area. you know, it was interesting, wolf, hearing air chief marshal angus houston saying what he said. this is a man that is very much given to caution. he's not going to raise false hopes. for him to say he's optimistic the aircraft wreckage will be found is telling. rene mentioning there, of course, even if they do come to a conclusion where they triangulate and think it's time to get the bluefin submersible down there to try the map the bottom, it's a tedious process. it moves at walking space. takes two hours to get it down there. 16 hours of runtime when it is down. two hours to get back to the surface and hours more to get the data off. and also the searchers have no idea really

anderson. >> yeah, michael holmes, i appreciate the update.ings and all they imply about locating the wreckage, a call to what comes next when a debris field is actually located. now, in a moment we'll show you just how truly deep the ocean is and the challenges conducting the recovery operations. first, i want to focus on the latest news about the pings and the scramble to hear more. joining us again, cnn analyst david soucie, arthur of "why planes crash," and david gallow, director of special projects of the woods institution. also, richard quest, richard, just big picture, in terms of the optimism that we heard from that last press conference from angus houston, i mean, we've never really heard him come as close as what he did today, to saying, we know the plane is here. >> yes, and the only thing that prevented him from going that one step further was his natural reluctance to take that step until he he has hard physical evidence. and that is what he said again and again in his late night press conference. i want to see evidence. not just

michael holmes is live in perth, australia, with the latest on the search. michael, catch us up on all the latest developments during the day. >> reporter: yeah, there was a briefing here earlier, about four or five hours ago now, and some headlines coming out of that. as you mentioned there, they had those four pings that they were able to confirm. that helped them narrow down the search using that u.s. navy towed ping locator. well, they haven't had any pings since tuesday of last week, and it seems they just decided that they're not going to get any more. those batteries have gone down. so, they move on to this new phase, and they're going to put the submersible, the bluefin, down into the water this hour. we were told it would go in at the top of the hour, so it's probably happening as we speak. and that starts this new phase. it's going to go down, we're talking 450,000 meters down, over 14,000 feet down below the surface, and it will go at walking pace, mapping the surface, the ground of the ocean, the ocean floor, using side sonar. it's a real 3d image

michael holmes, cnn, australia. >> let's bring in our panel of experts, our aviation expert, peter goelz, tom fuentes, and jeffrey thomas, editor and chief of airlineratings.com. the australians or the u.s., who should take charge of investigating the so-called black box, the flight data recorder, if it's found? >> i think there's a good chance that if the australians get it, they've have some help from the ntsb when they go through the analysis, so i think it will be a joint effort, but from all accounts, both are the best. both are outstanding. >> i know your former colleagues at the ntsb, the national transportation safety board, they'd like to get the first crack at this. >> they certainly would, and they feel they have the most experience of any safety board in the world at taking down and getting the data out of a damaged fdr, but, you know, they've worked with the australians, they'll work with them again. this is going to be a joint effort and it's going to go to the lab that's got the right equipment to do the job right the first time. >> technically, jeffrey, the malaysians hav

i want to start with you, michael holmes first. despite a lack of concrete evidence, searchers seem to be getting more and more positive they are looking in the right area. why is that? >> yeah, because that's where the pings were. they really focused down the search area, don. we are hearing from people involved in this search at high levels that they feel they are on top of it. they are in the right area and they are hoping for good news. as you said, four days now completed. we have had the data back from all four of those dives by bluefin-21. not showing anything concrete in what they are looking for, that is the black boxes or any sign of wreckage, but they are happy with the resolution and the way that bluefin-21 is working. they are underway now on the fifth dive. so far, they have uncovered in the region of 110 or so squarer kilometers, 145 miles in the trip so far. significantly they have gone below the 4500-meter mark. the bluefin doing its job. let's keep this in context. this is still very early in the search by the blu

i want to begin with the breaking news from perth and michael holmes. what is the latest there, michael? >> yeah, erin, that latest ping coming from a sonar buoy. these planes that have been out there, this is really an added tool to the ship that has been towing around that ping locator. what the planes do, they can carry up to 84 of those things. and they've been peppering the ocean near the ocean shield vessel where which picked up of course the four pings since last saturday. these buoys drop a line a thousand feet down into the ocean, and they listen. well, it seems one of them got a hit, a ping within the frequency range. all the data recorder. and according to researchers, has the potential from being from a man made source, their words. now this is preliminary data, in many ways experimental technology. as you said, sent off for km examination. a dozen ships again out over the ocean, scouring. interestingly, the ocean shield joined now by a british naval ship, an oceanography ship, the hms echo. it's going to work with the ocean shield to look a

cnn's michael holmes is joining us from perth, australia, with the very latest from there. what is the very latest, michael? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, bluefin-21 still done. we understand on its third run on the ocean floor, been down there for hours all night. just after 6:00 a.m. here now in perth. no word of any further difficulties so far, but those who run the bluefin-21, too, they say the two prior incidents are not really that much of a big deal. it was nothing going wrong, per se. it was just some tweaking that needed to be done, and we're hoping to get an update on this third run in the next few hours. the data, as rene said on the previous two runs not showing anything. but, again, not surprising. this is a process as we've said that could take anywhere from six weeks to two months to cover that search area. we're also expecting the planes to be up again today and the ships are still out there looking for surface wreckage. that's despite the man heading up this search effort, angus houston saying that that search for surface wreckage would be round down this week. a

thank you very much, michael holmes reporting from perth. i want to bring in eric mcevoy of the joint forces headquarters with the royal new zealand air force, one of the chiefs in charge of the air search. good to talk to you again, commander. air search i know just getting under way. obviously, you know, we're told we're in the final days and hours of a visual search whether by plane or by plane. are you ready to make the call to call it off? >> no, that won't be our call. it will be a political call between australia and the malaysian authorities. what i can tell you today is there is another eight or nine missions planned. air crews will be going out again today for that visual search. and the crews will be focused on making sure that they make the most of today, as they have -- this is day 40 for the air search. so we'll be continuing their effort today. >> there is also that sample from the oil slick on its way to a lab in australia. i know it could be a little bit of time, maybe a day or so before we know, they're tasked whether it's

cnn's michael holmes standing by there with more. what are you learning, michael?that's a bit of a good development. the third dive was particularly successful, they say, in terms of what it covered. bluefin 21 has now searched about 120 square kilometers. that's nearly 50 square miles over those four trips above the ocean floor. depths of between 3,200 and 4,700 meters. the third trip, as i said, that was about 19 hours, they have analyzed the data on trips one through three. didn't find anything, but they say at least bluefin 21 is working well. their getting good images down there. mission number four, as we said, is now over, but we don't have the data on that yet. we hope to get it in the next hour or two, if we're lucky. and also waiting on word that trip number five has started. as pamela said, this is a very slow process. they're already looking at where they might look next, if they don't find anything in this concentrated search area they're working on now. but we are hearing that there is a level of confidence. no real detail on why, but there is confide

right now, i'm going to michael holmes in perth, joe johns is in kuala lumpur. also joining me richard quest here with me in new york. good evening to you, sir. >> just when it looked like the trail was going cold, the search of flight 370's new signals heard yesterday. what's the latest on today's search? >> the planes haven't headed out yet, but they will be, more than a dozen planes up in the area and more than a dozen ships out at sea, all continuing to search for the elusive jet. now, as you said, we had two more pings on tuesday, that in addition to the two from saturday. that helps those who are dragging the ping locator on loan from the u.s. navy, trying to get more pings today. what that will do is help them triangulate, if you like, think of it like looking for a cell phone using cell phone towers and the pings of the towers. it helps you work out where the best spot to search for those flight data recorders are. of course it's a very difficult task. it's still a vast area, and on the bottom of that ocean floor, by all accounts, there's perhaps meters

michael hole holmes.e know about the search they're running out of territory. >> reporter: yeah, literally, the focused search area that we have been talking about over the last week or so as you point out, more than three quarters of it covered and still nothing found. no sign of mh-370, no word on the data results from the flight 370 mission, but the previous efforts have turned up nothing, anderson. >> and what happens next if this next 20% gets searched and there is nothing? >> it's not looking good, is it, for that particular area? the search leaders told us off the record they were confident they were in the right spot given the acoustic signals they picked up. they are not going to give up. already discussions on what is next. we mentioned the area of interest 300 miles by 30. bigger than the current one. that could be next, though nothing has been decided at the moment. discussions between the australians and malaysians at the moment on issues like who would handle any debris if it is found, the d