Phoenix AUV Completes Initial Search for Missing Malaysian Flight 370

Photo courtesy Phoenix International Holdings, Inc.

 

By Priya Potapragada



Phoenix International Holdings finished side-scan sonar search operations for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 using the company’s Artemis AUV, a variant of the Bluefin-21, after starting its mission mid-April. 



The Phoenix project team sent the vehicle to 5,005 meters of seawater, which is the deepest depth achieved by a Bluefin-21 AUV. Artemis spent over 370 hours in water and searched approximately 870 square kilometers (250 square miles) of the bottom while gathering side-scan sonar data.



The Artemis is part of a multinational effort from 26 countries to search for the missing aircraft and is supporting the U.S. Navy under its multiyear Undersea Operations contract with the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Office of the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.