feet. searches of the area resumed today after a delay caused by bad weather. but the last planes have now returned to base without finding anything definitive. meanwhile, specialized equipment for the united states arrived in australia today. the equipment includes a blue fin underwater vehicle that would be used if and where officials discover where the plane went down. a possible debris field is raising hopes of locating flight 370, but officials warn, finding anything from the plane could still take some time. let s bring in our cnn correspondent, will ripley, joining us from perth, australia, where the search effort is based. will, what can you tell us about these 122 pieces of possible debris? reporter: wolf, we know a french satellite spotted these objects three days ago at a time when the conditions in the southern indian ocean were extremely treacherous. huge waves, gale force winds,
did go along with route. and along this entire route it was sending back those handshakes. correct. correct. this satellite has never before been used for finding anything. it s simply for communications. what the brilliant scientists at inmarsat did, they calculated how long it takes to communicate with the satellite here, here, here. each time, as it gets closer, it takes less time to communicate to it. there was something else we learned from the news conference, there were all these hands shakes and then there was a partial handshake that took place somewhere around here that they re still analyzing. what do you think that could be? i think that s the best clue of all. then at that point, they know that the aircraft, it starting getting away from the center of
what is legitimate and what is not? e it really is. in terms of finding anything whether it is physical pieces of wreckage or survivor experts, it is impossibly difficult. take s listen to what one expert said about that. one percent chance they represent a pose of a plan. maybe a 1- 10th of a chance we can follow them. we are following fragments pause we don t have facts. that just about sups it up, harris. are not sure what they are. it is behind me. and new day on the indian ocean. and we put up that kind of match up to give an idea what we are watching. and hope that the missing
rescue authorities. but do you anticipate the australians saying we found the piece we re looking for, we need you guys to get over there and pull it out of the ocean? do you have the capability of doing that? or will that be a different dedicated search vessel? well, that depends on how far away it is from what the australians think they have found. yesterday they searched through an area which is approximately 60 nautical miles lodge without finding anything. today the area is a little bit longer. and it s really a matter of calculations and a bit of luck, and hopefully they ll get to what they re looking for. we appreciate you dialling us up and sharing that information. and i m sure the families really appreciate your involvement in this. if your car you ve ordered a custom vehicle is a few weeks late at least you can share in the knowledge you were part of this search. thank you. so is this the break the
a sector that it will search through. they have already agreed to a search pattern, whether that s straight or zigzags in certain segments is really up to the australians. but they will do what they are told to do by the australians rescue authorities. but do you anticipate the australians saying we found the piece we re looking for, we need you guys to get over there and pull it out of the ocean? do you have the capability of doing that? or will that be a different dedicated search vessel? well, that depends on how far away it is from what the australians think they have found. yesterday they searched through an area which is approximately 60 nautical miles lodge without finding anything. today the area is a little bit longer. and it s really a matter of calculations and a bit of luck, and hopefully they ll get to what they re looking for. we appreciate you dialling us up and sharing that information.