appear to be fairly large. the biggest estimated to be about 80 feet long, one-third of the length or width if you include the wing span of the airplane. in addition, there is another piece that is about 15 feet big. 18 ships, 29 aircraft and 6 helicopters are currently involved. it was described by some as having little objects around it, some say a bitรง of a debris field. just a few hours before that press conference, the australian maritime safety authority spoke about these grainy satellite images. joining us now from london with that part of our coverage is kitty logan. is there new information we ve learned from australian authorities since that unbelievable press conference, or actually messages from the floor of the parliament earlier today? the australian authorities identified those two objects on satellite images which were taken last sunday on the 16th of march, some days
what i hope they have, like a wing, descriptive of a tail section or something that shows malaysian airlines markings. otherwise i m nervous that it s premature. one of the good things you mentioned, it s about 78 feet, the largest piece, which is a third the length or width of a triple seven, give or take a couple feet. so that would be encouraging. that that could be related to a debris field for this airplane. for viewers who haven t been following, this jet is, give or take, a couple hundred feet long and with the wing span, a couple hundred feet across. is that correct? that s correct. this would be about a third. if they found a chunk that s about 78 feet. i know we re all holding out hope that perhaps the passengers had been taken somewhere in like a hijack-hostage situation, but in any event, if this does turn
difficult. malaysian officials say this is the best lead yet. they warn not to jump to any conclusions. been made to locate the object seen in the imagery. it must be stressed that these sighting, while credible, are still to be confirmed. the area there looking at has a depth of 12,000 feet that. means two miles in-depth there. officials say the object they spotted on surveillance appear to be fairly large. the biggest is estimated to be about 79 feet long. that s one third of the length or width if you include wing span of this plane. from that, is there anything that we can determine from these satellite images specifically? m.i.t. professor joins us now. what would you see these images, what do they tell you specifically in terms of the size of this potential debris?
long and 15 feet long, if this type of plane, the 777 were to create a debris field what is likely to match up with 78-foot or 15-foot object in your mind? there s two parts of the airplane really that could match up to that. one, it could be a wing panel because the wing span is over 200 feet. it could be a large section of wing panel. or it could be a large section of the fuj laselage, whether th crown portion or belly of the aircraft and could be a large section of fuselage. you have to look at the shape again. that is the thing i was looking for with the chinese photo to see if it was square versus some tapered shape. if 8:00 wing it will have a taper because the wing is wider at the fuselage than at the wing tip and could help if we could get high resolution pictures and really help determine what part of the airplane it might be.
what i hope they have, like a wing, descriptive of a tail section or something that shows malaysian airlines markings. otherwise i m nervous that it s premature. one of the good things you mentioned, it s about 78 feet, the largest piece, which is a third the length or width of a triple seven, give or take a couple feet. so that would be encouraging. that that could be related to a debris field for this airplane. for viewers who haven t been following, this jet is, give or take, a couple hundred feet long and with the wing span, a couple hundred feet across. is that correct? that s correct. this would be about a third. if they found a chunk that s about 78 feet. i know we re all holding out hope that perhaps the passengers had been taken somewhere in like a hijack-hostage situation, but in any event, if this does turn