KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — The United States Navy’s 7th Fleet will move a maritime surveillance aircraft, P-8A Poseidon into the operations area to aid the search and rescue mission for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which was reported missing on Saturday.
The United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said in a statement here today the P-8A aircraft had a maximum speed of 490 knots, a ceiling of 41,000 feet and provided a range of more than 1,200 nautical miles with four hours on station.
“For a mission such as the MH370 search, the P-8A will typically fly at 5,000 to 10,000 feet at 350 knots, with a search time of approximately 8-9 hours depending on the distance to the search area,” the statement said.
The statement added, the P-8A was the most advanced long range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft in the world.
“A true multi-mission aircraft, it also provides superior maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability,” the statement said. — Bernama
