The four acoustic pings at the center of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 for the past seven weeks are no longer believed to have come from the plane's black boxes, a U.S. Navy official told CNN.
The acknowledgment came Wednesday as searchers wrapped up the first phase of their effort, having scanned 329 square miles of southern Indian Ocean floor without finding any wreckage from the Boeing 777-200.
Authorities now almost universally believe the pings did not come from the onboard data or cockpit voice recorders, but instead came from some other man-made source unrelated to the jetliner that disappeared on March 8, according to Michael Dean, the Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering.
Dean said "yes" when asked if other countries involved in the search had reached the same conclusions.
Underwater search for MH370 postponed for at least 2 months
"Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship ... or within the electronics of the Towed Pinger Locator," Dean said.
The pinger locator was used by searchers to listen for underwater signals.
"Always your fear any time you put electronic equipment in the water is that if any water gets in and grounds or shorts something out, that you could start producing sound," Dean explained.
He said it is not possible to absolutely exclude that the pings came from the black boxes, but there is no evidence now to suggest they did.
This wouldn't have happened if the Malaysians had IMMEDIATELY reported the plane as missing when it took that sharp turn. I believe I read that the Malaysians reported the plane as lost 5 hrs after it went off radar. That is the big problem right there. Their pride cost the lives and pain of hundreds of people.
