搜索人員在370航班新搜索區域發現物體

A New Zealand aircraft spotted objects late Friday in a previously ignored section of the southern Indian Ocean, after the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 shifted hundreds of miles north based on a new review of radar data.

一架新西蘭飛機週五晚間在南印度洋一片此前被忽視的海域發現了一些物體。此前，根據對雷達數據的最新分析，針對馬來西亞航空(Malaysia Airlines) 370航班的搜尋區域向北調整了數百英里。

The air sighting raised hopes that the shift may soon yield a breakthrough--but only one of six ships involved in the search had made it to the new search area by Friday, hampering the confirmation and identification of any debris. It would likely be Saturday before a ship could attempt to recover the objects, Australian authorities said.

此次空中搜索發現的物體增加了搜索區域的改變可能很快會給搜索行動帶來突破的希望，但到週五，參與搜索的六艘艦船中僅有一艘趕到了新的搜索區域，這導致對任何飛機殘骸的確認和識別工作受到妨礙。澳大利亞有關部門稱，可能要等到週六纔可能會有參與搜索的艦船能夠嘗試打撈上述最新發現的物體。

In abandoning the original search area, authorities effectively reset the clock just days before the plane's black box flight recorders are due to stop emitting signals. They also moved away from where most satellite images had appeared to offer clues to the plane's disappearance on March 8.

相關政府部門撤離最初搜索區域的決定實際上意味着搜救又從零開始，但是目前距離失聯飛機黑匣子停止發送信號僅剩幾天時間。此外，此前多數衛星圖片曾顯示出失聯飛機3月8日可能的消失地點，但新搜索區域也離開了這一區域。

The decision to dramatically revise the search zone--based on new calculations of radar data that Malaysian investigators passed to the Australians late Thursday night--also means aircraft are now scouring a vast new search area without the aid of markers laid down by search crews to monitor ocean currents and the movement of possible debris. The new area is roughly four times the size of that being searched a day earlier.

大幅調整搜尋海域的決定也意味着現在飛機要徹底搜索一大片新的海域，這片海域沒有搜索人員放置的標誌來監控洋流以及可能碎片的移動情況。新的搜尋海域大約是一天之前所搜尋面積的四倍，是根據馬來西亞調查人員週四晚間交給澳大利亞的雷達數據計算得出的結果。

'I don't count the original work a waste of time,' said John Young, an official at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is leading the multinational search. 'This is the normal business of search-and-rescue operations--that new information comes to light and refined analysis takes you to a different place.'

牽頭多國搜尋行動的澳大利亞海事安全局(Maritime Safety Authority)官員約翰•揚(John Young)表示，他認爲最初的工作不是浪費時間。他說，這是搜救行動的正常程序，即新出現的信息和更精確的分析把搜索行動帶到不同的地點。

A review of data produced by British satellite operator Inmarsat PLC, along with radar signals from the plane and assumptions about aircraft performance, indicated the plane was traveling faster than previously estimated when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, Malaysia's Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a statement Friday.

馬來西亞國防部長希沙慕丁(Hishammuddin Hussein)週五在聲明中稱，根據對英國衛星運營商國際海事衛星組織(Inmarsat)提供的數據進行評估、加上來自失聯飛機的雷達信號以及對該飛機性能的假設來看，該航班從吉隆坡至北京的航線上消失後的飛行速度比之前的估計要快。

That suggested the plane used up fuel more quickly, reducing the distance the aircraft traveled south into the Indian Ocean. The data was reviewed by an international panel including air crash investigators from the U.S. and U.K. , and representatives from Boeing Co. and Roll Royce Holdings PLC, Mr. Hishammuddin said. The new information was passed on to Australian authorities by the National Transportation Safety Board, underscoring heavy U.S. involvement in the search.

這一情況暗示，失聯航班燃料耗盡的時間早於原先的推測，向南進入印度洋上空後飛行的距離也短於此前估計。希沙慕丁稱，對這些數據進行分析的是一個國際小組，該小組成員來自美國和英國的空難調查人員以及波音公司(Boeing Co.)和羅爾斯•羅伊斯公司(Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC)的代表。這一新信息由美國國家運輸安全委員會轉交給了澳大利亞有關部門，這也凸顯出美國對此次搜尋行動的參與程度之深。

'Because of ocean drift, this new search area could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images over the past week,' Mr. Hishammuddin said.

希沙慕丁表示，由於洋流移動，這片新搜尋區域仍可能與過去一週中各種衛星圖像發現的疑似物體所暗示的可能墜落區域相符。

Investigators aren't saying for sure that this will be the final search area. Officials from both Australia and Malaysia said the data may be analyzed again, prompting them to look elsewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

調查人員並不能肯定這將是最終的搜尋區域。澳大利亞和馬來西亞的官員都表示，可能會再次對數據進行分析，分析結果可能會導致他們需要在南印度洋的其他區域進行搜尋。

'It's possible that further analysis may change [the search area] again,' said Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 'At this stage we don't expect significantly, but there are no guarantees in that area.'

澳大利亞交通安全局(Australian Transport Safety Bureau)局長杜蘭(Martin Dolan)表示，進一步的分析有可能會導致搜尋區域再度發生改變，現階段這種可能性不是很大，但也不能保證飛機殘骸就在該區域內。

The new area is more hospitable than the previous search zone. Air crews will no longer have to battle the 'Roaring 40s'--an area of strong winds and high seas. The likelihood of better weather may mean the search will face fewer stoppages after aircrews were grounded by gale winds twice this week. It is also closer to the Australian mainland, extending the amount of time planes spend in the search area before returning to base to refuel.

新搜尋區域的天氣條件要好於之前的區域。機上人員不用再與“咆哮西風帶”，也就是南緯40度左右地帶的惡劣海況作鬥爭。天氣條件可能好轉意味着搜尋工作被迫暫停的情況將會減少。狂風導致飛機在本週兩次暫停搜尋。新區域也離澳大利亞大陸更近，這就使飛機在返回基地補給燃料前能在搜尋區域進行更長時間的搜索。

Authorities calculate that they have nine days or fewer left to find the flight's so-called black box flight recorders before the battery in its underwater locator beacon is expected to expire. After that point, they say, finding the recorders will become immensely more difficult and could mark a turning point in the search effort.

相關機構認爲，現在尋找MH370航班黑匣子的時間只剩下九天甚至更短，因爲黑匣子水下定位信標的電池預計將在九天後耗盡。相關機構稱，電池耗盡後，尋找黑匣子的任務將會變得更加困難，可能會標誌着搜尋工作轉入另一個階段。

'Each time the search area changes or moves, it restarts the clock' in the hunt for the missing plane, Royal New Zealand Air Force Wing Commander Andy Scott said Friday.

新西蘭皇家空軍中校安迪•斯科特(Andy Scott)週五表示，每次搜索區域改變或者移動後，搜尋失蹤飛機的工作就要重新開始。

If planes could locate a debris field from the flight, then an underwater search in depths up to 13,000 feet would begin in earnest, experts say. The U.S. Navy has already sent a black-box locator--a device that is able to detect pings from the flight recorder--to Perth. The device will be towed behind a salvage ship, which itself will take days to reach the search area, meaning it'll have little time to search before the black box's batteries are expected to expire.

專家們稱，如果搜尋飛機可以在空中定位到殘骸區域，那麼水下搜尋活動就可以正式開始。美國海軍已經給珀斯送去了一個黑匣子定位器，該裝置能夠檢測到來自黑匣子的信號。這個定位器將被拖在救援船的後面，而救援船到達搜索海域還需數日，這就意味着在黑匣子電池耗盡之前尋找它的時間已所剩無幾。

The locator is able to search only about 150 square miles of ocean a day, according to the Navy--a tiny sliver of the vast area aircrews have been attempting to cover each day. Oceanographers say that if searchers don't find anything that can be conclusively linked to the missing jetliner soon it could take months, or even years, to find the wreckage.

美國海軍稱，定位器每天只能搜索面積約150平方英里（合388平方公里）的海域，只佔到各國飛機每天試圖搜索海域中的很小一部分。海洋學家說，如果搜尋人員不能很快找到與失聯航班有關的確鑿碎片證據，那麼飛機的殘骸可能要數月乃至數年才能發現。

Investigators for the Air France Airbus A330 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 took almost two years to retrieve the plane's data recorder.

2009年，法國航空公司(Air France)一架空中客車(Airbus) A330客機墜入大西洋，調查人員花了近兩年時間才找到黑匣子。

French authorities launched their fourth undersea search in March 2011 after three previous attempts to pinpoint the plane failed.

法國有關部門是在2011年3月進行的第四次海下搜索行動中才找到這架飛機殘骸的，前三次行動均無功而返。