No Closer To Finding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014. Despite the passage of nearly three months, the investigators have not found any trace of wreckage. Most recently, the focus of the search has been on the southern Indian Ocean. The key in isolating this area, vast as it is, may be the raw data from the satellite’s communication with the airplane.

Questions about the analysis of the data are mounting, however, particularly since the raw data has not been fully released. The satellite company, Inmarsat, insists that it has released enough to have their work verified by other experts, but many remain skeptical. In any event, the investigation has been plagued with missteps, misinformation or a lack of information from the start, leading investigators to waste precious time focusing on the wrong areas. Unfortunately, transparency critical to building confidence in the present search zone is still lacking.