The preliminary report into the disappearance of Flight MH370 released on Thursday May 1 will likely upset relatives and loved ones of the 239 passengers and crew aboard the Malaysia Airlines jet because of its lack of new information.
It comes as Malaysian sources confided to AirlineRatings.com that if MH370 is not in the current search zone off Western Australia, authorities had “no idea where it is”.
The five-page preliminary report has been described by one former crash investigator as “barely adequate.”
However a number of new facts have emerged.
The report indicates that Malaysian air traffic control did not contact its military after the aircraft disappeared from radar and didn’t start a search for the plane till four hours after it went missing.
Air traffic control only made contact with Singapore, Hong Kong and Cambodia air traffic authorities to find out if the pilots of MH370 had been in touch.
It was also revealed that Vietnamese air traffic control waited 17 minutes to alert authorities the plane had not made contact after signing off from Malaysia.
The Malaysian Government did however release the cargo manifest, seating plan for the plane, air traffic control audio and the various flight paths that they believe the plane took.
An excellent analysis has been done by a CNN team including Richard Quest, who forced the Malaysians to release the report.
Authorities are convinced the jet crashed in the search area where four pings were detected by Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield on April 5 and 8 — about 1000km west of Exmouth in the Indian Ocean.
The Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre yesterday reaffirmed the search area — 700km long and 80km wide. The search could take up to eight months.
“The Australian led search is relying on information from satellite and other data to determine the missing aircraft’s location,” JACC said in a statement.
“The joint international team is satisfied that the final resting place of the missing aircraft is in the southerly portion of the search arc,” JACC said.
The Bluefin-21 is searching in the area and will be joined by other equipment including a submersible called Orion, which can operate to a depth of 6000m.
