As the third anniversary of the disappearance of MH370 approaches it is time to reflect, as others are doing, on the search effort. What should have been done differently and what should not have been done at all.
Let's start with the flow of information, or rather the lack of information, from the searchers. We have been denied numerous details regarding the flight for no apparent reason. The most significant of these details in my view are:
1> Radar data - there is absolutely no reason this data has not been placed in the public domain.
2> Flight data - the data from the 20 previous flights of 9M-MRO has been withheld. Again there is no apparent reason why. Certainly it was available to the DSTG and others in the official search group.
3> The cell phone registration near Penang was withheld until the RMP Report was leaked. Why?
4> The information regarding Shah's simulator was withheld until the RMP Report leak. Why?
5> Various internal reports. In particular:
[7] “Internal study regarding SATCOM ground-station logs,” MH370 Flight
Path Reconstruction Group - SATCOM Subgroup.
The above reference is cited numerous times by Holland in his bfo paper. Yet it is not available for review.
1>, 2> and 5> of the above have been requested from the ATSB. None have been provided. Why?
The LOR at 18:25 remains a mystery. No one has explained why this event occurred or the details of the event itself. Holland references several other observed logons in his paper:
"The Use of Burst Frequency Offsets in the Search for MH370".
None replicated the 18:25 event. Our resident SATCOM experts have explained their take on the 18:25 event. All speculation. The question is why did the SSWG/DSTG not gather up several of the SDU's used in 9M-MRO, and run hundreds of logons at various temperatures and "off" periods. This equipment is readily available. Why screw around with simply looking at a few events logged previously none of which mirror the 18:25 event? Total forensic incompetence in my view.
Basically the analytics and information flow associated with the search for MH370 has been truly questionable. While I certainly admire the analytical skills of many of the IG people and several others outside the IG, I strongly question their judgement. They have to know that the ISAT data is not capable of predicting a terminal location, yet they keep grinding away at it. There are legitimate papers supporting terminal locations from 26S to 40S. What is the point? Who is going to act on this information? Why keep doing this? It makes no sense whatever. As I have stated many many times, the initiation of an underwater search based on the SSWG analytics (or anyone else's analytics) was an extremely poor decision.
Why has the ATSB refused to release the information above? The entire search effort has been and is marred by secrecy and incompetence. Why is important information still being withheld from the public domain?
The last three years have been pathetic (and very very frustrating).
