"And perhaps already covered, the pingers on the recorders are distance related from the sonar. So when you consider the possibilities as a three dimensional box including the depth along the debris field in miles, it truly is a needle in a haystack."
Even more daunting when you consider the bottom of the box (i.e. the sea floor) is very unlikely to be flat ... far from it if its anywhere near mid-Atlantic. I imagine this means pinger signals may well be masked by topography and could require a very close pass to pick up. My opinion is that location, not recovery, will be the bigger challenge regarding CVR and FDR ... especially if the tail section experienced significant breakup.
Best
Ads