Databases were created to classify all the evidence gathered since June 1, 2009, by ships, aircraft, underwater vehicles and even satellites for a year. "There is an enormous task of sorting. This should enable us to determine which areas have been fully explored, those where there is no hope, lastly, those already searched where further research/searching could still be done," said John Paul Troadec, director of the BEA, speaking to Le Point.fr. "Then we can define the strategy of a fourth phase of searching."
Aaah,
mm43, some news! If the CVR and FDR are indeed recoverable and readable after 16 months at depth, I can't see another few months at sea making a difference. This is time well spent organizing and expertly weighting the data and forcing the highest search probabilities to percolate to the top. Likely a Bayesian approach. Good science. Proven results.
Bearfoil -- it's far too premature to propose conspiracies or complain of bias; not too early, though, to wish for more transparency and better public relations on the part of BEA, particularly because there is "an unequalled [worldwide] interest in the investigation." A Report from BEA describing the data sorting algorithms used and outlining precisely how Phase 4 search areas were chosen would be in line with good
PR.
PJ2, John Paul Troadec does seem to have his arms properly around this mystery, and it sounds like a Phase 4 search will take place!
Cheers,
GB