oil slick and initiation event
Whatever happened to the oilsick ? Was it ever taken seriously in choosing the search area ? Not saying it should have been but just wondering.
On a separate point, whats the current view on the condition of the aircraft at the time the first ACARS message went out: was this the start of the event or some point down the chain ? Can't recall the opinions about the possibility that the systems had previously been misled by erroneous (but consistent) inputs and the aircraft was suddenly left in a poor trim condition at the time the AP gave up.