A FACT and an OPINION from me:
FACT: contrary to what has been reported by some here, AF447 wreckage was found only after 5 days, and was near to the last known position; thus, we are now currently still inside the timeframe for this accident, and the amount of time taken to find MH370 cannot be considered to be "unprecedented" or otherwise exceptional
OPINION: I am not impressed with the public face of the Malaysian search effort. Admittedly the operational side may be much better. Watching there press conference left me highly underwhelmed; specifically:
- no Powerpoint presentation summarising search activities - just a map and voiceover
- joking (highly inappropriate in circumstances) about appearance of those with with stolen passports; released that they were black only under questioning from journalists (if this was publicly releasable information, why not volunteer it?)
- no explanation as to why areas west of Malay peninsula being searched
- search areas have spaces between them; if it is possible that the aircraft is in any two given areas then it must follow (in the absence of other information, none of which has been released) that it can be in the area between them
I still believe it is most probable that the aircraft came down near its last known position; and that the failure to find wreckage so far is simply down to the (second world) searchers having missed it so far.