so, it's normal that it takes 4 hours to take serious action?
Look at the Air France 447 final report page 83:
From the last conversations between the aeroplane and the ground, it took more than 3 h 30 min before the SAR process was put into effect, more than 6 h 30 min to launch the INCERFA and ALERFA phases and over 9 hours to send the first search aircraft.