Originally Posted by
500N
The amount of $ wasted if this is true is insane.
Why?
Just under three months ago, all we knew was that it was somewhere within a few thousand miles of the airport it took off from. Two months ago, all we knew was that it was probably somewhere around the southern Inmarsat arc. If this is true, all we know is that it's probably still somewhere around the southern Inmarsat arc, but not in the place they were looking.
The only way it would add a significant cost is if the ships which were looking in that area would otherwise have located the real ULB signals before the batteries expired.
And, from a purely financial point of view, the eventual cost of losing an aircraft full of passengers probably won't leave much change from a billion dollars. So it's worth spending at least tens of millions to try to ensure it doesn't happen again.