And what will the Senators will make of it. If you can put aside that the person being quoted by Cready in 'the Australian' is Dolan, the co author of the infamous Pel-Air aberration; the three items quoted there are reasonable. The statements are focused on new equipment, completion dates and an update on the rate of search; all fair enough comment from the head of a national TSB. The only possible query could be why should the commissioner be speaking out, independently of the JACC?, even if the quoted remarks do mirror the 'official' version.
Occasionally I'll visit 'news' websites which carry banner headline stories, such as MH 370 and after the Dolan remarks in 'the Australian' I was curious to see what the 'world' and it's wife made of them, so I had a little look around in cyber space. What I found beggared belief; there is a mini media frenzy surrounding the further 'additional' prophetic Dolan comments. These comments have been widely reported, spread around the world in a very short time and given the degree of public, governmental and industry interest in the MH 370 event will have been intensively read and studied for 'inference'.
Unless the commissioner has 'secret' information or a bloody good crystal ball, I fail to see how statements like "very likely to be found", "probably be in good condition"; and, in one published piece a statement to the effect that the aircraft is likely to be pretty much in one piece, resting quietly at 4000 meters.
"Relatives of those on board have endured a long wait for answers on what happened to their loved ones, with their torment reawakened by AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashing into the sea off Indonesia on December 28."
I wonder what those poor souls waiting for any scrap of good news about their loved ones will make of the extraordinary Dolan statements. I wonder how many have placed faith, belief and made prayers based on those statements. I also wonder what the effect will be should the aircraft not be found, as advertised.
A statement from JACC that there is new equipment and an ongoing effort provides solid reassurance and 'real', tangible hope. It is, IMO cynical and irresponsible to provide elevated hopes and increased expectations which could yet be cruelly dashed by the fates or at the whim of the gods. There will be a lot of disappointed, angry people if the 'Dolan prophesy' turns out to be false yet has raised spurious hopes for those who wait for news.
Our good Senators who nursed the Pel-Air debacle through to a landmark report must be scratching their collective heads in wonder. I'd love to see a quote from Houston or Fawcett or Xenophon, but they are all too downy a bird to go anywhere near this mess.
Nostradamus may have gotten away with this type of nonsense; but in this day and age, given the mystery, drama and global interest in MH 370, I wonder if silence would have proven golden. As Abe Lincoln said;
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Selah.
Can't quote Lincoln without trotting out my favourite;
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."