Sea state for ditching
Quote from PersonFromPortlock:
"Actual surface conditions for the Indian Ocean must be known for all the times and places where MH370 could have come down."
Interesting point. Most people would probably agree, but I suspect that frequent reports of actual sea-states from specific parts of all the vast tracts of ocean on the Earth simply do not happen, and that would probably include parts of the southern Indian Ocean remote from Australia. No doubt, however, expert interpretation of satellite images will have given a fairly good indication of the likely conditions.
[EDIT]
Thanks, Hyperveloce, your post was quicker and more informative!