MH370: Poor coordination led to search in the wrong place for three days

Poor coordination among countries involved in the search for the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) MH370 has led the authorities to look for the plane at the wrong part of the Indian Ocean, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

It is because the international expert teams have been working separately to estimate where the plane could have gone down.

The paper, quoting two sources familiar with the search operation, said the failure to promptly coordinate raised questions on the flow of information among the many countries in the search operation.

While one team calculated the plane’s likely speed and fuel consumption rate based on radar data and aircraft-performance modelling, another had taken few days to do so using satellite data, sources told the paper.

WSJ said the search for MH370 had shifted abruptly on Friday only after the authorities merged ‘the two investigative strands’ by experts who have been working separately to determine where exactly to look for the plane.

“The result provided the most credible path and the point at which the aircraft is likely to have crashed into the water," Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan told WSJ.

Sources told the paper that the search operation for the missing plane was an 'evolving process and that investigators shared all relevant information with international partners'.

“But Malaysian officials didn't feel it was their role to ensure that foreign experts were sharing refined data among themselves,” one source told WSJ.

The MH370, a flight bound to Beijing went missing on March 8, carrying 239 passengers and crew.

On March 24, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said based on the satellite data, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) had briefed him that the plane had ended in a remote part of southern Indian Ocean.

“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites,” Najib said.

He will also be visiting Perth, Australia to see first hand the search operation for the missing plane.