Searching for answers

The unprecedented nature of the disappearance and the lack of debris has been the source of countless theories, speculation and grossly inaccurate, even irresponsible reporting.

This has led the search leaders, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, to refute inaccurate media coverage, most recently saying that some of the reporting contained “significant inaccuracies and misunderstandings” which have been repeated by numerous outlets.

In January in a frank assessment the ATSB took to task Captain Byron Bailey who has authored a report which has been quoted from by various media outlets which makes claims about the agency’s assessment of what happened aboard MH370.

It refuted suggestions by Captain Bailey that the ATSB rejects any possibility that MH370’s disappearance was the result of a person taking control of the aircraft.

“For the purposes of its search, the ATSB has not needed to determine – and has made no claims – about what might have caused the disappearance of the aircraft,” the ATSB said.

The ATSB added that “for search purposes, the relevant facts and analysis most closely match a scenario in which there was no pilot intervening in the latter stages of the flight.”

Bailey also suggests that the ATSB has ignored information coming from sources that should be considered expert, such as Captain Simon Hardy, a British Airways Boeing 777 captain.

and it has established an Annex 13 Investigation to undertake this activity. The ATSB points out that Australia was asked by Malaysia to assist in the search effort for MH370 and its role is to lead the current underwater search operations for the missing aircraft. And rather than using rough guess work, as hinted at by some critics, this search is the most complex and scientific ever undertaken.

And it’s multinational.

The ATSB coordinates the Search Strategy Working Group and their collective work has led to the definition of the current search area.

This multinational team has extensive expertise in satellite communications, aircraft systems, data modelling and accident investigation.

It includes specialists from the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch; Boeing; Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group; Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation; Inmarsat; the US National Transportation Safety Board and Thales in the UK.

It is extremely unfortunate that Captain Bailey continues to make assertions that are simply not true to a hungry and unsuspecting media. In this review we have only touched on a few errors of fact and assertions made by Captain Bailey about the ATSB’s reports and conclusions about the disappearance of MH370, but there are numerous examples.

As the ATSB states it neither has the authority under international agreements nor the need for the purposes of the search to make statements about why MH370 disappeared.

The incessant incorrect reporting and criticism of the ATSB must be agony for the relatives and friends of those aboard MH370.

The ATSB and its multinational partners are the best of the best who are dealing with and trying to solve an unprecedented event and the most complex search in history.

The reporting contained “significant inaccuracies”.