Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 Latest Search News: Searching for Needle in Wrong Haystack?

They may not just be looking for a needle in a haystack; they're probably looking at the wrong haystack as well.

This appears to be the case at the moment with regard to the renewed search for the still missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370.

Australian investigators have admitted that they may be looking in the wrong place for the missing aircraft as the underwater search began this week.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) earlier released MH370's updated flight path analysis showing an area in the map called the seventh arc (see photo) where the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 might have ended up after vanishing from the sky on March 8 with 239 people on board.

But in its latest report, the ATSB noted that its analysis is still incomplete and still subject to changes on "the prioritization and location of search activity."

The ATSB said its report was based on the aircraft's "handshakes" with a satellite communication system. However, it said, "this area (on the seventh arc) does not contain all the possible derived paths (of MH370)."

As such, the report said "the ongoing refinement may result in changes to search asset deployment."

On Monday, the vessel GO Phoenix launched a 12-day underwater search of a site 1800km southwest of Perth. It is equipped with a side scan sonar equipment to detect objects lying on the sea floor. So far, however, it has not reported anything significant.

This Saturday, a second search vessel, the Fugro Discovery, is set to go to its designated site from the Port of Fremantle.

A third vessel, the Fugro Equator, is expected to join the search by the end of October. It is currently mapping the sea floor but is expected to complete its bathymetric surveys in three weeks.

The three vessels are expected to spend up to a year hunting for the Boeing 777's wreckage.

Malaysia and Australia are contributing around $60 million each to fund the search.

ATSB Chief Commissioner and CEO Martin Dolan said he believes that the ongoing search is the best way to locate the missing plane. "The aircraft will be found at the southern end" of an arc reviewed by mapping, he said.

Meanwhile, the group that says it represents the families of those on board the ill-fated flight said in a statement that it was "increasingly frustrated and concerned with the lack of information provided" to them.

At the same time, Voice370 complained about the inadequate compensation payments for the families of the victims.

Voice370 said one of the pieces of information they want to get is the complete cargo manifest of MH370. The group criticized Malaysia Airlines for its failure to release this information, which, it said, "may list items that posed a threat to the safety of the aircraft."

"In contrast, in the case MH17 [the Malaysia Airlines plane shot down over Ukrainian air space], a full and complete manifest was released within three days of the incident, listing even cats and dogs on board," the group noted.

On the issue of compensation, Voice370 said the aggrieved families, immediately after the incident, were "besieged by lawyers from around the world" and pressed to "sign retainers on the promise that they could obtain millions of dollars in each case."

The group said all the families rejected the lawyers' offer. Later, Malaysia Airlines gifted each family with an initial cash assistance of US$5,000 and then $50,000.

Commenting on this, Voice370 asked: "Is any life worth so little? Does Malaysia Airlines really believe that a family's claim for losing a loved one may be worth less than the price of an automobile or a couple of first class tickets on a Malaysia Airlines flight?"