Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Satellite data released after long wait

Malaysian authorities published a 47-page document containing hundreds of lines of communication logs between the jetliner and the British company Inmarsat's satellite system. Some passenger family representatives, unsatisfied by official explanations of the plane's fate, say they will now send the complex information on to independent experts for analysis, CNN reports. "The first thing we're going to expect feedback on is does the data look right," said Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on the missing jet. "Is it as complete as we're being led to believe it is?" For weeks, Inmarsat said it didn't have the authority to release the data, deferring to Malaysian authorities, which are in charge of the search for the plane that disappeared more than two months ago over Southeast Asia. Last week, the two sides announced that they would aim to make the information available to the public. The satellite signals -- called "handshakes" -- with MH370 were part of a larger set of data that investigators have used to try to establish the whereabouts of the Boeing 777 that went missing on March 8 with 239 people on board. A team of international experts used the data -- in combination with other information, including radar data and engine performance calculations -- to conclude that the plane ended up in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean. Questions over search Searchers have so far found no wreckage and have not been able to say for sure where MH370 might be. CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise has said that "the box is going to open" when the satellite data gets publicized. "It could produce more theories. It will probably cancel out a lot of theories," he said. Either way, the release will hopefully give "a much better understanding of what's been going on all this time," Wise said. Relatives of people who were on the passenger jet, scientists studying its disappearance and media covering the search have become increasingly critical about the lack of public information about why the search has focused on the southern Indian Ocean. They have been calling for the release of the data that has informed the search efforts.

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