Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Confusion Surrounds Flight 370 Investigation

BOSTON (CBS) – I think an Australian defense official said it best.

"We're not searching for a needle in a haystack. We're still trying to find where the haystack is," he said.

That really crystalizes where we are in this investigation. And that's pretty much nowhere.

The announcement Monday that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 "ended" in the Indian Ocean was far from conclusive. It was based on satellite data analysis, not an actual discovery. We still don't even know where the plane went down.

And that's consistent with the way this investigation has been conducted. And the way information has been disseminated. Opaque at best. Misleading at worst.

That's why Chinese officials want to see the satellite data that was analyzed. They don't trust the source.

And indeed this case could prompt changes in the way governments and airlines monitor flights and share information in cases like this.

Because it's entirely possible we won't get much more information.

It's also possible the plane may never be found.

Remember the water is thousands of feet deep in that part of the Indian Ocean and currents could have spread the debris across many miles over the past two weeks.

But at least we can begin eliminating some of the possibilities that have been offered, including the idea that Flight 370 is sitting on a runway somewhere in Pakistan. An official at the satellite company that gathered and analyzed the data confirms that is no longer a plausible scenario, if it ever was.

And I think we can also put to rest the theory, offered on cable news, that the plane was sucked up by a black hole.

And no I didn't just make that up.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz

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