wrote in message news:95ffcc47-c535-4e31-8100-

stuff snipped

I can understand why the military might not want
to fully divulge what they can and can't see.

Definitely. It's been put forth as a reason why they are being standoffish
about help from the US or China.

But in this case I don't see how it could get worse.

Oh, I have faith that it could and will get worse. (-: The Chinese are
getting pretty ****ed.

It looks like you can fly a 777
across Malaysia and they don't know WTF is going on.

Or a fleet of bombers . . . I think that's what they are trying to keep from
the world, particularly anyone they think might harbor ill intentions - the
fact they appear to have only limited control of their own airspace.

Here's a quote from the NYT about why pilots might not have radioed in to
report a disaster:

Pilots have a mantra for setting priorities in an emergency: aviate,
navigate, communicate. The first priority is to fly the airplane. Telling
air traffic controllers on the ground what is going on comes third, since
doing so is unlikely to instantly yield any help with the crisis in the
cockpit, whatever it may be. If the pilots are fighting to keep the plane
aloft, they may not have time to use the radio.

--
Bobby G.