Searching for the Missing Malaysian Jet at the Ends of the Earth
The surface of the moon is more familiar than the floor of the Indian Ocean.
Jim Gibson, who runs one of the world's largest salvage companies, sent an autonomous underwater vehicle and a crew of nine to Australia last week, ready to hunt for the black boxes once debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is identified.
His company, Phoenix International, based in Largo, Maryland, has assisted in more than 50 aircraft recoveries, including the search for Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, and the space shuttle Columbia, which broke up over Texas in 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.
But none of his team, as far as he knows, has ever been to the patch of the Indian Ocean where the search is under way.
Why would they? There's nothing there,
