Malaysian authorities released their first report on the missing Flight 370 on Thursday. 
 
 The five-page report, embedded below, reveals that it was 17 minutes before officials noticed Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8 at 1:21 a.m., had vanished from the radar. Authorities waited for four hours before launching a search and rescue operation. The report gives no details as to why it took so long to activate those search efforts. 
 
 Authorities also released updated maps showing MH370's possible flight paths, based on clues that officials have pieced together. It is still believed that the Boeing 777, which had 239 people on board, ended in the Indian Ocean. A few weeks ago, authorities determined the plane was traveling faster than they'd previously thought, thus burning through more fuel and possibly crashing in an area located about 1,100 miles from Perth. 
 
 The three flight paths below were created based on various projections of the aircraft's speed. 
 
 Projected flight path #1 
 
 Projected flight path #2 
 
 Projected flight path #3 
 
 Authorities also released the audio of a conversation between the cockpit and Kuala Lumpur air traffic control. Officials played the recording for families on Thursday before it was released to the public. The last words from Flight 370 were from one of the pilots, who said "Good night Malaysian three seven zero." 
 
 Malaysia's report comes after much protest from families of missing passengers, some of whom have accused the government of hiding information. Earlier on Thursday, Malaysia Airlines announced that it will close family support centers on May 7, urging relatives to go home and wait for updates. 
 
 The report 
 
 Page 1 
 
 Page 2 
 
 Page 3 
 
 Page 4 
 
 Page 5 ||||| The families of passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have been told to go home and wait for any updates on the fate of their loved ones. 
 
 "The families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends," Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement issued Thursday. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Google Plus 
 
 Embed Missing Plane Air Search Suspended 1:18 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Most of the 227 passengers on the plane that went missing on March 8 were from China. Their family members have been staying in Beijing getting periodic updates on the search for the plane that disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. 
 
 "Malaysia Airlines is acutely conscious of, and deeply sympathetic to the continuing unimaginable anguish, distress and hardship suffered by those with loved ones on board the flight," the statement added. 
 
 The airline did not appear to hold out much hope for a speedy conclusion to the search, which it called the largest in "human history," although it promised to "keep in close touch" with families. 
 
 “From past experience, we understand the continuing search and investigation would be a prolonged process," Jauhari Yahya's statement said. 
 
 The families of the missing have repeatedly complained and protested about what they consider to be a lack of transparency on the part of Malaysian authorities, and to a lesser extent, Australian ones in charge of the search off the western coast of that country. 
 
 - F. Brinley Bruton, Alastair Jamieson and Henry Austin ||||| Story highlights Submersible completes 27-hour search mission, starts next one 
 
 Malaysia Airlines is closing relatives' support centers, urging relatives to return home 
 
 Relatives wail, yell after being told to go home 
 
 GeoResonance talks about its wreckage claim but won't give specifics on technology 
 
 Relatives of vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passengers wailed and yelled in a Beijing hotel Thursday as the airline announced it was closing the assistance centers where they'd been gathered for weeks -- effectively telling the families to go home. 
 
 The closures also will mean no more mass daily briefings for the relatives -- news that sparked a new wave of anguish and despair for the hundreds who heard it at Beijing's Lido Hotel. 
 
 "What can we do?" a relative yelled, as others kneeled in front of police who had assembled in the hotel briefing room to keep order. 
 
 "Who will find our family members?" another shouted. 
 
 The airline said the center at the Lido Hotel, where the company has hosted families since March, would close Friday. Centers elsewhere will close by May 7, it said. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio 02:07 
 
 JUST WATCHED Flight 370 family support center closes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Flight 370 family support center closes 06:19 
 
 JUST WATCHED Company says it found remains of plane Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Company says it found remains of plane 03:06 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysian teen still tweets missing dad Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysian teen still tweets missing dad 02:03 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio 03:19 
 
 "Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends," the airline said in a news release. 
 
 The briefing at the Lido Hotel came on the day that the Malaysian government released its preliminary report on the plane's March 8 disappearance. 
 
 The hotel has been an important hub of information for relatives in China. More than 100 passengers on the plane are Chinese. 
 
 The airline said it would open different "family support centers" in Beijing and Malaysia's capital; it wasn't immediately clear what those centers would do. 
 
 'People started to break down' 
 
 Sarah Bajc, the American partner of Flight 370 passenger Philip Wood, said she was one of about 500 people at Thursday's Lido Hotel meeting. 
 
 The briefing began with the airline's CEO making a seven-minute statement in English by video, Bajc said. Most of the relatives didn't understand the message until a Chinese translation was given afterward, she said. 
 
 "That's when people started to break down," she said. 
 
 Bajc said she left the room, saying the scene started to feel tense. 
 
 "I could hear a lot of yelling. Some of the police officers that were outside went in, and they started to file family members out through a separate exit," she told CNN's "New Day." 
 
 Calm was restored when Chinese officials continued the briefing and ensured the families that the search would continue, and that the relatives wouldn't be forgotten, a CNN crew outside the briefing room reported. 
 
 Bajc said Chinese relatives previously told her they dreaded the day that the hotel centers would close, fearing they wouldn't get timely updates at their rural homes. 
 
 "They are very distraught, because the average Chinese family member will be sent home to mostly a very rural place with limited access to (the) Internet, and they just feel like all lines of communications will be cut," she said. 
 
 Airline to begin compensation payments 
 
 The airline also said Thursday it would begin making advance compensation to the Flight 370 passengers' next of kin, to help with their immediate economic needs. 
 
 Under an international treaty known as the Montreal Convention, the airline must pay relatives of each deceased passenger an initial sum of around $150,000 to $175,000. Relatives of victims can also sue for further damages. 
 
 The airline didn't say how much of an advance the families would receive. 
 
 JUST WATCHED MH370 partner: I hope it's not the plane Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH MH370 partner: I hope it's not the plane 04:01 
 
 JUST WATCHED Co.: MH370 search began in wrong place Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Co.: MH370 search began in wrong place 02:02 
 
 Photos: The search for MH370 Photos: The search for MH370 Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 43 of 43 
 
 JUST WATCHED Interview with Malaysian Prime Minister Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Interview with Malaysian Prime Minister 04:49 
 
 "Such advanced payments will not affect the rights of the next-of-kin to claim compensation according to the law at a later stage, and will be calculated as part of the final compensation," the airline's news release said. 
 
 Report: Four-hour gap before official search began 
 
 The news of the hotel center closures came on the day the Malaysian government publicly released the initial report on the plane's disappearance -- the report that it initially sent to the to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N. body for global aviation. 
 
 The report said officials apparently didn't notice for 17 minutes that the flight had gone off radar -- and didn't activate an official rescue operation for four hours. 
 
 Relatives told CNN that Malaysian authorities e-mailed the interim report -- which contained both text and audio -- late Thursday. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Bluefin-21 undertook what was one of its longest, most extensive missions to search the depths of the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the missing aircraft. 
 
 Michael Dean, deputy supervisor of salvage and diving for the U.S. Navy, said the submersible's 17th mission lasted 27 hours and descended to 5,000 meters. 
 
 "It was a pretty successful mission in terms of what they covered," Dean said. 
 
 The Navy official noted that Australia's government has asked the U.S. Navy to extend its role in the search by a week or more -- a request that is under review. 
 
 The Bluefin later moved onto its 18th mission, after which -- assuming no wreckage is found -- it should return to port on its host ship, the Ocean Shield, to refuel, according to Dean. 
 
 GeoResonance defends Bay of Bengal claim 
 
 Meanwhile, the private company that says it may have found plane wreckage in the Bay of Bengal defended its claim, even though it wouldn't detail the technology it used. 
 
 GeoResonance said it used spectral analysis from satellite and plane images to reach its conclusion about the Bay of Bengal site. 
 
 The company said it conducted "large scale remote sensing" and detected the presence of aluminum, titanium and copper. Scientists went back to test for other elements that the company says make up a commercial jet. 
 
 GeoResonance has faced questions about how it could have found wreckage deep underwater, thousands of miles from the official search area. 
 
 "What we say to those people is that that is not about technology, that is about the fact that an object or a combination of objects which produce exactly the same signal as materials used in a plane are detected," GeoResonance Managing Director Pavel Kursa told CNN's Anna Coren. 
 
 The company said its search was self-funded and it wants to keep intellectual property private. 
 
 "Our technology comprises of 20 different technologies, and a lot of it is very valuable intellectual property," director David Pope said. "And we are not in the business of just giving out intellectual property for nothing." 
 
 Analyst: Experts don't support claim 
 
 The company said its analysis was done by a team of its scientists in Europe. But GeoResonance declined to name the scientists or the country they worked in and declined to give a reason. 
 
 CNN aviation expert Miles O'Brien said GeoResonance's claims are not supported by experts. 
 
 "My blood is boiling," he told CNN's "New Day." "I've talked to the leading experts in satellite imaging capability at NASA, and they know of no technology that is capable of doing this. I am just horrified that a company would use this event to gain attention like this." 
 
 Nevertheless, the company got its wish Wednesday, when Bangladesh sent two navy vessels into the Bay of Bengal to the location cited by GeoResonance. 
 
 The chief coordinator of the international search effort, Australian Angus Houston, held out little optimism that any such search would prove fruitful. He told Sky News International that the search area in the Indian Ocean had been set based on pings believed to have come from one or both of the plane's voice and data recorders. 
 
 "The advice from the experts is that's probably where the aircraft lost power and, somewhere close to that, it probably entered the water," he said. 
 
 But some aviation experts said officials have little choice but to look into the company's claim. 
 
 "The investigators are going to be hard-pressed to blow this off," said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. "I think at this point, because of the lack of results where they've been searching for six weeks, they're almost stuck. They have to go look." ||||| Story highlights Reassuring messages from airline were "unhelpful," aviation correspondent says 
 
 While the plane was missing, time ticked away 
 
 Report shows a 4-hour gap from when the plane left radar to when the official search began 
 
 The plane probably had enough fuel to last through that gap and for another 2½ hours 
 
 Confusion, misleading information and then long periods of nothing marked the first hours of what's now known as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. 
 
 It took air traffic controllers more than four hours after the last conversation with the cockpit to activate rescuers to look for the missing plane, which left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8 with 239 people on board. 
 
 Some delays in communication with an airliner over the ocean are normal, says CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest. 
 
 But time was of the essence, and eventually, a lot was lost. 
 
 The plane probably ran out of fuel about 7½ hours into the flight, a Malaysia Airlines official has said. That means MH370 might have been flying during that four-hour gap. 
 
 If so, it seems the Boeing jet only had 2½ hours of fuel left when rescuers first began searching for it. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysia releases MH370 cockpit audio 02:07 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysia releases Flight 370 report Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysia releases Flight 370 report 02:45 
 
 JUST WATCHED Company says it found remains of plane Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Company says it found remains of plane 03:06 
 
 JUST WATCHED Malaysian teen still tweets missing dad Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Malaysian teen still tweets missing dad 02:03 
 
 JUST WATCHED Can technology spot a plane deep underwater? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Can technology spot a plane deep underwater? 03:46 
 
 'Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero' 
 
 The flight radioed its last words to the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre at 1:19 a.m. local time, according to an attachment to a preliminary report by Malaysia's Transportation Ministry. The report was released to the public Thursday 
 
 The report itself is scant. Just five pages in length, it contains only a small fraction of the content of similar preliminary reports from past air disasters. 
 
 But combined with the air traffic transcript also released to the public, it gives a picture how the first hours progressed after MH 370 signed off. 
 
 Controllers told the airliner to check in with their counterparts in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. "Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero," someone in the cockpit answered. 
 
 That check-in never happened, but something else did. The plane dropped off radar, and the clock ticked. 
 
 "Control of the aircraft had left Malaysia to Vietnam. Even so, for 17 minutes, neither Kuala Lumpur nor Ho Chi Minh noticed nor acted," Quest said.s 
 
 Then at 1:38 a.m., Ho Chi Minh contacted Kuala Lumpur to let the controllers know that it had not heard a word from the plane. "Verbal contact was not established," the transcript said. 
 
 The two control centers began a conversation about communications attempts with Flight 370 and previous radar blips along its path. 
 
 They spoke every few minutes. 
 
 Reassuring messages may have cost precious time 
 
 Then two messages came from Malaysia Airlines that may have taken more precious time. 
 
 At 2:03 a.m. came the first seemingly reassuring message from the airline. The plane was in Cambodian airspace, the airline told Kuala Lumpur air traffic control. 
 
 The Malaysians passed the message on to Vietnamese controllers. They then tried to confirm Malaysia Airlines' news with Cambodian air traffic controllers. 
 
 The airline later confirmed its reassuring message. It had been able to "exchange signals with the flight," which was in Cambodian airspace, the transcript read. 
 
 But an hour after Flight 370 signed off, Vietnamese air controllers poked holes in Malaysia Airlines' message. The flight had not been scheduled to fly over Cambodia, and officials there had no information on the plane -- nor contact with it. 
 
 Malaysian air traffic controllers kept in communication with the airline, which gave them yet another seemingly reassuring message at 2:35 a.m. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Company says it found remains of plane Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Company says it found remains of plane 03:06 
 
 Photos: The search for MH370 Photos: The search for MH370 Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead. Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014. Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: The search for MH370 Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 43 of 43 
 
 JUST WATCHED Miles O'Brien slams GeoResonance claims Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Miles O'Brien slams GeoResonance claims 03:00 
 
 JUST WATCHED Could Flight 370 be in the Bay of Bengal? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Could Flight 370 be in the Bay of Bengal? 01:37 
 
 The airliner was "in normal condition based on signal download," which placed it off the coast of Vietnam. 
 
 The flight probably appeared to be on track to its destination of Beijing. 
 
 "We have two very unhelpful contributions from Malaysia Airlines -- one suggesting the plane is in Cambodia, the other saying everything's normal. Neither's true," Quest said. 
 
 Information 'not reliable for aircraft positioning' 
 
 If precious time had been lost by the trickle before, now it began to gush away. 
 
 Nearly an hour later, Malaysia Airlines qualified its previous information. Its new message: "The flight tracker information was based on flight projection and not reliable for aircraft positioning," the transcript read. 
 
 It was 3:30 a.m., but two more hours would pass before air traffic controllers notified rescuers. 
 
 In the meantime, controllers in Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City queried each other and the airline. Kuala Lumpur air traffic control contacted counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. 
 
 Then at 5:20 a.m., a Malaysian official pronounced, based on what was known, "MH370 never left Malaysian airspace." 
 
 Ten minutes later, Malaysian air traffic controllers alerted a rescue coordination center. 
 
 On Friday, the airline elaborated on the report, saying the "exchange of signals" it had referred to was actually the data from the automated flight tracking system, which didn't reflect changes in the airline's course. Airline officials concluded that Flight 370 was over Cambodia because a zoomed-in view of the flight tracking screen showed the text "Cambodia," according to Friday's statement. 
 
 But the airline also appeared to deflect criticism for its actions that night, saying in the Friday statement that it's the job of air traffic controllers -- not airlines -- to keep track of planes in flight. 
 
 Where was the military? 
 
 The Malaysian Prime Minister has said the military tracked the plane as it headed back across Malaysia. 
 
 According to the report, a playback of a recording from military primary radar revealed that an aircraft that may have been Flight 370 had made a westerly turn, crossing Peninsular Malaysia. The search area was then extended to the Strait of Malacca. 
 
 But it's unclear when that happened. The report makes no mention of the military's role the night of the disappearance. 
 
 The report is anemic on details 
 
 Preliminary reports are by their nature brief and to the point, but they are usually much longer than Malaysia's. Such reports and accompanying documents should be an audit of what happened and factually who did what, Quest said. 
 
 "I can certainly understand that the authorities had more pressing matters in finding the plane than writing a long report, when there will be plenty of other chances to do so," Quest said, "but this report is the barest possible they could get away with." 
 
 The equivalent preliminary report on Air France Flight 447 was 128 pages long. That report, produced by France's aviation safety agency just one month after the plane went missing in 2009, offered specific details on communication between various air traffic control centers. 
 
 Flight 447 was found more than a year later in the Atlantic Ocean; all 228 people on board had died. 
 
 And a preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into the Qantas engine explosion in 2010 ran more than 40 pages, including diagrams and charts. 
 
 The Malaysian report was accompanied by a cargo manifest, seating plan, air traffic control transcripts and three maps. 
 
 Debate over transparency 
 
 The report released Thursday was the same one Malaysia submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization but had not been made public. Malaysian officials came under heavy criticism last week for submitting the report to the U.N. body but not making it available to relatives of passengers. 
 
 While authorities are not required to make a preliminary report public, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak acquiesced. 
 
 Reporters could not ask questions raised by the report since the document was released by e-mail and not at a news conference. 
 
 One safety recommendation 
 
 The report makes one safety recommendation: the need for real-time tracking. 
 
 Authorities noted that while commercial planes spend considerable time operating over remote areas, there is no requirement for real-time tracking of such aircraft. 
 
 "There have now been two occasions during the last five years when large commercial air transport aircraft have gone missing and their last position was not accurately known," the Malaysian report states. "This uncertainty resulted in significant difficulty in locating the aircraft in a timely manner." 
 
 CNN reported on this detail from the report last week. 
 
 The officials asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to examine the benefits of introducing a standard for real-time tracking of commercial planes. 
 
 It's the same recommendation that was made after the Air France Flight 447 disaster in 2009. But nothing seems to have happened after that report.
– The first report on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is out, and it reveals that Malaysian officials didn't notice the plane had disappeared from radar for 17 minutes—and they took four hours to muster an official rescue operation. CNN reports that the plane went off radar at 1:21am on March 8; at 1:38am, air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, asked Malaysian air traffic control about the plane's whereabouts. More: As for the four-hour gap that followed, the preliminary report details no activities taken during that time beyond noting that Kuala Lumpur was in touch with Singapore, Hong Kong, and Cambodia. In fact, the five-page report doesn't detail much, notes CNN, which points out the preliminary report on Air France 447's 2009 disappearance numbered 128 pages. Mashable has the full report here. The report includes a sole safety recommendation, which was also made after the Air France disaster: that real-time tracking of commercial flights be required. Today's update was preceded by another, from Malaysia Airlines, directed to the families of the flight's passengers: Go home. The airline says it will shut down the support centers it has been operating "around the world" by Wednesday; the center at the Lido Hotel in Beijing will close tomorrow. Relatives had been receiving daily briefings at these locations, reports CNN. Now, the airline's CEO says in a statement that they will instead be updated "within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends." The AP notes that the airline, which has been putting the relatives up in hotels, plans to establish "family support centers" in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.