Kuala Lumpur ( CNN ) The initial hours after the disappearance of flight MH370 were characterized by confusion and chaos , as air traffic controllers struggled to comprehend the situation and radar operators failed to take notice , according to data contained in an interim report . The report -- released one year after the disappearance of the Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew -- - provides a detailed picture of delays and protocol violations before the launch of the search and rescue . An astonishing five hours and 13 minutes passed between the last communication from the flight crew and Kuala Lumpur 's first distress signal concerning the missing plane . And it was another five hours before the first search flights took off to try to find it . CNN 's aviation correspondent Richard Quest said he believes the delayed response was the most disturbing thing revealed by the interim report -- `` the lack of somebody pushing the big red button that says crisis and panic . '' A year later after the plane 's disappearance , not a single trace of Flight MH370 has been found despite extensive search efforts . Investigators believe the wreckage lies somewhere on the bottom of the Indian Ocean , based on the analysis of satellite communications data . The first sign that something was wrong with flight MH370 came after plane failed to check in with Vietnamese Air Traffic Controllers after leaving Malaysian airspace . According to protocol , Ho Chi Minh ATC should have informed their Kuala Lumpur counterparts ( KL ATCC ) about this within five minutes . Instead they waited 20 . When Ho Chi Minh finally did inform Kuala Lumpur , the confusion was evident , as seen in transcripts of the conversation released Sunday . KL ATCC asked three times at what point Ho Chi Minh lost contact , then went on to express concern at the delay , asking `` Why you did n't tell me first ? Within five minutes you should be ( sic ) called me . '' The confusion only got worse after Malaysia Airlines mistakenly told Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Controllers they could see the flight somewhere over Cambodia . It took an hour and a half to clear this up , after Malaysia Airlines admitted to controllers they were only looking at the projected flight track . Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the misinformation was a momentary lapse by a company employee . `` Our information was only to be as a guide . We are not an ATC per se . We do n't have radar , '' he told CNN . The watch supervisor then waited another two hours to activate the rescue coordination center . Still another hour went by before before Kuala Lumpur issued the distress signal . No explanation for the delay is given in the interim report , which is composed of factual data and provides no conclusions or recommendations . After the air traffic controllers lost contact with MH370 , the plane continued to fly within the range of multiple radar systems belonging to four different countries . Yet little seems to have been done with the data in the immediate hours after the plane disappeared . The interim report says that `` for unknown reasons '' Indonesia 's Medan Radar did not see the flight . And Thailand `` did not pay much attention , '' since MH370 's flight path did not fall within its borders . Malaysian military radar tracked the flight for an additional hour , including its turn back across the Malay Peninsula . Despite this information , search and rescue teams did not begin expanding the search area for a full day . Though the interim report makes no mention of it , a failure by the Malaysian military to alert others to the relevant radar data may be blame . A briefing document prepared by the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) said military authorities failed to share the final radar fix of MH370 with their civilian counterparts for 20 hours . CNN approached Malaysia 's Ministry of Defence for comment but is yet to receive a response . Another working document notes that MH370 's turn back might have been discovered much earlier , if the military and non-military agencies had coordinated better . `` In essence , a week or more was lost in the initial search because of poor civil/military cooperation , '' reads the ICAO working document . The interim report released by Malaysian investigators on Sunday provides no information about when the military radar data was shared with other authorities . It 's impossible to know if a speedier response from air traffic controllers , or more immediate access to radar data , would have changed the course of events for MH370 . But it would have provided authorities with more time , either to track the flight or to search the ocean before the batteries died in the emergency locator beacons . Looking back at the series of miscommunication between air traffic controllers and the radar lapses also provides valuable lessons that could help future search and rescue operations . Though the MH370 investigation team did not draw lessons in the current report , it plans to provide safety recommendations in the months ahead . Journalist Chan Kok Leong contributed to this report .
Interim report exposes delays and inaction after MH370 disappeared . Flight carrying MH370 people and crew has not been found , one year later . Took 10 hours for the first search flights to take off , according to report .