Preliminary report released

Malaysia releases its preliminary report on the flight’s disappearance. Air traffic controllers did not realize that the flight was missing for 17 minutes after it disappeared from radar, and search/rescue operations did not begin until four hours after the plane disappeared. The report also includes audio recordings of conversations between the pilots and ground controllers, a cargo manifest,  the plane’s seating plan, and a map showing the route investigators believe the plane took after disappearing from radar, heading into the South Indian Ocean before presumably crashing into the sea. A parallel police report also made publicly available says the plane followed “a twisting and deliberate course” before crossing over the northern tip of Sumatra and finally flying out over the ocean.