I rather hope we haven't paid Phoenix International anything; they're not looking very good at all.
Have we?
Only $860,000 - up front, before the 2012 expedition.
They started not looking very good as soon as we got to Niku. Their performance was abysmal and their failures have been devastating to TIGHAR and to the search for the airplane. How it all came about is a story that needs to be told. I'll do that as a separate topic when I have time.
Ric,
That implies confidence problems with the 'anomaly' itself, if I follow. We know there were data compression issues and skipped pings with some of that older data (please correct me if I've gotten that conflated with some other detail of the 2012 search) and that 'sizing' of the 'image' (or 'shadow') was questionable until sorted out by another source. It still seems a bit shaky to me, frankly.
Is TIGHAR re-evaluating the reliability of the anomaly imagery itself because of all this?
Don't get me wrong - you know I'm a 'look wide and deep' guy at this point anyway, but that doesn't mean 'no confidence' in 'Niku, somewhere (as in deeper and further out, maybe even further 'around' the island)', and while I wouldn't quarrel with an 'look at it as can' (and the old 'debris field') if one gets back for a macro-scopic expedition, I wonder more than ever how wise any further singular pursuit of the anomaly really would be at this point.
I also realize I'm a pain in the ass for long asserting the 'wider / deeper' idea - widely and deeply at that - so I fully understand any salt grains falling my way. But this question now seems more crucial than ever - how much can we rely on any of this 'anomaly' business from P.I.?
I do agree that what has happened out there with this ROV business has unquestionably been devastating and I can surely understand the deepest frustrations in that. All I can say is this is a huge business and you have to vet the bloody hell out of anyone you want to use, long and hard. With all due respect, it being a big, high-risk effort, patience may be the irreplaceable virtue to get it right: what appeared to be intended as a rather 'doable surgical strike' seems to have turned into more of a near-Minie' ball hit to the gut.
I know I don't need to point out how long and hard one has to work to get 'big guns' on the job, if it can be done. This thing's clearly an awfully tough nut to crack, and I well realize the temptation to go after incremental shots at solving it - but it seems we have a plate full of lessons to take to heart about all that by now.
I hope Phoenix International will also learn from your critical review of their performance - but it would take a lot for me to ever want to consider them again were I you.