Our best chance for solving the mystery of the missing Malaysia 777 hinges on finding the bulk of the wreckage, especially the “black boxes” that record the most vital information about what happened on board.

Twelve days into the search, efforts have been “haphazard,” said search expert Colleen Keller. And time to find the plane is running short.

Keller is a senior analyst at Metron, a consulting company hired by the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) to help find the wreckage of Air France 447 in the Atlantic after early efforts failed.