It's not just planes, ships, and experts involved in the search. The entire planet is searching for the missing Boeing, as evidenced by the touching response of ordinary citizens to the appeal for help.
Last week, DigitalGlobe launched a platform covering 24,000 square kilometers, with new images being added daily. The company asked people to help by searching for the plane from their computers, and so far more than three million people have responded to the appeal.
The Tomnod platform includes satellite images of the vast area where the Boeing is believed to be located. People log in and, looking at the images, if they spot anything strange - debris, a lifeboat, an oil slick - they flag it and the company then evaluates the information.
The response was so great that at one point the system was overloaded with users wanting to help in the search for the aircraft, which disappeared with 239 people on board. So far, more than 257 million maps have been examined on the platform and 2.9 million areas have been marked.
When it is found that many users are reporting something in the same area, the company examines it and provides the information to the authorities.
