Their model is certainly sophisticated,and the laws of physics are inexorable, but I hope they consider other factors, if pertinent, when making that decision.

I am reminded of a search at Santa Barbara Island, part of Channel Islands National Park, conducted just a few weeks before I arrived there. The CG searched waters surrounding the island, and eventually terminated the search. This was 1985, so this current model may not have existed then. The Park Service sent out a boat, who found the person, alive, on an isolated beach on the island and recovered him.

This neatly illustrates the problem of adequate coverage of boundaries during a search. We experienced the inverse problem during a search in the desert southwest, where the sides of a canyon were searched, but the stream bed was neglected, where the body was found way too late.

Terminating a search, or admitting that there is no hope for the victim being alive, is tremendously difficult. Somehow, you always hope there will be at least successful resolution.