Four days went by before officials acted on satellite data showing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 flew for several hours away from the area being covered by a massive international search, people familiar with the matter said -- a delay from which investigators are still working to recover.

知情人士透露，马来西亚官员在获得一些有关马来西亚航空(Malaysia Airlines) 370航班的卫星数据四天后才根据这些数据采取行动，这些卫星数据显示，失联航班飞离了国际力量大规模搜索的区域，离开该区域后还飞行了数小时。目前，调查人员仍在努力弥补因这一延误所造成的不利影响。

The satellite's operator, Britain's Inmarsat PLC, on March 11 turned over to a partner company its data analysis and other documents indicating that the plane wasn't anywhere near the areas on either side of Malaysia where more countries and ships had been searching for three days since the plane disappeared. The documents included a map showing two divergent north and south corridors for the plane's route stretching some 3,000 miles from the plane's last previously known location, the people said.

知情人士称，英国卫星运营商Inmarsat PLC在3月11日向一家合作公司提交了该公司的数据分析和其他文件，这些数据和文件显示，失联飞机并不在马来西亚半岛东西两侧的附近区域；而自飞机失联以来，许多国家和船只已经在该区域搜索了三天时间。文件中包括一幅地图，该地图显示了方向分别为向北和向南的两条走廊，走廊的延伸长度离飞机最后已知位置的距离约有3,000英里(4,800公里)。

The information was relayed to Malaysian officials by Wednesday, March 12, the people said. Inmarsat also shared the same information with British security and air-safety officials on Wednesday, according to two of the people, who were briefed on the investigation.

知情人士表示，这一信息在周三即3月12日转交给了马来西亚官员。两名获知调查情况的知情人士称，Inmarsat也在周三把这些信息提供给英国安全和航空安全部门的官员。

Two additional people familiar with the Malaysian side of the probe said the information could have arrived in Kuala Lumpur as late as the morning of March 13.

另外两位熟悉马来西亚方面调查工作的知情人士表示，该信息最迟应该在3月13日上午就到达了吉隆坡。

Malaysia's government, concerned about corroborating the data and dealing with internal disagreements about how much information to release, didn't publicly acknowledge Inmarsat's information until March 15, during a news conference with Prime Minister Najib Razak. Malaysia began to redirect the search effort that day to focus on the areas the information described, and said for the first time that sabotage was a prime suspect in the plane's disappearance.

由于数据尚待证实，且政府内部围绕信息披露程度存在分歧，马来西亚政府直到3月15日才在与总理纳吉布(Najib Razak)召开的新闻发布会上公开承认Inmarsat提供的信息。当天马来西亚开始指引搜救队将搜索重点放在信息中所说的区域，并且首次表示客机消失的最大嫌疑是遭到了人为破坏。

The disclosures about how the information made its way into the investigation underline how international efforts to find the plane have been repeatedly marred by distrust among the countries involved, confusion in Malaysia's public statements, and criticism from many countries that has led some to suspend or change their search efforts in frustration.

国际社会寻找失联客机的行动一再因各种因素受阻，没有及时利用信息协助搜索就是典型。参与搜寻的国家之间缺乏信任，马来西亚的公开声明内容混乱、令人困惑，来自众多国家的批评也导致一些国家沮丧地暂停或调整了搜索行动。

The lost days and wasted resources have threatened to impede the investigation, according to officials involved with the probe.

据参与调查的官员说，损失的时间和浪费的资源可能令调查受阻。

The delay also means that 12 days after Flight 370 vanished, investigators are still refining search maps, dividing regions to cover and seeking satellite-surveillance records from several countries along the routes the aircraft is now suspected of taking.

这也意味着在MH370消失12天后，调查人员仍在完善搜索地图，划分搜索区域，并从目前怀疑飞机可能行经的路线的沿途国家调取卫星监测记录。

In acknowledging the satellite information Saturday, Mr. Najib said Malaysia 'worked hand in hand with our international partners, including neighboring countries' and 'shared information in real time with authorities who have the necessary experience to interpret the data.'

在上周六承认卫星信息时，纳吉布说，马来西亚与包括邻国在内的国际伙伴正携手努力，与拥有数据分析经验的有关部门实时分享信息。

Another government official said Malaysia was cautious about revealing and acting on the data because 'we don't want to upset anybody with round after round of confusing information.'

另一位政府官员表示，马来西亚对披露数据和依照这些数据采取行动持谨慎态度，因为马来西亚不想一次次地发布让人困惑和不安的信息。

U.S. national-security officials haven't commented on information-sharing issues. Britain's Ministry of Defense had no immediate comment and its air-crash investigation agency, which has been invited to assist in the probe, said it couldn't comment on 'an ongoing investigation.'

美国国家安全部门的官员尚未就信息共享问题置评。英国国防部(U.K. Ministry of Defense)未立即置评，而该国受邀协助调查的空难调查机构称，无法对“正在进行中的调查”发表评论。

China's government has complained about Malaysia's response, with Premier Li Keqiang on Monday urging Mr. Najib to provide 'more detailed information in its possession, including third-party information, in a timely, accurate and comprehensive manner,' according to China's official Xinhua news agency. China's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a request to comment late Wednesday.

中国政府对马方的回应表示了不满。据中国官方媒体新华社报道，中国国务院总理李克强周一要求马方进一步及时、准确、全面地向中方提供其掌握的更加详细的数据信息，包括来自第三方的信息。周三晚间中国外交部并未回复置评请求。

Within hours of Flight 370's disappearance on March 8, Inmarsat started searching for clues. What little data it had on the short flight before it disappeared was provided to SITA, a Swiss aviation IT company, on the same day, Inmarsat said.

Inmarsat公司在3月8日马航370航班失联数小时内展开了线索搜寻工作。Inmarsat称，公司在当天将航班失联前那段短暂航程的少量数据提供给了瑞士航空信息技术公司SITA。

Late that weekend, Inmarsat's team delved into its databases to retrieve periodic 'pings,' akin to digital handshakes between the plane, a satellite and a ground station, said an industry official briefed on the investigation. The hourly signals provided a crucial clue that the missing 777 most likely remained intact with its engines presumably running hours after it lost contact with civilian radar.

据了解调查情况的一位航空业官员表示，在飞机失联那个周末的晚些时候，Inmarsat团队在其数据库中发现了周期性的脉冲信号(ping)，类似于飞机与卫星和地面接收站之间的数据连接请求信号。这一每小时发出的信号提供了关键线索，揭示这架波音777客机极有可能在与民用雷达失联后仍完好无损，其引擎又继续工作了数小时。

Inmarsat Senior Vice President Chris McLaughlin said that on Monday, March 10, it began extrapolating the location of the jetliner. Mr. McLaughlin said the data was shared the following day with SITA, which in turn shared it with Malaysian officials.

Inmarsat高级副总裁麦克劳克林(Chris McLaughlin)称，该公司从周一即3月10日开始推算失联飞机的位置。他说，数据在第二天交给了SITA，后者把数据分享给了马来西亚官员。

At that point, the search was still focused primarily in waters east of the Malay Peninsula, and officials hadn't confirmed reports that Flight 370 had altered its course to Beijing about an hour after takeoff to fly west across the peninsula. Inmarsat's package showed not only that the plane had continued flying for hours, but that it had made an even more radical course change later along one of two possible paths, one heading northwest toward Kazakhstan and the other curving far south over the Indian Ocean.

那个时候，搜寻工作仍集中在马来半岛的东侧海域，官方也并未证实有关370航班在起飞约一小时后改变飞往北京目的地的航向、向西穿过马来半岛的报道。Inmarsat的数据包不仅显示失联飞机继续飞行了数小时，还显示后来它的航向发生了一次更大幅度的变化--这架飞机之后有可能飞向两条走廊中的一条：一条朝着西北方向至哈萨克斯坦；另一条延伸至遥远的印度洋南部海域。

The Inmarsat package, which included a map of the twin north and south corridors, together with readouts of data from a communication satellite, demonstrated the need for a dramatic shift in search areas, according to people briefed on the investigation.

据获知调查情况的人士透露，Inmarsat的数据包包括一张标明南北走廊的地图以及一颗通讯卫星的数据解析，这些信息均表明需要对目标搜寻区域进行重大调整。

One person said Malaysia chose not to disclose what it considered raw data, preferring to check it first with international partners.

一位知情人士称，马来西亚选择不披露它所认为的原始数据，而是倾向于首先与国际合作伙伴进行核实。

Throughout this process, the basic theory and underlying data from Inmarsat didn't change significantly, according to three people briefed on the investigation.

据三名获知调查情况的人士透露，在此过程中，来自Inmarsat的基本结论和数据并没有太大的变化。

'The material was refined, but it wasn't demonstrably different' from what Inmarsat first proposed earlier that week, according to one of these people.

其中一位消息人士称，原始数据经过了处理，但与Inmarsat在周初得出的最初结论没有显著的区别。

It wasn't clear how U.S. officials obtained the initial Inmarsat data, which they analyzed and helped translate into maps. Regardless, people briefed on the probe agree it took longer than expected for the information to spread from engineers and technical experts who cranked out the first version of the data to policy makers and then back down to officials directing specific elements of the searches.

尚不清楚美国官员是如何获得Inmarsat最初数据的。他们对这些数据进行了分析并帮助转换成地图。不管怎样，获知调查情况的知情人士承认，工程师和技术专家完成第一版数据后把数据交给了决策者，决策者们再把数据下发给指导具体搜寻工作的官员，整个过程花费的时间比预期要长。