On Thursday, March 13, 2014 9:11:10 AM UTC-6, Kevin Christner wrote:
Not professing to know what happened but maybe just provide some insight...

Why, in this day in the security age, is it possible to turn of the transponders in flight?

With the widespread use of airport surveillance radar Transponders are on from before push till after block in. The TX switch has a few different modes that might be appropriate for different situations. Reference T. C.s answer.

Why don't all airplanes have GPS tracking systems giving real time data to ATC (perhaps we could loan them a SPOT)?

What if ATC is not available to track it? HF is typically used in transoceanic airspace but I would bet an ETOPS equipped Triple would have SATCOM voice/data. Several times better than SPOT.

It appears some data was sent to Rolls Royce about the condition of the engines. Why did it take so long for them to provide this data?

When were they ask for it? Trend monitoring is typically send via VHF ACARS and although it is collected at regular intervals it might only be sent when radio reception is adequate.



I am sure there are more questions. But I'm also pretty sure that giving full cavity searches at the airport does not appear to be addressing critical security issues that have simple, one time fixes.
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