Missing aircraft

My heart goes out to the 200+ people in the Air France jet that went missing over the Atlantic.

Its difficult to believe that in this day and age, the craft cannot be located. Couldn't they start looking in the location from where the last contact was made ?

Isn't the craft supposed to also work as a glider, if it loses power ? One would think there was the chance to land it over the water and get the people out on floating rafts. The cold water would make it crazy, but there is a chance for survival if rescuers reach there quickly enough.

Makes me a little jittery to think that I will be flying out in 10 days time myself, all statistics aside.