"Those water masses play a very important role in the present-day status of the ice pack and changes in the delivery would have an influence and effect on ice distribution, " said Weingartner.
At the board's hearing in May, the NTSB will look into a number of topics, including the effect of ice on the aircraft's performance, cold weather operations, the crew's experience and sleep issues.
"We do see these big variations in the temperature in the mantle across parts of Antarctica that will have a big effect on the ice sheet, " Wiens said.