Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 According to Wikipedia

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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370)^[a] (also marketed as China Southern Airlines Flight 748 (CZ748) through a codeshare) was a scheduled international passenger flight that disappeared on 8 March 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, last made contact with air traffic control less than an hour after takeoff. Operated byMalaysia Airlines (MAS), the aircraft carried 12 crew members and 227 passengers from 15 nations and regions, the majority of passengers being Chinese citizens.

On the same day that contact with the aircraft was lost, a joint search and rescue effort, later reported as the largest in history,^[2] was initiated in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.^[3][4] The search area was later extended to include the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea.^[5][6][7] On 15 March, in the wake of media reports that US investigators believed the aircraft had headed west back across the Malay Peninsula after air traffic control lost contact and that a satellite had continued to receive "pings" from the aircraft,^{[8][9][10][11]} the search was expanded to include the Indian Ocean. By 18 March, 26 countries were participating in the search.^[12]

On 20 March, a series of satellite images showing potential aircraft debris in the southern Indian Ocean southwest of Australia prompted increased search activity in the area.^[13] Further possible debris was spotted in the vicinity by Australian and Chinese military aircraft on 24 March.^[14] That same day, officials with both Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government stated that while the aircraft's whereabouts were still not known, "unparalleled" analyses by the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and UK satellite company Inmarsatindicated that it had crashed into the southern Indian Ocean. It was presumed by these officials that all 239 people aboard perished.^[15][16][17]

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The flight departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8 March at 00:41 local time (16:41 UTC, 7 March) and was scheduled to land at Beijing Capital International Airport at 06:30 local time (22:30 UTC, 7 March). It climbed to its assigned cruise altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) and was travelling at 471 knots (542 mph; 872 km/h) true airspeed when it ceased all communications and the transponder signal was lost. The aircraft's last known position on 8 March at 01:21 local time (17:21 UTC, 7 March) was 6°55′15″N 103°34′43″E, corresponding to the navigational waypoint IGARI in the Gulf of Thailand, at which the aircraft was due to alter its course slightly eastward.^[18] Military tracking shows that the aircraft descended as low as 12,000 feet (3,700 m) after taking a sharp turn toward the Strait of Malacca. The sharp turn seemed to be intentional as normally it would have taken two minutes for the aircraft to make such a turn, and during that time there was no emergency call.^[19]

The crew were expected to contact air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City as the aircraft passed into Vietnamese airspace just north of the point where contact was lost.^[20][21] The captain of another aircraft had attempted to reach the crew of Flight 370 "just after 1:30 a.m." to relay Vietnamese Air Traffic Control's request for the crew to contact it; the captain said he was able to establish contact, but just heard "mumbling" and static.^[22]

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) issued a media statement at 07:24, one hour after the scheduled arrival of the flight at Beijing, stating that contact with the flight had been lost by Malaysian ATC at 02:40. MAS stated that the government had initiated search and rescue operations.^[23] It later emerged that Subang Air Traffic Control had lost contact with the aircraft at 01:22 and notified Malaysia Airlines at 02:40. Neither the crew nor the aircraft's onboard communication systems relayed a distress signal, indications of bad weather, or technical problems before the aircraft vanished from radar screens.^[24][25] The last words that Malaysian air traffic controllers heard, at 01:19, were those of the co-pilot saying, "All right, good night."^[26]

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Route: Kuala Lumpur – Beijing. Inserted: initial search areas and known path. Small red squares: radar contacts. Small circles: claimed spotting of debris.


Timeline of disappearance

00:00	8 March	7 March	Take-off from Kuala Lumpur
00:41	16:41
00:20	01:01	17:01	MH370 confirms altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m)[27]
00:26	01:07	17:07	Last ACARS data transmission received;[28] MH370 reconfirms altitude of 35,000 feet[27]
00:38	01:19	17:19	Last Malaysian ATC voice contact[26]
00:40	01:21	17:21	Last secondary radar (transponder) contact at 6°55′15″N 103°34′43″E
00:41	01:22	17:22	Transponder and ADS-B now off
00:49	01:30	17:30	Unsuccessful voice contact from another aircraft, mumbling/static audible[22]
00:56	01:37	17:37	Missed expected half-hourly ACARS data transmission[28]
01:30	02:11	18:11	First of seven automated hourly ACARS contacts with an Inmarsat-3 F1 satellite
01:34	02:15	18:15	Last primary radar contact by Malaysian military, 200 miles (320 km) NW of Penang
05:49	06:30	22:30	Missed scheduled arrival in Beijing
07:30	08:11	00:11	Last automated hourly ACARS contact with Inmarsat satellite[29][30]
07:38	08:19	00:19	Unscheduled partial ACARS "ping" received [31][32]
07:49	08:30	00:30	Reported missing[33]

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Flightdeck view of 9M-MRO in 2004, showing many of the communication systems now under investigation

New Scientist reported that, prior to the aircraft's disappearance, two ACARS reports had been automatically issued to engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce's monitoring centre in the United Kingdom;^[34] and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources in the US government, asserted that Rolls-Royce had received an aircraft health report every thirty minutes for five hours, implying that the aircraft had remained aloft for four hours after its transponder went offline.^[35][36][37]

The following day, the acting Transport Minister of Malaysia refuted the details of The Wall Street Journal report stating that the final engine transmission was received at 01:07, prior to the flight's disappearance from secondary radar.^[37] Follow-up reporting by Reuters suggested that the evidence may have taken the form of "pings" sent by the aircraft's communication systems, and possibly not data (telemetry reports).^[38]

The Wall Street Journal later amended its report and stated simply that the belief of continued flight was "based on analysis of signals sent by the Boeing 777's satellite-communication link... the link operated in a kind of standby mode and sought to establish contact with a satellite or satellites. These transmissions did not include data..."^[9][10] Inmarsat said that "routine, automated signals were registered" on its network,^[39] although a company executive did add that "keep-alive message[s]" continued to be sent after air traffic control first lost contact and that these "ping signals" could be analysed to help estimate the aircraft's location.^[40]

On 14 March, The Independent stated, based on the continued pinging by the aircraft, that it could not have disintegrated in mid-flight or had other sudden catastrophic occurrence: "All signals – the pings to the satellite, the data messages and the transponder – would be expected to stop at the same time."^[18] After the attacks of 11 September 2001, in which three of the hijacked aircraft had their transponders switched off,^[41] there was a call for automated transponders;^[41] however, no changes were made as aviation experts opted for a flexible control, in case resetting was required due to malfunction or an electrical emergency.^[41]

According to Chinese media, relatives heard ringing tones when calling to the passengers.^[42] However, these were discounted as Flight 370 was not equipped with a base station for in-flight cellphone contact,^[42] and the distance from a transmission tower, flight altitude, and shielding by the aircraft body all made possible transmissions extremely unlikely.^[42]

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On 24 March, following two weeks of search, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said:

Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort... Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.^[43][b]

Just before Najib spoke at 10 pm Malaysia Standard Time, Malaysia Airlines notified the families of the passengers that Flight 370 was presumed lost with no survivors. It notified most of the families in person or via telephone, and some received the following SMS:

Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.^[46][47][48]

If the official presumption of no survivors holds, it would be the deadliest aviation incident in the Indian Ocean,^[49] the deadliest in the history of Malaysian Airlines (surpassing the 1977 hijacking and crash of Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 that killed all 100 passengers and crew), and the deadliest involving a Boeing 777.

In response to the Malaysian official announcement, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie has demanded that the Malaysian government “finish all the work including search and rescue.”^[50]

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Possible last known locations of Flight 370 in red, based on final satellite ping at 08:11 Malaysia time

On 11 March, it was reported that military radar indicated the aircraft had turned west and continued flying for 70 minutes before disappearing off the Malaysian radar near Pulau Perak,^[51][52] and that it was tracked flying at a lower altitude across Malaysia to the Malacca Strait. This location was approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) from its last contact with civilian radar.^[53] The next day, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief distanced himself from the report saying it should not be misinterpreted.^[54][55] According to the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport, Pham Quy Tieu, "We informed Malaysia on the day we lost contact with the flight that we noticed the flight turned back west but Malaysia did not respond."^[56]

US experts, assigned to assist with the investigation in a low-key manner consistent with conventions of responsibilities,^[57] analysed the radar data and subsequently reported that the radar data did indeed indicate that the aircraft had headed west back across the Malay Peninsula, with Reuters andThe New York Times saying that the route changes suggested that the aircraft remained under a trained pilot's control.^[8][10][58] The New York Timesalso said the aircraft experienced significant changes in altitude.^[8]

Although Bloomberg News said that analysis of the last satellite "ping" received suggested a last known location approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of Perth, Western Australia,^[59] the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on 15 March said that the last signal, received at 08:11 Malaysian time, might have originated from as far north as Kazakhstan.^[60] Najib explained that the signals could not be more precisely located than to one of two possible loci: a northern locus stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern locus stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.^[61] None of the countries on a possible northerly flight route – China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and India – stated that there was any evidence that the aircraft ever entered their airspace.^[62]

Although it was later confirmed that the last ACARS transmission showed nothing unusual and a normal routing all the way to Beijing,^[63] The New York Times reported "senior American officials" saying on 17 March that the scheduled flight path was pre-programmed to unspecified western coordinates through the flight management system before the ACARS stopped functioning,^[64] and a new waypoint "far off the path to Beijing" was added.^[64] With such a reprogramming the aircraft would have made a banked turn at a comfortable angle of around 20 degrees and the passengers would not have felt anything unusual. The sudden cessation of all on-board communication led to suppositions that the aircraft's disappearance may have been due to foul play.^[64]

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Satellite images of possible debris


Chinese image released on 22 March of 44°57′30″S 90°13′40″E - Map of locations published 1: 12 March (disproved), 2: 20–23 March

Early search efforts generated multiple false leads. An admiral of the Vietnamese navy reported that radar contact with the aircraft was last made over the Gulf of Thailand.^[24][65] Oil slicks detected off the coast of Vietnam on 8 and 9 March later tested negative for aviation fuel.^[66][67] Alleged discovery of debris about 80 km (50 mi) south of Thổ Chu Island on 9 March was also found to be not from an aircraft.^[68] Searches following a Chinese website's satellite images, taken on 9 March, showing three floating objects measuring up to 24 by 22 metres (79 ft × 72 ft) at6.7°N 105.63°E also turned up blank;^[69][70] Vietnamese officials said the area had been "searched thoroughly".^[71][72]

The Royal Thai Navy shifted its focus in the search away from the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea at the request of its Malaysian counterpart, which was investigating the possibility that the aircraft had turned around and could have gone down in the Andaman Sea, near Thailand's border.^[73] The chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Rodzali Daud, claimed that military recordings of radar signals did not exclude the possibility of the aircraft turning back on its flight path.^[74][75] The search radius was increased from the original 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) from its last known position,^[76] south of Thổ Chu Island, to 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi), and the area being examined then extended to the Strait of Malacca along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, with waters both to the east of Malaysia in the Gulf of Thailand, and in the Strait of Malacca along Malaysia's west coast, being searched.^[4][77][78]

On 12 March, authorities also began to search the Andaman Sea, northwest of the Strait of Malacca, and the Malaysian government requested help from India to search in the area.^[79] On 13 March, the White House Press Secretary said "an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean based on some new information"^[35][80] and a senior official at The Pentagon told ABC News: "We have an indication the plane went down in the Indian Ocean."^[81] On 17 March, Australia agreed to lead the search in the southern locus from Sumatra to the southern Indian Ocean.^[82][83] The search would be coordinated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), with an area of 600,000 km² (230,000 sq mi) between Australia and the Kerguelen Islands lying more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from Perth to be searched by ships and aircraft of Australia, New Zealand and the United States.^[84]

On 17 March, Malaysian authorities corrected a previous misconception that ACARS was turned off at 01:07,^[25] and clarified that ACARS had been switched off sometime between 01:07 and the next scheduled ACARS contact, due at 01:37.^[85]

On 20 March, the Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, announced in parliament that two objects that might be related to the aircraft, one of them 24 m (79 ft) long, had been spotted by a satellite in the Indian Ocean on 16 March, 2,500 km (1,600 mi) south-west of Perth (coordinates 44°03′02″S 91°13′27″E), where the ocean depth could reach 5,000 metres (16,000 ft).^{[13][86][87][88]}An Australian Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft arrived in the area at 02:50 UTC. The Australian naval ship HMAS Success, Myanmar naval vessels, a United States Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, two more Orions (one Australian and one from New Zealand), and a Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft were also tasked to the area.^[89] Two Chinese military Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft joined the search the following day.^[90][91] and two Japanese Orions arrived at RAAF Base Pearce to assist.^[92] Civilian aircraft and ships also assisted in the search.^{[89][93][94][95]}

On 22 March, a Chinese satellite image was released, from four days earlier, of potential debris, at a location about 120 km (75 mi) south west of the area shown in the earlier images.^[96][97][98]The object's size was estimated at 22.5 m × 13 m (74 ft × 43 ft), at coordinates 44°57′29″S 90°13′43″E, near one of the 45×90 points approximately 3,170 km (1,970 mi) south west of Perth.

On 24 March the United States Navy announced plans to send a TPL-25 towed pinger locator to the area where Flight 370 is believed to have come down. The Department of Defense described it as a "precautionary measure" to aid the search for the underwater locator beacons fitted to the aircraft's "black boxes" if the debris field is located.^[99]

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Crew on board USS Kidd searching in the Andaman Sea on 17 March 2014


Chinese PLAAF Ilyushin Il-76 arriving at Perth Airport on 21 March 2014

In response to the incident, the Malaysian government mobilised its civil aviation department, air force, navy, and Maritime Enforcement Agency; and requested international assistance under Five Power Defence Arrangements provisions and from neighbouring states. Various nations mounted a search and rescue mission in the region's waters.^[100][101] Within two days, the countries had already dispatched more than 34 aircraft and 40 ships to the area.^[4][5][78] The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission analysed information from its network of infrasounddetection stations, but failed to find any sounds made by Flight 370.^[102]

On 11 March,^[103] Chinese authorities^[104] activated the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, a 15 member international organisation whose purpose is to "...provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters through Authorized Users."^[105]

Another 11 countries joined the search efforts by 17 March, after more assistance was requested by Malaysia, bringing the total to 26.^[12] While not participating in the search itself, Sri Lanka gave permission for search aircraft to use its airspace.^[106] Assets deployed by Malaysia included military fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.^[107] and vessels from the navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.^{[107][108][109]} A co-ordination centre at the National Disaster Control Centre (NDCC) in Pulau Meranti, Cyberjaya was established.^[110] Other nations provided the following assets:

1. Australia: air force Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft;^[111] navy ship HMAS Success and four long-range civilian jets^[93] dispatched after possible debris sightings.^[112]
2. Bangladesh: navy frigates BNS Bangabandhu and BNS Umar Farooq; navy Dornier Do 228 maritime patrol aircraft.^[113]
3. Brunei: Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel.^[114]
4. Cambodia: Harbin Z-9 helicopters and P46-type navy ships.^[115]
5. China (PRC): Type 053H3 frigate Mianyang, marine police vessel No. 3411,^[116] Type 052C destroyer Haikou, Type 071 amphibious transport dock JinggangShan, KunlunShan, patrol ship Haixun 31, Type 925 submarine support ship Yongxingdao,^[117] research vessel Xuelong, rescue ship Haixun 01, and merchant ships,^[118] rescue vessel Nanhaijiu 101 and Type 903 replenishment ship Qiandaohu.^[119] Furthermore, several of its military satellites were retasked,^[120] and two of its Ilyushin Il-76s were deployed to RAAF Base Pearce near Perth to assist the search in the southern Indian Ocean.^{[33][121][122]}
6. France: a team from the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA).^[123]
7. India: surface and airborne assets from the Andaman and Nicobar Command and Eastern Naval Command: navy ships INS Satpura, INSSahyadri, INS Saryu, INS Batti Malv, INS Kesari and INS Kumbhir; coast guard vessels ICGS Kanaklata Baruah, ICGS Bhikaji Cama and ICGSSagar;^[124] navy Boeing P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft;^[125] navy and coast guard Dornier Do 228s;^[126] air force C-130 Hercules^[126] and Mil Mi-17.^[127] Rukmini naval satellite.^[127]
8. Indonesia: corvette KRI Sutanto, patrol boat KRI Siribua and fast patrol vessels KRI Matacora, KRI Tarihu and KRI Krait;^[128][129] IPTN NC-212 maritime patrol aircraft.^[130]
9. Japan: naval defence force Lockheed P-3 Orion and air defence force Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft;^[131][132] coast guard Gulfstream V;^[133] and a disaster relief team.^[134]
10. Myanmar: naval vessels in Gulf of Martaban and the Bay of Bengal.^[135]
11. New Zealand: air force P-3 Orion.^[136]
12. Norway: a Norwegian RoRo merchant ship, the Höegh St. Petersburg.^[89]
13. Philippines: navy ships BRP Gregorio del Pilar, BRP Emilio Jacinto and BRP Apolinario Mabini; air force Fokker F27 and navy Britten-Norman Defender aircraft; and navy AgustaWestland AW109 helicopter. A Hamilton-class cutter vessel and a C-130 Hercules on standby.^[137]
14. Russia: Resurs-P No.1 satellite.^[138]
15. Singapore: in South China Sea/Malacca Strait: air force C-130 Hercules;^[139][140] navy Formidable-class frigate with one Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopter; a submarine rescue shipwith divers; Victory-class corvette;^[141] an air force Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft.^[142] In Indian Ocean all previously-deployed ships and aircraft stood down and the armed forces' Information Fusion Centre activated.^[143][144]
16. South Korea: navy P-3 Orion and air force C-130 Hercules aircraft.^[145]
17. Taiwan (ROC): air force C-130 Hercules; ROCS Tian Dan and a La Fayette-class frigate; two coast guard patrol vessels.^[146]
18. Thailand: Dornier Do 228, AgustaWestland Super Lynx helicopter and patrol ship HTMS Pattani. Other ships on standby.^[147]
19. United Arab Emirates: two military search and rescue aircraft.^[148][149]
20. United Kingdom: a team of Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigators.^[150] HMS Echo – a hydrographic survey ship.^[151]
21. United States: Towed Pinger Locator 25, navy P-3 Orion and Boeing P-8^[152] aircraft; Navy ships USS Kidd and USS Pinckney with Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters;^{[153][154][155]} aNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team.^[156]
22. Vietnam: Antonov An-26, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Mil Mi-171, and ships from the navy, coast guard, fisheries control, and Maritime Search & Rescue Coordination Centre.^[157]

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Although Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is also the country's Defence Minister, denied the existence of problems between the participating countries, academics said that because of regional conflicts, there were genuine trust issues involved in co-operation and sharing intelligence, and that these were hampering the search.^[158][159]International relations experts said entrenched rivalries over sovereignty, security, intelligence, and national interests made meaningful multilateral co-operation very difficult.^[158][159] A Chinese academic made the observation that the parties were searching independently, thus it was not a multilateral search effort.^[159]

Malaysia had initially declined to release raw data from its military radar, deeming the information "too sensitive", but later acceded.^[158][159] Defence experts say that giving others access to radar information may be sensitive on a military level. As an example: "The rate at which they can take the picture can also reveal how good the radar system is."^[158] One suggested that some countries may already have had radar data on the aircraft and were reluctant to share any information that could potentially reveal their defence capabilities and compromise their own security.^[158]Similarly, submarines patrolling the South China Sea might have information in the event of a water impact, and sharing such information could reveal the subs' locations and listening capabilities. However, The Guardian noted the Vietnamese permission given for Chinese aircraft to overfly its airspace as a positive sign of co-operation.^[159]

Satellite imagery is also being analysed by the public with the help of crowdsourcing site Tomnod.^[160]

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Flight 370 was operated with a Boeing 777-2H6ER,^[c] serial number 28420, registration 9M-MRO. The 404th Boeing 777 produced,^[162] it first flew on 14 May 2002, and was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 31 May 2002. The aircraft is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines,^[162] and configured to carry 282 passengers – 35 in business class and 247 in economy.^[163] 9M-MRO had accumulated 53,460 hours and 7,525 cycles in service,^[164] and had not previously been involved in any major incidents,^[165] though a minor incident while taxiing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in August 2012 resulted in a broken wingtip.^[166][167] Its last maintenance 'A' check was carried out on 23 February 2014.^[164]

The Boeing 777 is generally regarded by aviation experts as having an "almost flawless" safety record,^[168] one of the best of any commercial aircraft.^[169] Since its first commercial flight in June 1995, there have been only three other serious accidents involving hull-loss: British Airways Flight 38 in 2008, Egyptair in 2011, (an unexplained^[170] but catastrophic cockpit fire on the ground at Cairo International Airport)^[171] and Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in 2013, when three died.