Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

The missing aircraft, 9M-MRO, pictured in 2011
Incident
Date	8 March 2014
Summary	Missing
Site	Southern Indian Ocean (presumed)
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 777-200ER
Operator	Malaysia Airlines
Registration	9M-MRO
Flight origin	Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Destination	Beijing Capital International Airport
Passengers	227
Crew	12

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that lost contact with air traffic control on 8 March 2014 at 01:20 MYT less than an hour after takeoff. At 07:24, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported the flight as missing. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations.

A multinational search and rescue effort, later reported as the largest in history, was initiated in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. Within a few days, this was extended to include the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea. On 15 March, based on military radar data and radio "pings" between the aircraft and an Inmarsat satellite, investigators concluded that it had first headed west across the Malay Peninsula, then continued on a northern or southern track for approximately seven hours. The search in the South China Sea was abandoned. Three days later the Australian Maritime Safety Authority began searching the southern part of the Indian Ocean.

On 24 March, the Malaysian government confirmed two independently made analyses by the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and Inmarsat, and concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt", that the aircraft had gone down in the southern part of the Indian Ocean with no survivors. This conclusion led to all earlier search areas being abandoned, and efforts being concentrated on the Australian-led area.

Since 22 March, marine debris has been recovered from the search area in the southern part of the Indian Ocean – but none found to be related to Flight 370; and although search vessel ADV Ocean Shield detected acoustic signals consistent with those emitted by underwater locator beacons (ULBs) mounted on flight recorders on 5 and 8 April, there has been no confirmation of a crash site.

An international team has been established to investigate the incident, following International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) protocols.

Disappearance

Route: Kuala Lumpur – Beijing. Insert: initial search areas and known path through waypoints IGARI, VAMPI, and IGREX. Small red squares: radar contacts. Small circles: claimed spotting of debris.

The flight departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8 March 2014 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 (872 km/h; 542 mph) 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 at the navigational waypoint IGARI in the Gulf of Thailand, at which the aircraft turned westwards, heading towards a waypoint called VAMPI in the Strait of Malacca, primary radar tracking suggests that the aircraft descended as low as 12,000 feet (3,700 m). From there, the aircraft flew towards a waypoint called GIVAL, arriving at 2:15 local time (18:15 UTC, 7 March), thereafter to the Southern Thailand Islands (Andaman Coast) of Phuket, and was last plotted heading northwest towards another waypoint called IGREX.

The crew was 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. The captain of another aircraft attempted to reach the crew of Flight 370 "just after 1:30 am" using the International distress frequency to relay Vietnamese air traffic control's request for the crew to contact it; the captain said he was able to establish contact, and just heard "mumbling" and static.

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. 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.

Timeline of disappearance

Elapsed (HH:MM)	Time		Event
	MYT	UTC
00:00	8 March	7 March	Take-off from KUL (Kuala Lumpur)
	00:41	16:41
00:20	01:01	17:01	Crew confirms altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m)
00:26	01:07	17:07	Last ACARS data transmission received; crew confirms altitude of 35,000 feet, a second time
00:38	01:19	17:19	Last Malaysian ATC voice contact
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 no longer operating.
00:49	01:30	17:30	Voice contact attempt by another aircraft, at request of Vietnam ATC; mumbling and radio static heard in reply
00:56	01:37	17:37	Missed expected half-hourly ACARS data transmission
01:34	02:15	18:15	Last primary radar contact by Malaysian military, 200 miles (320 km) NW of Penang
01:41	02:22	18:22	1st of 6 roughly hourly Classic Aero pings (handshakes) since last ACARS transmission, via the Inmarsat-3 F1 satellite
05:49	06:30	22:30	Missed scheduled arrival at PEK (Beijing)
06:43	07:24	23:24	Malaysia Airlines pronounces flight missing in statement released to media
07:30	08:11	8 March	6th and last successful automated hourly handshake with Inmarsat-3 F1
		00:11
07:38	08:19	00:19	Unscheduled, unexplained partial handshake transmitted by aircraft
08:34	09:15	01:15	Scheduled hourly ping attempt by Inmarsat goes unanswered by aircraft

Satellite pings

On 11 March, New Scientist reported that, prior to the aircraft's disappearance, two Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) reports had been automatically issued to engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce's monitoring centre in the United Kingdom; 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.

The following day, Hishamuddin Hussein, the acting Minister of Transport, refuted the details of The Wall Street Journal report stating that the final engine transmission was received at 01:07 MYT, prior to the flight's disappearance from secondary radar. The WSJ 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..."

Inmarsat said that "routine, automated signals were registered" on its network, and that analysis of "keep-alive message[s]" that continued to be sent after air traffic control first lost contact could help pinpoint the aircraft's location, which led The Independent to comment on 14 March that the aircraft could not have met with a sudden catastrophic event, or all signals would have stopped simultaneously. There was a call for automated transponders after the attacks of 11 September 2001; however, no changes were made as aviation experts preferred flexible control, in case of malfunctions or electrical emergencies.

On 25 March, Hishamuddin revealed that Inmarsat had found evidence that the aircraft had attempted another handshake with the satellite at 00:19 UTC, eight minutes after the last hourly report. This "partial ping" initiated by the aircraft was unscheduled, not the result of any human interaction.

Assumed loss

Messages of hope and prayer for MH370 at a bookstore in Malaysia

On 24 March, 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.

Just before Najib spoke at 22:00 MYT, Malaysia Airlines announced that Flight 370 was assumed 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.

On 29 March, the Government of Malaysia and the AAIB stated that, in accordance with the protocols detailed in International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 concerning aircraft accident investigation, they would set up an international team to investigate the loss of the flight. On 30 March, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the appointment of retired Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston to head the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) to co-ordinate the search effort and closely co-operate with Malaysia, the responsible state under international law.

If the official assumption of no survivors holds, MAS370 would be the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Malaysia Airlines (surpassing the 1977 hijacking and crash of Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 that killed all 100 passengers and crew on board) and the deadliest to date involving a Boeing 777, surpassing Asiana Airlines Flight 214. It would also be the second-deadliest incident in the Indian Ocean, behind Iran Air Flight 655, and the 17th-deadliest incident of all time.

Search

Hypothesised routes

Search for aircraft. Pink circle: Range of aircraft based on fuel (5,300 km). Ping corridors: possible locations (in red) of aircraft at last ping to Inmarsat and possible last location (lighter red) based on residual fuel. Search areas: 1) 8–20 March, 2) 20–27 March, 3) 28 March.

On 11 March, it was reported that military radar indicated the aircraft turned west away from the intended flight path and continued flying for 70 minutes before disappearing from Malaysian radar near Pulau Perak. It was also reported that it had been tracked flying at a lower altitude across Malaysia to the Malacca Strait, approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) from its last contact with civilian radar. The next day, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief denied the report. A few hours later however, the Vietnamese transport minister claimed that Malaysia had been informed on 8 March by Vietnamese air traffic control personnel, that they had "noticed the flight turned back west".

A US radar expert analysing the radar data reported that they did indeed indicate that the aircraft had headed west across the Malay Peninsula. The New York Times reported that the aircraft experienced significant changes in altitude.

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, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on 15 March that the last signal, received at 08:11 Malaysian time, might have originated from as far north as Kazakhstan. 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. Many of the countries on a possible northerly flight route – China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and India – denied the aircraft could have entered their country's airspace, because military radar would have detected it.

Although it was later confirmed that the last ACARS transmission showed nothing unusual and a normal routing all the way to Beijing, 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, and a new waypoint "far off the path to Beijing" was added. Such a reprogramming would have resulted in a banked turn at a comfortable angle of around 20 degrees that would not have caused undue concern for passengers. The sudden cessation of all on-board communication led to speculation that the aircraft's disappearance may have been due to foul play.

Hypothesised locations

As the available data analyses of the flight were refined, the foci of search operations changed to different areas in several distinct phases.

First phase

An admiral of the Vietnamese navy reported that radar contact with the aircraft was last made over the Gulf of Thailand. Oil slicks detected off the coast of Vietnam on 8 and 9 March later tested negative for aviation fuel. Alleged discovery of debris about 140 km (87 mi) south-west of Phú Quốc Island near 80 km (50 mi) south of Thổ Chu Island on 9 March was also found to be not from an aircraft. Searches following a Chinese website's satellite images, taken on 9 March, showing three floating objects measuring up to 24 × 22 metres (79 × 72 ft) at 6.7°N 105.63°E / 6.7; 105.63 (Three floating objects, 9 March) also turned up blank; Vietnamese officials said the area had been "searched thoroughly".

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. 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. The search radius was increased from the original 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) from its last known position, 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.

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.

Second phase

On 13 March, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said "an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean based on some new information" and a senior official at The Pentagon told ABC News: "We have an indication the plane went down in the Indian Ocean." On 17 March, Australia agreed to lead the search in the southern locus from Sumatra to the southern Indian Ocean. 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) Southwest of Perth, to be searched by ships and aircraft of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. This area, which Australian PM Tony Abbott described as "as close to nowhere as it's possible to be", is renowned for its strong winds, inhospitable climate, hostile seas, and deep ocean floors. On 18 March, the search of the area began with a single Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft. On 19 March, the search capacity was ramped up to three aircraft and three merchant ships; the revised search area of 305,000 square kilometres (118,000 sq mi) is about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) south-west of Perth.

Search efforts intensified on 20 March, after large pieces of possible debris had been photographed in this area four days earlier by a satellite. Australian, US, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea all tasked military and civilian assets to the area. China published images from satellite Gaofen 1 on 22 March that showed large debris about 120 km (75 mi) south west of the previous sighting; On 26 March, images from French satellites indicated 122 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean Thai satellite images published on 27 March showed about 300 floating objects about 200 km (120 mi) from the French satellites' target area. The abundant finds, none yet confirmed to be from the flight, brought the realisation of the prior lack of surveillance over the area, and the vast amounts of marine debris littering the oceans.

Third phase

Revised estimates of the radar track and the aircraft's remaining fuel led to a move of the search 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) north-east of the previous area on 28 March, to a new search area of 319,000 square kilometres (123,000 sq mi), roughly 1,850 kilometres (1,150 mi) west of Perth. This search area has more hospitable weather conditions.

On 30 March, four large orange-coloured objects found by search aircraft described by media as "the so far most promising lead" turned out to be fishing equipment. On 2 April, the centre of the search area was shifted again 456 kilometres (283 mi) east, to a position 1,504 kilometres (935 mi) west of Perth. The same day, Royal Navy survey vessel HMS Echo and submarine HMS Tireless arrived in the area, with HMS Echo starting immediately to search for the aircraft's underwater locator beacons fitted to the "black box" flight recorders, the batteries of which were expected to expire around 7 April.

Fourth phase

Deployment of a towed pinger locator

On 4 April, the search was refocused to three more northerly areas from 1,060 to 2,100 kilometres (660 to 1,300 mi) west of Learmonth, spanning over 217,000 square kilometres (84,000 sq mi). ADV Ocean Shield fitted with a TPL-25 towed pinger locator, together with HMS Echo – which carried a "similar device", began searching for pings along a 240 kilometres (150 mi) seabed line believed to be the Flight 370 impact area. Operators considered it a shot in the dark, when comparing the vast search area with the fact that TPL-25 can only search up to 50 square miles (130 km²) per day.

On 5 April, Chinese media announced an unconfirmed report that rescue ship Haixun 01 had picked up two short episodes of pulsing 37.5 kHz signals through a handheld hydrophone, at about 25°S 101°E, one on 4 April, and another the day after at 15:36 MYT. The following day the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) ordered HMS Echo to the area, to attempt verification with more advanced equipment.

On 6 April, JACC announced that Ocean Shield had also picked up a signal, about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) from Haixun 01. It was announced the next day that the TPL-25 pinger locator towed by Ocean Shield had picked up a signal twice on 6 April. The first, in the morning of 6 April at approximately 300 metres (980 ft) depth, lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes; the second episode took place at approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) depth, and lasted 13 minutes. During the second episode, two distinct pinger returns were audible. Both episodes of recorded signals, which took place at roughly the same position, were considered to be consistent with signals expected from an aircraft's flight recorder ULB. The Ocean Shield events were recorded at the north of a newly-calculated impact area that was announced on 7 April, while the Haixun 01 events had been recorded at its southern edge. JACC announced that Ocean Shield had detected two more signals on 8 April. The first signal was acquired at 16:27 AWST and held for 5 minutes, 32 seconds. The second signal was acquired at 22:17 AWST and held for around 7 minutes. JACC also announced that experts had determined that the earlier signals captured by Ocean Shield were "very stable, distinct, and clear ... at 33.331 kHz and ... consistently pulsed at a 1.106-second interval". These were consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder ULB. On 10 April, a signal recorded by one of the sonobuoys deployed with a hydrophone at 300 metres depth was found unlikely to have originated from MH370.

At a press conference on April 14, Angus Houston announced that after consultations with experts, and in view of the lack of ping receptions for six days and the limited life of black box transmitters, Ocean Shield would cease searching with the Towed Pinger Locator on April 14 and would then deploy the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Bluefin-21 to begin searching the sea floor near the earlier detected signals.

International involvement

Crew members on board a P-8A Poseidon manning terminals while assisting in search and rescue operations on 16 March 2014

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

Chinese PLAAF Ilyushin Il-76 arriving at RAAF Base Pearce in Australia on 21 March 2014 to assist in the search

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. Within two days, the countries had already dispatched more than 34 aircraft and 40 ships to the area. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission analysed information from its network of infrasound detection stations, but failed to find any sounds made by Flight 370.

On 11 March, the China Meteorological Administration activated the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, a 15 member organisation whose purpose is to "...provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters," the first time the charitable and humanitarian redeployment of the assorted corporate, national space agency, and international satellite assets under its aegis had been used to search for an airliner.

Another 11 countries joined the search efforts by 17 March, after more assistance was requested by Malaysia. At the peak, before the search was moved to the south Indian Ocean, 26 countries were involved in the search, contributing a total of nearly 60 ships and 50 aircraft. In addition to the above, these parties included Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam. While not participating in the search itself, Sri Lanka gave permission for search aircraft to use its airspace. Assets deployed by Malaysia included military fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and vessels from the navy and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. A co-ordination centre at the National Disaster Control Centre (NDCC) in Pulau Meranti, Cyberjaya was established.

The United Kingdom is providing technical assistance from the Ministry of Defence, the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Department for Transport and the Met Office; and personnel from the Royal Air Force.

As of 30 March, the following seven countries had employed assets to the Australian-led search area: Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States. On 2 April, the United Kingdom also joined the search operation.

Information sharing

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. International relations experts said entrenched rivalries over sovereignty, security, intelligence, and national interests made meaningful multilateral co-operation very difficult. A Chinese academic made the observation that the parties were searching independently, thus it was not a multilateral search effort.

Malaysia had initially declined to release raw data from its military radar, deeming the information "too sensitive", but later acceded. 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." 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. 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. The Guardian noted the Vietnamese permission given for Chinese aircraft to overfly its airspace as a positive sign of co-operation.

Satellite imagery is also being made available by Tomnod for the public to help with the search through crowdsourcing.

Analysis of satellite communication

The datalink for Malaysia Airline's avionics communications is supplied by SITA, which contracted with Inmarsat to provide a satellite communication link using Inmarsat's Classic Aero service. The aircraft's satellite communication (SATCOM) system is used to transmit messages from the cockpit as well as automated messages from on-board systems using the ACARS communications protocol, but may also be used to transmit FANS & ATN messages and provide voice, fax and data links using other protocols. The SATCOM signals from the aircraft are picked up by Inmarsat's constellation of satellites and relayed to ground stations. In the absence of a signal from a terminal, the ground station will transmit hourly 'log on/log off' messages – informally referred to as a 'ping' – to the terminal; an active terminal automatically responds. The entire process is referred to as a 'handshake'. After ACARS equipment on the aircraft was disabled, the SATCOM transceiver aboard Flight 370 completed six further handshakes; the final complete handshake occurring at 00:11 UTC on 8 March (08:11 MYT).

Although the ACARS system on Flight 370 was disabled at 01:21 MYT (17:21 UTC, 7 March), the SATCOM terminal remained operable. On 8 March, Inmarsat provided basic flight data relating to Flight 370 to SITA, which relayed information to Malaysia Airlines and investigators. On 9–10 March, Inmarsat engineers noted that the ground station log recorded pings from the aircraft for several hours after contact was lost with air traffic control. An analysis of the time difference between the transmission of the ping and the aircraft's response allowed Inmarsat to determine the aircraft's distance from the satellite, resulting in the plotting of two arcs—referred to as the 'Northern Corridor' and 'Southern Corridor' where the aircraft may have been located at the time of its last complete handshake at 00:11 UTC.

Inmarsat conducted further analysis on the signals received during the handshakes, focusing on the frequency shift of the signal emitted from the aircraft compared with the actual frequency received, known as the burst frequency offset, using a baseline of earlier system data for the aircraft, satellite, and ground station. The burst frequency offset, caused by the Doppler effect, varies based on the aircraft's speed and whether it is moving towards or away from the satellite. Using an "innovative technique" that has "never before [been] used in an investigation of this sort", the team determined it could also use the burst frequency offset to determine the aircraft's speed and position along the identified arcs. Inmarsat cross-checked its methodology to known flight data from six Boeing 777 aircraft flying in various directions on the same day, and found a good match. Applying the technique to the handshake signals from Flight 370 gave results that correlated strongly with the expected and actual measurements of a southern trajectory over the Indian Ocean, but poorly with a northern trajectory. Further revised calculations to account for movements of the satellite relative to the earth, allowed the northern corridor to be ruled out completely. This analysis was passed on to Malaysian authorities on 23 March. At 22:00 local time the next day, Prime Minister Najib cited this development to conclude that "Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."

In addition to the six completed handshakes between Flight 370 and the ground station after ACARS stopped sending messages, there is "evidence of a partial handshake" at 00:19 UTC which was not immediately well understood and is subject to further investigation. Since the aircraft did not respond to a ping at 01:15 UTC, it was concluded that at some point between 00:11 UTC and 01:15 UTC, the aircraft lost the ability to communicate with the ground station, which Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation noted was "consistent with the maximum endurance of the aircraft". Of note, the SATCOM terminal on an aircraft requires power from the aircraft to operate.

Malaysian investigators set up an international working group, consisting of various agencies with experience in aircraft performance and satellite communications, to further analyse the signals between Flight 370 and the ground station, especially the signal at 00:19 UTC. These included representatives from the UK's Inmarsat, AAIB and Rolls-Royce; China's Civil Aviation Administration and Aircraft Accident Investigation Department; the US NTSB and FAA, and Malaysian authorities. Also on 7 April, JACC announced that the Malaysian technical investigation team indicated that the partial ping from Flight 370 at 08:19 MYT was most likely when it impacted with the water. Together with further refinement of the satellite data calculation, the investigation team hypothesised a reduced search area.

Aircraft

Flightdeck of 9M-MRO in 2004.

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

The Boeing 777, introduced in 1994, is generally regarded by aviation experts as having an "almost flawless" safety record, one of the best of any commercial aircraft. 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; a cockpit fire in a parked Egyptair 777-200 at Cairo International Airport in 2011; and Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in 2013, in which three people died.

Passengers and crew

People on board by nationality

Nationality	No.
Australia	6
Canada	2
China	152
France	4
Hong Kong	1
India	5
Indonesia	7
Iran	2
Malaysia	50
Netherlands	1
New Zealand	2
Russia	1
Taiwan	1
Ukraine	2
United States	3
Total	239

Malaysia Airlines released the names and nationalities of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members, based on the flight manifest, later modified to include two Iranian passengers travelling on stolen passports.

Passengers

152 of the 227 passengers were Chinese citizens, including a group of 19 artists with six family members and four staff returning from a calligraphy exhibition of their work in Kuala Lumpur; 38 passengers were Malaysian. The remaining passengers were from 13 different countries. Of the total, 20 were employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a company based in Austin, Texas – 12 of whom were from Malaysia and 8 from China. One passenger who worked as a flight engineer for a Swiss jet charter company was briefly suspected as potential hijacker because he was thought to have the relevant skill set.

Under a 2007 agreement with Malaysia Airlines, Tzu Chi – an international Buddhist organisation – immediately sent specially trained teams to Beijing and Malaysia to give emotional support to passengers' families. The airline also sent its own team of caregivers and volunteers and agreed to bear the expenses of bringing family members of the passengers to Kuala Lumpur and providing them with accommodation, medical care, and counselling. Altogether, 115 family members of the Chinese passengers flew to Kuala Lumpur. Some other family members chose to remain in China, fearing they would feel too isolated in Malaysia. The airline's offer of an ex gratia condolence payment of US$5,000 to the family of each passenger was initially rejected; the amounts were handed out to relatives on 12 March. It was also reported that Malaysian relatives only received $2,000.

Crew

All the 12 crew members were Malaysian citizens. The flight's captain was 53-year-old Zaharie Ahmad Shah from Penang; he joined MAS in 1981 and had 18,365 hours of flying experience. Zaharie was also an examiner qualified to conduct simulator tests for pilots.

The first officer was 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid, an employee of MAS since 2007, with 2,763 flying hours. This was Fariq's first flight as a fully qualified Boeing 777 first officer, following the completion of his supervised transition to that type of aircraft.

Investigation

International participation

On 8 March, although a formal (ICAO-sanctioned) investigation had not yet started, Boeing announced that it was assembling a team of experts to provide technical assistance to investigators, in accordance with ICAO protocols. The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) soon thereafter announced it was sending its own team of investigators with technical advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had already deployed technical experts and agents to investigate the disappearance. A senior US law enforcement official clarified that FBI agents had not been sent to Malaysia. By 17 March the investigation was also being assisted by Interpol and other relevant international law enforcement authorities according to the Malaysian government.

On 6 April Malaysia announced it has set up three ministerial committees to help co-ordinate the search, and a new investigation team including members from Australia, China, the US, the UK, and France, being led according to the ICAO standards by "an independent investigator in charge". The investigation into the aircraft's disappearance is Malaysia's responsibility; Australia is co-ordinating the ocean search. Australia, the US, UK, and China have agreed to be "accredited representatives" of the investigation.

Possible passenger involvement

Two men identified on the manifest, an Austrian and an Italian, had reported their passports stolen in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Interpol stated that both passports were listed on its database of lost and stolen passports, and that no check had been made against its database. Malaysia's Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, criticised his country's immigration officials for failing to stop the passengers travelling on the stolen European passports. The two one-way tickets purchased for the holders of the stolen passports were booked through China Southern Airlines. It was reported that an Iranian had ordered the cheapest tickets to Europe via telephone in Bangkok, Thailand. The tickets were paid for in cash. The two passengers were later identified as Iranian men, one aged 19 and the other 29, who had entered Malaysia on 28 February using valid Iranian passports. The head of Interpol said the organisation was "inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident". The two men were believed to be asylum seekers. United States and Malaysian officials were reviewing the backgrounds of every passenger named on the manifest. On 18 March the Chinese government announced that it had checked all of the Chinese citizens on the aircraft and ruled out the possibility that any were potential hijackers.

Crew and cargo

Police searched the homes of the pilot and co-pilot, on suspicion that those in the cockpit had been responsible for the aircraft's disappearance. However, no evidence had emerged to support this theory. After the FBI reconstructed the deleted data from the pilot's home flight simulator, the Malaysian government spokesman indicated that "nothing sinister" had been found on it.

MAS has not disclosed its cargo manifest, as Malaysian police are conducting their own investigations. On 17 March, Malaysia Airlines chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, indicated only that the aircraft was carrying 3 to 4 tonnes/tons of mangosteens and said that nothing it transported was dangerous. Three days later, he also confirmed that potentially flammable batteries, identified as lithium-ion, were on board, adding that all cargo was "packed as recommended by the ICAO", checked several times, and deemed to meet regulations.

On 2 April Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia's Police Inspector-General, said that as part of its ongoing criminal investigation, more than 170 interviews had been conducted, including with family members of the pilots and crew. Khalid said that the provenance and destination of all cargo, including the mangosteens and in-flight meals, were being investigated to rule out sabotage as a cause.

Criticism and response

Public communication from Malaysian officials regarding the loss of the flight was initially beset with confusion. The New York Times wrote that the Malaysian government and the airline released imprecise, incomplete, and sometimes inaccurate information, with civilian officials sometimes contradicting military leaders. Malaysian officials were also criticised after the persistent release of contradictory information, most notably regarding the last point and time of contact with the aircraft.

Vietnam temporarily scaled back its search operations after the country's Deputy Transport Minister cited a lack of communication from Malaysian officials despite requests for more information. China, through the official Xinhua News Agency, said that the Malaysian government ought to take charge and conduct the operation with greater transparency, echoed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry days later.

British satellite company Inmarsat had provided officials (or its partner, SITA) with data on 11 March, three days after the aircraft disappeared, suggesting the aircraft was nowhere near the areas in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea being searched at that time; and may have diverted its course through a southern or northern corridor, information only publicly acknowledged and released by Najib on 15 March in a press conference.

Questions and criticisms were raised by air force experts and the Malaysian opposition about the current state of Malaysia's air force and radar capabilities. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said it was impossible and unacceptable that the country's advanced British radar system and military readiness had not been triggered by such a diverted flight.

On 14 March, Malaysia Airlines retired the MH370/MH371 flight number pair for the Kuala Lumpur–Beijing–Kuala Lumpur route, replacing them with MH318 and MH319 respectively.

On 24 March, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng reacted sceptically to the conclusion by the Malaysian government that the aircraft had gone down with no survivors. Xie Hangsheng demanded that "all the relevant information and evidence about the satellite data analysis", and said that the Malaysian government must "finish all the work including search and rescue."

Criticism was also levelled at the delay of the search efforts. Explaining why information about satellite signals had not been made available earlier, Malaysia Airlines said that the raw satellite signals needed to be verified and analysed "so that their significance could be properly understood" before it could publicly confirm their existence. Hishammuddin said Malaysian and US investigators had immediately discussed the Inmarsat data upon receiving them on 12 March, and on two occasions, both groups agreed that it needed further processing and sent the data to the US twice for this purpose. Data analysis was completed on 14 March, by then, the AAIB independently arrived at the same conclusion.

On 25 March, Chinese president Xi Jinping said he was sending a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur to consult with the Malaysian government over the missing aircraft. The same day, around two hundred family members of the Chinese passengers protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing. Relatives who had arrived in Kuala Lumpur after the announcement continued with their protesting, accusing Malaysia of hiding the truth and harbouring the murderer. They also wanted an apology for the Malaysian government's poor initial handling of the disaster and its "premature" conclusion of loss, drawn without physical evidence. An op-ed for China Daily said that Malaysia was not wholly to be blamed for its poor handling of such a "bizarre and unprecedented crisis", and appealed to Chinese people not to allow emotions to prevail over evidence and rationality. The Chinese ambassador to Malaysia rebuked the "radical and irresponsible opinions" of the Chinese relatives, and said that they "[did] not represent the views of Chinese people and the Chinese government". The ambassador also strongly criticised Western media for having "published false news, stoked conflict and even spread rumours" to the detriment of relatives and of Sino–Malaysian relations.

Timeline of events

Date (UTC)	Category	Event
7 March	Media	Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines confirms Subang Air Traffic Control outside Kuala Lumpur lost contact with Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 on 8 March 2014 at 02:40 local time (on 7 March 2014 at 18:40 UTC), later corrected to 01:30 local time (17:30 UTC) located at 6°33′05″N 103°20′39″E
	Search	Malaysian and Vietnamese authorities jointly searching in the Gulf of Thailand area; China dispatches two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea.
8 March	Search	An international search and rescue mission mobilised, focusing on Gulf of Thailand. Natuna Islands archipelago and South China Sea. Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Singapore and Indonesia.
	Media	Malaysia Airlines releases passenger manifest of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
		Two men from Austria and Italy, listed among the passengers on MH370, are not in fact on board. Officials in both countries say that each had his passport stolen.
9 March	Search	The search zone expanded, to include areas in the Strait of Malacca as military radar tracking indicates aircraft might have turned west from its flight plan and flight path.
	Investigation	INTERPOL confirms that at least two passengers are found to have been travelling on stolen passports registered in its databases.
10 March	Search	Ten Chinese satellites deployed in the search. Oil slicks on the surface of the South China Sea test negative for jet fuel.
	Media	Malaysia Airlines announces it will give US$5,000 to the relatives of each passenger.
11 March	Investigation	INTERPOL says that two false identities are not linked to the disappearance.
	Media	China activates the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.
12 March	Search	Chinese satellite images of possible debris from Flight 370 in the South China Sea at 6.7°N 105.63°E / 6.7; 105.63 (Possible debris, 12 March) released, but surface search finds no wreckage. Malaysian government receives Inmarsat info that Flight 370 pinged for hours after ACARS went off-line.
	Media	Chinese government criticises Malaysia for inadequate answers regarding Flight 370.
	Investigation	Royal Malaysian Air Force chief says that an aircraft plotted on military radar crossed the Malaysian states of Pahang, Terengganu, Selangor, Perak and Penang after changing course, towards a waypoint called GIVAL at 2:15 local time (18:15 UTC, 7 March), 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Penang Island off Malaysia's west coast. It followed standard aviation corridors. Search and rescue efforts being stepped up in Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
14 March	Investigation	Investigation concludes that Flight 370 was still under human control after it lost ground control contact.
	Media	MAS retires the MH370/MH371 flight number pair.
15 March	Search	New phase of multi-national search and rescue operations within two areas in the northern and southern "corridors". Twenty-six countries involved, among the northern corridor countries are Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, China, Thailand, including South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand. The southern corridor covers Indonesia, Australia, and the Indian Ocean.
		India continues search for Malaysia Airlines MH370; Malaysia ends hunt in South China Sea.
	Investigation	Malaysian police search the homes of both of the aircraft's pilots.
		CTBTO analysts report no clues found from seismic shocks and sound wave monitoring around the world.
16 March	Search	Twenty-five countries are involved in the search. India ends its search in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
17 March	Search	Search area reported by Malaysian authorities to be 2,000,000 square miles (5,200,000 km2), as a belt beneath the last possible arc position stretching from Kazakhstan over Indonesia to the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Australia pledges to lead a search from Sumatra to the southern Indian Ocean.
18 March	Search	China starts a search operation in its own territory. Australia conducts an aerial search through waters West and North of Cocos Islands and Christmas Island (close to Indonesia). Australia also conducts its first aerial search of the southern Indian Ocean, roughly 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) South-west of Perth.
19 March	Search	Australia searches the southern Indian Ocean with three aircraft and three merchant ships, transiting through a slightly revised search area of 305,000 square kilometres (118,000 sq mi) about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) South-west of Perth.
20 March	Media	Prime minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, told parliament that the "new and credible information" had emerged from expert analysis of satellite imagery.
	Search	Five aircraft and a fourth (merchant) ship are dispatched to 44°03′02″S 91°13′27″E.
22 March	Search	Chinese satellite image taken on 18 March shows a possible object measuring 22.5 by 13 metres (74 by 43 ft) at 44°57′30″S 90°13′40″E, approximately 3,170 kilometres (1,970 mi) west of Perth and 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the earlier sighting, but did not confirm the object's nature.
24 March	Media	Prime Minister of Malaysia announces that Flight 370 is assumed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean; Malaysia Airlines states to families that it assumes "beyond reasonable doubt" there are no survivors.
	Search	Search area narrowed to the southern part of the Indian Ocean west and southwest of Australia. The northern search corridor (northwest of Malaysia) and the northern half of the southern search corridor (the waters between Indonesia and Australia) are definitively ruled out. An Australian search aircraft spots two objects at sea, 1,550 miles (2,490 km) southwest of Perth.
26 March	Search	French satellite images captured on 23 March show 122 possible pieces of debris at 44°41′24″S 90°25′19.20″E, 44°41′38.45″S 90°29′31.20″E and 44°40′10.20″S 90°36′25.20″E.
	Media	UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) heads a team of investigators from other states as part of an international effort supporting the Malaysian authorities in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code.
27 March	Search	The search area narrows to roughly 76,000 square kilometres (29,000 sq mi). Thai and Japanese satellite images, captured 24–26 March show floating objects 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of the French observations. Five ships from Australia and China are engaged.
28 March	Search	Search shifts to a new 319,000-square-kilometre (123,000 sq mi) area 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) northeast of the previous search area.
29 March	Media	Malaysia announces that an international panel will be formed under United Nations protocols to investigate the MH370 incident.
30 March	Media	Prime Minister of Australia announces newly formed Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) headed by Angus Houston. Military air crew from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States are actively engaged.
5 April	Search	Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 detects a pulse signal at 25°S 101°E. Ocean Shield also picks up two longer lasting signals.
8 April	Search	Ocean Shield picks up two further signals 3,500 metres deep, close to those of 5 April.
10 April	Search	Another signal is acquired by a sonobuoy deployed near the Ocean Shield signal acquisitions. JACC declares the contact unlikely to be related to MH370. Hydrographic survey ship HMS Echo arrives on scene to provide advanced computer analysis of Ocean Shield collected sonar data and to measure the thermoclines in the area to predict the trajectory of the detected pings.
14 April	Search	An oil slick is found 5.5 km from the estimated location of the pings by Ocean Shield.Ocean Shield ceases towed sonar operations, and readies its submersible, the Bluefin-21 drone, for direct searches for wreckage on the ocean floor.

See also

• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 conspiracy theories
• Zenith Plateau

External links

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• Prime Minister of Malaysia Press Releases.
• Malaysian Ministry of Transport: Press Statements and Briefings from the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and acting Minister of Transport, Director General of the Department of Civil Aviation and Director General of Immigration. Includes transcripts of questions and answers not available on other external links.
• Updates regarding MH370 from Malaysia Airlines
• Australian Maritime Safety Authority MH370 Search Media Kit Original Briefings and charts etc for the MH370 search in the Australian area. Includes MP3 and MP4 videos of Media Briefings. From 1 April 2014, communication regarding the MH370 search were issued by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC). The AMSA site does however include all charts, including those after 1 April.
• JACC: Media releases, press conference transcripts.
• US Department of Defense – MH370: news & photos regarding MH370 from the US Department of Defense (content is in the public domain)