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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 |
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The timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 lists events associated with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 [a] —a scheduled, commercial flight operated by Malaysia Airlines from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport on 8 March 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew. Air traffic control lost contact with Flight 370 less than an hour into the flight, after which it was tracked by military radar crossing the Malay Peninsula and was last located over the Andaman Sea. Analysis of automated communications between the aircraft and a satellite communications network has determined that the aircraft flew into the southern Indian Ocean, before communication ended shortly after 08:19 (UTC+8:00). The disappearance initiated a multi-national search effort that became the most expensive search in aviation history. [2] [3] [4] [5]
In the weeks after Flight 370's disappearance, the search focused on waters in Southeast Asia and an investigation into the disappearance was opened. After a week of searching, Malaysia announced that analysis of communications between the aircraft and a satellite communications network had found that Flight 370 continued to fly for several hours after it lost contact with air traffic control. Its last communication on the network was made along one of two arcs stretching north-west into Central Asia and southwest into the southern Indian Ocean. The northern arc was discounted and the focus of the search shifted to a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean.
On 18 March, a surface search in the southern Indian Ocean, led by Australia, began; it continued until 28 April and searched 4,500,000 square kilometres (1,700,000 sq mi) of ocean. [6] On 24 March 2014, Malaysia's Prime Minister announced that Flight 370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors. In early April, an effort to find the signals emitted from underwater locator beacons (ULBs) attached to the aircraft's flight recorders, which have a 30- to 40-day battery life, was made. Some possible ULB detections were made and a seafloor sonar survey in the vicinity of the detections to scan the seafloor was initiated. The seafloor sonar survey ended on 28 May and scanned 860 km2 (330 sq mi) of seafloor. [7] Neither the surface search nor the seafloor sonar survey found any objects related to Flight MH-370
In May 2014, planning for the next phase of the search was initiated. A bathymetric survey was carried out to measure the seafloor topography in the areas where the next phase was conducted; the survey charted 208,000 km2 (80,000 sq mi) of seafloor topography and continued until December that year. [8] An underwater search began in October 2014 but failed to recover anything of value and was suspended in January 2017 after searching 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) of the southern Indian Ocean. [9] On 29 July 2015, a flaperon from Flight 370 was discovered on a beach in Réunion, approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi) west of the underwater search area; this location is consistent with drift from the underwater search area over the intervening 16 months.
Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:42 local time (MYT; UTC+08:00) en route to Beijing Capital International Airport, where it was expected to arrive at 6:30 local time (CST; UTC+08:00). At 1:19, while Flight 370 was over the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, Malaysian air traffic control (ATC) instructed Flight 370 to contact the next ATC in Vietnam. The final voice contact from Flight 370 was made when its captain replied, "Good night. Malaysian Three Seven Zero". Two minutes later, the aircraft's transponder stopped functioning, causing it to disappear from ATC's secondary radar. Malaysian military radar continued to track the aircraft as it turned left, crossed the Malay Peninsula near the Malaysia–Thailand border, and travelled over the Andaman Sea.
At 2:22, the aircraft disappeared from Malaysian military radar, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north-west of Penang. At 2:25, the aircraft's satellite datalink, which was lost sometime between 01:07 and 02:03, was re-established. Thereafter, the aircraft's satellite data unit (SDU) replied to five hourly, automated status requests between 03:41 and 08:10, and two unanswered ground-to-aircraft telephone calls. At 08:19, the SDU sent a "log-on request" message to establish a satellite datalink, followed by the final transmission from Flight 370 eight seconds later. Investigators believe the 08:19 messages were made between the time of fuel exhaustion and the time the aircraft entered the ocean. After four hours of communication between several ATC centres, the Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre was activated at 6:32. Malaysia Airlines released a press statement at 07:24, stating that contact with Flight 370 had been lost.
Elapsed (HH:MM) | Time | Event | |
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MYT | UTC | ||
1:52 prior | 7 March | Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah [10] [11] signs in for duty. [12] : 1 | |
22:50 | 14:50 | ||
1:28 prior | 23:15 | 15:15 | First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid [10] [11] signs in for duty. [12] : 1 |
00:42 prior | 8 March | 16:00 | The aircraft's SDU logs onto the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 3 |
00:00 | |||
00:13 prior | 00:27 | 16:27 | ATC gives Flight 370 clearance to push back from the gate. [12] : 1 |
00:01:23 prior | 00:40:37 | 16:40:37 | ATC gives Flight 370 clearance to take off. [12] : 1 |
00:00 | 00:42 | 16:42 | Flight 370 takes off from runway 32R at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. [12] : 1 |
00:01 | 00:42:53 | 16:42:53 | ATC gives Flight 370 clearance to climb to Flight Level 180, approximately 18,000 ft (5,500 m) [b] and proceed directly to waypoint IGARI. [12] : 1 |
00:04 | 00:46:39 | 16:46:39 | Flight 370 is transferred from the airport's ATC to Lumpur Radar ATC. [12] : 2 Both the airport and Lumpur Radar ATC are based at the Kuala Lumpur Area Control Centre (KL ACC). [12] : 87–95 |
00:05 | 00:46:58 | 16:46:58 | ATC gives Flight 370 clearance to climb to Flight Level 250; approximately 25,000 feet (7,600 metres). [12] : 2 |
00:08 | 00:50:08 | 16:50:08 | ATC gives Flight 370 clearance to climb to Flight Level 350; approximately 35,000 feet (11,000 metres). [12] : 2 |
00:19 | 01:01:17 | 17:01:17 | The captain [c] informs ATC that Flight 370 has reached Flight Level 350. [12] : 2 |
00:25 | 01:07:48 | 17:07:48 | The final data transmission from Flight 370 using the ACARS protocol is made. [12] : 1 [13] : 36 |
00:25–01:22 | 01:07:48–02:03:41 | 17:07:48–18:03:41 | The satellite communication link is lost sometime during this period. [13] : 36 |
00:25 | 01:07:56 | 17:07:56 | The captain confirms that Flight 370 is flying at Flight Level 350. [12] : 2 |
00:37 | 01:19:30 | 17:19:30 | KL ACC instructs the crew to contact Ho Chi Minh ACC (HCM ACC). The aircraft passes waypoint IGARI as the captain replies, "Good night. Malaysian three seven zero." This is the final voice contact with Flight 370. [12] : 2 |
00:39 | 01:21:13 | 17:21:13 | The position symbol of Flight 370 disappears from KL ACC radar, indicating the aircraft's transponder is no longer functioning. [12] : 2 Malaysian military radar continues to track the aircraft, which "almost immediately" [12] : 3 begins a turn to the left until it is travelling in a south-westerly direction. [12] : 3 |
00:48 | 01:30 | 17:30 | Voice contact is attempted by another aircraft at the request of HCM ACC; mumbling and radio static are heard in reply. [14] |
00:55 | 01:37 | 17:37 | An expected half-hourly ACARS data transmission is not received. [15] |
00:56 | 01:39 | 17:38 | HCM ACC contacts KL ACC to inquire about Flight 370. HCM ACC says verbal contact was not established and Flight 370 disappeared from its radar screens near waypoint BITOD. KL ACC responds that Flight 370 did not return to its frequency after passing waypoint IGARI. [12] : 2 [16] |
01:04 | 01:46 | 17:46 | HCM ACC contacts KL ACC and informs them that radar contact with Flight 370 was established near IGARI but lost near BITOD and that verbal contact was never established. [16] |
01:10 | 01:52 | 17:52 | Flight 370 reached the southern end of Penang Island. First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid's cellphone registered with a cell tower below, though no other data was transmitted. Flight 370 then turned towards northwest along the Strait of Malacca. [17] |
01:15 | 01:57 | 17:57 | HCM ACC informs KL ACC there was no contact with Flight 370, despite attempts on many frequencies and aircraft in the vicinity. [16] |
01:21 | 02:03:41 | 18:03:41 | Malaysia Airlines dispatch centre sends a message to the cockpit instructing pilots to contact Vietnam ATC, to which there is no response. [18] A ground-to-aircraft ACARS data request, transmitted from the ground station multiple times between 02:03–02:05, was not acknowledged by the aircraft's satellite data unit. [13] : 36–39 |
01:21 | 02:03:48 | 18:03:48 | KL ACC contacts HCM ACC and relays information from Malaysia Airlines' operations centre that Flight 370 is in Cambodian airspace. [16] |
01:33 | 02:15 | 18:15 | KL ACC queries Malaysia Airlines' operations centre, which replies that it is able to exchange signals with Flight 370, which is in Cambodian airspace. [16] |
01:36 | 02:18 | 18:18 | KL ACC contacts HCM ACC asking them whether Flight 370 was supposed to enter Cambodian airspace. HCM ACC replies that Flight 370's planned route did not take it into Cambodian airspace and that they had checked; Cambodia had no information about, or contact with, Flight 370. [16] |
01:40 | 02:22 | 18:22 | The last primary radar contact is made by the Malaysian military, 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) north-west of Penang, 6°49′38″N97°43′15″E / 6.82722°N 97.72083°E [19] : 3 |
01:43 | 02:25 | 18:25 | A "log-on request" is sent by the aircraft on its satellite communication link to the Inmarsat satellite communications network. The link is re-established after being lost for between 22 and 68 minutes. [13] : 39 [19] : 18 This communication is sometimes erroneously referred to as the first hourly "handshake" after the flight's disappearing from radar. [20] [21] |
01:52 | 02:34 | 18:34 | KL ACC queries Malaysia Airlines' operations centre about communication status with Flight 370, but it was not sure whether a message sent to Flight 370 was successful. [16] |
01:53 | 02:35 | 18:35 | Malaysia Airlines' operations centre informs KL ACC that Flight 370 is in a normal condition based on signals from the aircraft located at 14°54′00″N109°15′00″E / 14.90000°N 109.25000°E (Northern Vietnam) at 18:33 UTC. KL ACC relays this information to HCM ACC. [16] |
01:57 | 02:39 | 18:39 | A ground-to-aircraft telephone call, via the aircraft's satellite link, goes unanswered. [13] : 40 [19] : 18 |
02:01 | 02:43 | 18:43 | It's reported that U.S. military personnel stationed in Thailand overheard an SOS signal from Flight 370, in which the pilot announced the imminent disintegration of the cabin and requested an emergency landing. This information was relayed to Malaysian authorities. [22] |
02:13 | 02:55 | 18:55 | A "slight seismic event" is detected on the sea floor in the Gulf of Thailand, "possibly related" to Flight 370. [23] |
02:48 | 03:30 | 19:30 | Malaysia Airlines' operations centre informs KL ACC that position information was based on flight projection and is not reliable for aircraft tracking. Between 03:30 and 04:25, KL and HCM ACCs query Chinese air traffic control. [16] |
02:59 | 03:41 | 19:41 | Hourly, automated handshake between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 40 |
03:59 | 04:41 | 20:41 | Hourly, automated handshake between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 40 |
04:27 | 05:09 | 21:09 | Singapore ACC queried for information about Flight 370. [16] |
04:59 | 05:41 | 21:41 | Hourly, automated handshake between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 40 |
05:48 | 06:30 | 22:30 | Flight 370 misses its scheduled arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport. |
05:50 | 06:32 | 22:32 | The Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) is activated. [12] : 2 |
05:59 | 06:41 | 22:41 | Hourly, automated handshake between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 40 |
06:31 | 07:13 | 23:13 | A ground-to-aircraft telephone call placed by Malaysia Airlines, [18] via the aircraft's satellite link, goes unanswered. [13] : 40 [19] : 18 |
06:42 | 07:24 | 23:24 | Malaysia Airlines issues a press statement announcing that Flight 370 is missing. [10] |
07:29 | 08:11 | 8 March | The last successful automated hourly handshake is made with the Inmarsat satellite communication network. [13] : 41 [20] |
00:11 | |||
07:37 | 08:19:29 | 00:19:29 | The aircraft sends a "log-on request" (sometimes referred to as a "partial handshake") to the satellite. [24] [25] Investigators believe this follows a power failure between the time the engines stopping due to fuel exhaustion and the emergency power generator starting. [13] : 41 [19] : 18, 33 |
07:37 | 08:19:37 | 00:19:37 | Following a response from the ground station, the aircraft replies with a "log-on acknowledgement" message at 08:19:37.443. This is the final transmission received from Flight 370. [13] : 41 [19] : 18 |
08:33 | 09:15 | 01:15 | The aircraft does not respond to an hourly, automated handshake attempt. [13] : 41 [20] |
A search and rescue effort is initiated in Southeast Asia on the morning Flight 370 disappears. [26] Two passengers who boarded with stolen passports raise suspicion in the days after the disappearance, but they were later determined to be asylum seekers. [10] [27] On 9 March, some search efforts are launched in the Andaman Sea at the request of Malaysian officials, based on the possibility that the aircraft may have turned back from its flight path; [28] the following day, officials confirm Flight 370 turned back towards Malaysia. [29]
On 15 March, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Flight 370 had remained in contact with a satellite communication network for several hours after it disappeared and that the aircraft was last located by military radar over the Andaman Sea. Analysis of these communications indicate the last communication with the aircraft was made when it was along one of two corridors; one stretching northwest to Central Asia and one stretching southwest into the southern Indian Ocean. [30] The northern corridor was soon discounted and a search of a remote region of the southern Indian Ocean, led by Australia, began on 18 March. [31] On 24 March, Malaysia Airlines and Najib announced that the flight had ended in the Southern Indian Ocean without survivors. [32]
Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight MH370 has lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am, today (8 March 2014). Flight MH370, operated on the B777-200 aircraft, departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am on 8 March 2014. MH370 was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day. The flight was carrying a total number of 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft.
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.
In early April, an intense effort—the "acoustic search"— was made to detect the acoustic signals generated by underwater locator beacons (ULBs, also known as "pingers") attached to the flight recorders on Flight 370. After immersion in water, the ULBs emit an acoustic signal (also called a "ping") at a specific frequency once per second and have a battery life of 30–40 days. Three vessels, including one submarine and a vessel employing a towed pinger locator, tried to detect the acoustic signal along the 7th BTO arc—the centreline of the southern corridor—until 14 April, detecting several possible pings. Analysis of these signals determined they did not match the nominal characteristics of the ULBs; although unlikely, experts determine they may have originated from a damaged ULB. A sonar search of the seafloor begins on 14 April. A search of the ocean surface by aircraft and vessels ends on 28 April and the sonar search—the seafloor sonar survey—ends on 28 May, finding no debris from Flight 370. [19] : 1, 11–14 In late May, work on a bathymetric survey begins in preparation for the next phase of the search. [72] [73]
In early April, Malaysia submits a preliminary report to the ICAO, which is publicly released on 1 May along with recordings of conversations between Flight 370 and air traffic control. [16] [74] On 27 May, the complete log of transmissions between Flight 370 and Inmarsat via satellite are released, following weeks of public pressure. [75]
During this time, preparations are made for the next phase of the search, which was initially scheduled to begin in August, [103] but did not commence until early October. [104] On 26 June, Australia announces details for the next phase of the search—named the "underwater search"—despite the previous underwater towed pinger locator search and sonar survey. A bathymetric survey, begun in May, is necessary to map the seafloor topography before the underwater search. [103] On 6 August, Australia awards a A$50 million tender to conduct the underwater search to Fugro; Malaysia is also contributing assets to the underwater search. [105] [106]
The underwater search commences on 6 October. [104] The search involves four vessels: the GO Phoenix (6 October–20 June), [104] [127] Fugro Discovery (joined search 23 October), [126] Fugro Equator (joined search 15 January), [128] and Fugro Supporter (29 January–early May). [129] [130] The bathymetric survey was suspended on 17 December for the only remaining ship performing the survey, the Fugro Discovery, to be refitted to join the underwater search. During the bathymetyric survey, 208,000 km2 (80,000 sq mi) of seafloor was charted. [8]
On 8 October, the ATSB releases a report on the latest analysis of satellite communications, determining that the most likely location of the aircraft is south of the priority area identified in June. Officials say the search will begin in the area determined in the report. One year after the flight's disappearance, Malaysia declares Flight 370 an accident in accordance with the Chicago Convention in January 2015 [131] [f] and releases an interim report about Flight 370, focusing on factual information. [12] [132]
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On 29 July, a piece of marine debris is found on Réunion—an island in the western Indian Ocean—that resembled an aircraft component. The object is confirmed to be a flaperon from a Boeing 777. A search of the island and nearby waters is launched to locate other possible debris from Flight 370. Other marine debris found on Réunion over the following days is suspected of originating from Flight 370, but only the flaperon is conclusively linked to Flight 370. On 5 August, Malaysia's Prime Minister confirms that the first object discovered is from Flight 370; confirmation from French officials comes on 3 September. In the subsequent months several pieces of debris are determined to be highly likely to have come from Flight 370.
On 17 January 2017 the underwater search for Flight 370 is suspended after a survey of 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi) of the Indian Ocean is unsuccessful in locating the plane.
The search for the missing airliner is already among most expensive in aviation history.
{{cite report}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Timing of ACARS deactivation unclear. Last ACARS message at 01:07 was not necessarily point at which system was turned off
At 2:03 a.m. local time on March 8, the operational dispatch centre of Malaysia Airlines sent a message to the cockpit instructing the pilot to contact ground control in Vietnam, said Sayid Ruzaimi Syed Aris, an official with Malaysia's aviation authority...MH370 did not respond to the message...'At 7:13,' Sayid said, Malaysia Airlines tried to 'make a voice call to the aircraft, but no pickup.'
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that after examining detailed photographs of material washed ashore 10 kilometres east of Augusta, it is satisfied it is not a lead in relation to the search for missing flight MH370.
Houston—who is no longer the JACC chief as he was charged to head the recovery of Australian victims in the downing of Flight MH17 in Ukraine last July...
Deputy Coordinator Judith Zielke will oversee the operations of the JACC
The presence of ex-Tropical Cyclone Haliba created severe conditions in the search area, preventing search operations for several days. As the system moved eastwards, its effects dissipated, allowing for search operations to resume on 17 March.
Fugro Discovery departed the port of Fremantle on 2 April and conducted calibration trials at the test site. On 5 April, the vessel commenced transit to return to the search area. The vessel has been equipped with a new towfish 'Intrepid.'
The search area for Flight MH370 will be doubled if the missing Malaysia Airlines plane cannot be found, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said today. "If we cannot locate the aircraft within the 60,000 square feet, we'll continue the second phase of another 60,000-square-kilometre search", Liow told reporters here.
Malaysia's transport ministry confirmed Sunday that the flaperon that was found has been identified as being from a 777, saying it had been verified by French authorities together with Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and a Malaysian team.
"It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris [...] is indeed MH370," Mr Najib told reporters. "We now have physical evidence that [...] flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean," he added.
[T]he finding of the flaperon is not a reason to doubt the present choice of sea-floor search area. And with only one piece of [Flight 370] found, the presence of ocean eddies makes it essentially impossible to refine the sea-floor search area with any confidence. The flaperon finding does, however, support the flight-path analysis conclusion that the 39°S-32°S segment of the 7th arc is indeed the highest-priority search region for [Flight 370].