Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{short description|Passenger aircraft flight that went missingdisappeared in 2014}}
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| image = Boeing 777-200ER Malaysia AL (MAS) 9M-MRO - color.jpg<!-- Image has been chosen through discussion on the talkpage, if you wish to change the image please mention it on the talkpage first. -->
| image_upright = 1.2
| alt = A9M-MRO, Boeing 777 ina Malaysia Airlines B777-200ER livery just after lifting off the runway
| caption = <!--DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT FORMING CONSENSUS ON TALK PAGE-->The missing aircraft pictured in December 2011
| occurrence_type = Disappearance <!--CURRENTLY, THE AIRCRAFT IS MISSING. DO NOT CHANGE OR EDIT THE OCCURRENCE UNLESS A CAUSE IS CONFIRMED FROMBY INVESTIGATORS-->
| date = {{start date|2014|03|08|df=y}};<br />{{Age in years, months and days|2014|03|08}} ago
| summary = Inconclusive, some debris found <!-- SEE TALK PAGE FOR CURRENT CONSENSUS AND DO NOT EDIT THIS WITHOUT FORMING CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE FIRST -->
| site = [[Indian Ocean]], probablymost likely southern<!-- Please do NOT change or add coordinates unless the accident site is confirmed, as it is all speculation at this point. See TALK PAGE.-->
| coordinates = <!-- Please do NOT add coordinates unless the accident site is confirmed, as it is all speculation at this point. See TALK PAGE.-->
| aircraft_type = [[Boeing 777#777-200ER|Boeing 777-2H6ER]]{{efn|The aircraft was a Boeing 777-200(Extended Range "ER") model; Boeing [[List of Boeing customer codes|assigns a unique code]] for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as an [[infix]] to the model number at the time the aircraft is built, hence "777-2H6(ER)" designates a 777-200 built for Malaysia Airlines (customer code H6).}}<!-- The aircraft model is Boeing 777-200ER. The customer code used at Boeing was "777-2H6ER200ER" as the model number. -->
| aircraft_name =
| operator = [[Malaysia Airlines]]
| IATA = MH370
| ICAO = MAS370
| callsign = MalaysianMALAYSIAN 370
| tail_number = 9M-MRO
| origin = [[Kuala Lumpur International Airport]], [[Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia
| destination = [[Beijing Capital International Airport]], [[Beijing]], China
| stopover =
| stopover0 =
| last_stopover =
| destination = [[Beijing Capital International Airport]]
| occupants = 239
| passengers = 227<!-- 227 is the correct number of passengers. Total on board: 239 = 227 passengers + 12 crew -->
| crew = 12
| fatalities = 239 <!-- Please do NOT change this in ANY way. See TALK PAGE...i.e. the fact that they are "(presumed" dead rather than "actually" dead.-->)
| injuries survivors = 0 (presumed)
| missing =
| survivors = 0 <!-- Please do NOT change this in ANY way. See TALK PAGE.-->
}}
{{MH370}}
{{History of Malaysia}}
'''Malaysia Airlines Flight 370''' ('''MH370'''/'''MAS370'''){{efn|MH is the [[IATA airline designator|IATA designator]] and MAS is the [[ICAO airline designator]]. The flight was also marketed as [[China Southern Airlines]] Flight 748 (CZ748/CSN748) through a [[codeshare agreement]].<ref name="USAToday_2014-03-08"/>}} was an international passenger flight operated by [[Malaysia Airlines]] that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014, while flying from [[Kuala Lumpur International Airport]] in [[Malaysia]] to its planned destination, [[Beijing Capital International Airport]] in [[China]].<ref name="USAToday_2014-03-08" /> The reasoncause forof theits disappearance has not been conclusively determined. TheIt crewis ofwidely regarded as the [[Boeinggreatest 777-200ER]],mystery registeredin asaviation 9M-MROhistory,<ref>{{cite lastweb communicated|title=10 withaviation [[airMysteries trafficof control]]Our (ATC)Time around|url=https://www.caaa.com.au/10-aviation-mysteries-of-our-time/ 38 minutes|website=caaa.com.au after|date=8 takeoffAugust when2022 the|access-date=1 flightSeptember was2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite overweb the|title='The [[Southgreatest Chinaaviation Sea]].mystery Theof aircraftall wastime': lostwhat fromreally ATC'shappened [[secondaryto surveillanceflight radar]]MH370? screens|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/05/flight-mh370-what-happened-mystery-netflix-documentary minutes|website=theguardian.com later,|date=6 butMarch was2023 tracked|access-date=1 bySeptember the2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite Malaysianweb military's|title=Flight [[primaryMH370: radar]]can systemunderwater forsound anothersignals hour,solve deviatingaviation's westwardgreatest frommystery? its|url=https://theconversation.com/flight-mh370-can-underwater-sound-signals-solve-aviations-greatest-mystery-230264 planned|website=theconversation.com flight|date=10 path,June crossing2024 the|access-date=10 [[MalayJune Peninsula]]2024}}</ref> and [[Andamanremains Sea]].the Itsingle left radar range {{convert|200|nmi|km mi}}deadliest northwestcase of [[PenangList Island]]of inmissing northwesternaircraft|aircraft Peninsular Malaysiadisappearance]].
The crew of the [[Boeing 777-200ER]], registered as 9M-MRO, last communicated with [[air traffic control]] (ATC) around 38 minutes after takeoff when the flight was over the [[South China Sea]]. The aircraft was lost from ATC's [[secondary surveillance radar]] screens minutes later but was tracked by the Malaysian military's [[primary radar]] system for another hour, deviating westward from its planned flight path, crossing the [[Malay Peninsula]] and [[Andaman Sea]]. It left radar range {{convert|200|nmi|km mi}} northwest of [[Penang Island]] in northwestern [[Peninsular Malaysia]].
With all 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard [[presumed dead]], the disappearance of Flight 370 was the [[List of accidents and incidents involving a Boeing 777|deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777]] and the deadliest in Malaysia Airlines' history until it was surpassed in both regards by [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17|Malaysia Airlines Flight 17]], which was shot down while flying over [[Ukraine]] four months later on 17 July 2014. The combined loss caused significant financial problems for [[Malaysia Airlines]], which was [[Nationalization|renationalised]] by the [[Government of Malaysia|Malaysian government]] in August 2014.
With all 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard [[presumed dead]], the disappearance of Flight 370 was the [[List of accidents and incidents involving a Boeing 777|deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777]], the deadliest of 2014, and the deadliest in Malaysia Airlines' history until it was surpassed in all three regards by [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17|Malaysia Airlines Flight 17]], which was shot down by Russian-backed forces while flying over [[Ukraine]] four months later on 17 July 2014.
The [[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|search for the missing airplane]] became the most expensive search in the history of aviation. It focused initially on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea, before a [[Analysis of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications|novel analysis of the aircraft's automated communications]] with an [[Inmarsat]] satellite indicated that the plane had traveled far southward over the southern [[Indian Ocean]]. The lack of official information in the days immediately after the disappearance prompted fierce criticism from the Chinese public, particularly from relatives of the passengers, as most people on board Flight 370 were of Chinese origin. Several pieces of debris washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean during 2015 and 2016; many of these were confirmed to have originated from Flight 370. After a three-year search across {{convert|120,000|km2|abbr=on}} of ocean failed to locate the aircraft, the [[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]] heading the operation suspended its activities in January 2017. A second search launched in January 2018 by private contractor [[Ocean Infinity]] also ended without success after six months.
The [[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|search for the missing aircraft]] became the most expensive search in the history of aviation. It focused initially on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea, before a [[Analysis of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications|novel analysis of the aircraft's automated communications]] with an [[Inmarsat]] satellite indicated that the plane had travelled far southward over the southern [[Indian Ocean]]. The lack of official information in the days immediately after the disappearance prompted fierce criticism from the Chinese public, particularly from relatives of the passengers, as most people on board Flight 370 were of Chinese origin. Several pieces of debris washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean during 2015 and 2016; many of these were confirmed to have originated from Flight 370.
Relying mostly on analysis of data from the Inmarsat satellite with which the aircraft last communicated, the [[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] (ATSB) proposed initially that a [[Uncontrolled decompression#Gradual decompression|hypoxia event]] was the most likely cause given the available evidence, although no consensus has been reached concerning this theory among investigators. At various stages of the investigation, possible [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacking]] scenarios were considered, including crew involvement, and suspicion of the airplane's cargo manifest; many [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance theories|disappearance theories regarding the flight]] have also been reported by the media. The Malaysian [[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)|Ministry of Transport]]'s final report from July 2018 was inconclusive, but highlighted Malaysian ATC's failures to attempt to communicate with the aircraft shortly after its disappearance. In the absence of a definitive cause of disappearance, air transport industry safety recommendations and regulations citing Flight 370 have been implemented to prevent a repetition of the circumstances associated with the loss. These include increased battery life on [[underwater locator beacon]]s, lengthening of recording times on [[flight recorder|flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders]], and new standards for aircraft position reporting over open ocean.
After a three-year search across {{convert|120,000|km2|abbr=on}} of ocean failed to locate the aircraft, the [[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]] heading the operation suspended its activities in January 2017. A second search launched in January 2018 by private contractor [[Ocean Infinity]] also ended without success after six months.
Relying mostly on the analysis of data from the Inmarsat satellite with which the aircraft last communicated, the [[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] (ATSB) initially proposed that a [[Uncontrolled decompression#Gradual decompression|hypoxia event]] was the most likely cause given the available evidence, although no consensus has been reached among investigators concerning this theory. At various stages of the investigation, possible [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacking]] scenarios were considered, including crew involvement, and suspicion of the airplane's cargo manifest; many [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance theories|disappearance theories regarding the flight]] have also been reported by the media.
The Malaysian [[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)|Ministry of Transport]]'s final report from July 2018 was inconclusive. It highlighted Malaysian ATC's fruitless attempts to communicate with the aircraft shortly after its disappearance. In the absence of a definitive cause of disappearance, air transport industry safety recommendations and regulations citing Flight 370 have been implemented to prevent a repetition of the circumstances associated with the loss. These include increased battery life on [[underwater locator beacon]]s, lengthening of recording times on [[flight recorder|flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders]], and new standards for aircraft position reporting over open ocean. Malaysia had supported 58% of the total cost, Australia 32%, and China 10%.
== Timeline ==
{{main|Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}}
[[File:MH370 scheduled flight map with labels.png|thumb|upright=1.8<!-- large enough to be readable on an average computer screen...per MOS:IMAGESYNTAX "Images containing important detail (for example, a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable." -->|Map showing the scheduled destination of the flight and the wider surrounding region]]
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER operated by Malaysia Airlines, last made voice contact with ATC at 01:19 [[Time in Malaysia|MYT]], 8 March (17:19 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], 7 March) when it was over the South China Sea, less than an hour after takeoff. It disappeared from ATC radar screens at 01:22 MYT, but was still tracked on military radar as it turned sharply away from its original northeastern course to head west and cross the Malay Peninsula, continuing that course until leaving the range of the military radar at 02:22 while over the Andaman Sea, {{convert|200|nmi|km mi|abbr=}} northwest of Penang Island, in northwestern Malaysia.
[[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|The multinational search effort]] for the aircraft, which was to become the most expensive aviation search in history,<ref name="BBC new search 26 June 14">{{cite news |title=New missing Malaysian plane MH370 search area announced |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28031741 |access-date=15 November 2014 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=26 June 2014 |quote=The search for the missing airliner is already among most expensive in aviation history. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708021345/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28031741 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Reuters search most expensive">{{cite news|title=Search for MH370 to be most expensive in aviation history|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airlines-costs-idUSBREA3709520140408|last=Wardell|first=Jane|location=Sydney|access-date=15 November 2014|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414120207/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/us-malaysia-airlines-costs-idUSBREA3709520140408|archive-date=14 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="telegraph1" /> began in the [[Gulf of Thailand]] and the South China Sea,<ref name="SciSharp">{{cite web |last=Sharp |first=Tim |title=Facts About Malaysia Flight 370: Passengers, Crew & Aircraft |url=https://www.livescience.com/44248-facts-about-flight-370-passengers-crew-aircraft.html |website=livescience.com |publisher=Future plc |date=17 January 2017 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508034843/https://www.livescience.com/44248-facts-about-flight-370-passengers-crew-aircraft.html|archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> where the aircraft's signal was last detected on [[secondary surveillance radar]], and was soon extended to the [[Strait of Malacca]] and Andaman Sea. [[Analysis of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications|Analysis of satellite communications]] between the aircraft and Inmarsat's satellite communications network concluded that the flight continued until at least 08:19 (nearly an hour after Malaysia Airlines publicly announced the plane's loss) and flew south into the southern Indian Ocean, although the precise location cannot be determined. Australia assumed charge of the search on 17 March, when the search effort began to emphasise the southern Indian Ocean. On 24 March, the Malaysian government noted that the final location determined by the satellite communication was far from any possible landing sites, and concluded, "Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."<ref name="BBC_2014-03-24"/> From October 2014 to January 2017, a comprehensive survey of {{convert|120,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} of sea floor about {{convert|1,800|km|mi nmi|abbr=on}}<!-- first occurrence of "kilometre" in article, so shouldn't be abbreviated, except everyone knows what km is --> southwest of [[Perth]], Western Australia, yielded no evidence of the aircraft. Several pieces of [[marine debris]] found on the coast of Africa and on Indian Ocean islands off the coast of Africa—the first of which was discovered on 29 July 2015 on [[Réunion]]—have been confirmed as pieces of Flight 370.<ref name=bbc2/><ref name="mh370.gov.my"/><ref name="MSN debris ID"/><ref name="ATSB Mozambique debris id"/> The bulk of the aircraft has not been located, prompting many theories about its disappearance.
From October 2016 to January 2017, a comprehensive survey of {{convert|120,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} of sea floor about {{convert|1,800|km|mi nmi|abbr=on}}<!-- first occurrence of "kilometre" in article, so shouldn't be abbreviated, except everyone knows what km is --> southwest of [[Perth]], Western Australia, yielded no evidence of the aircraft. Several pieces of [[marine debris]] found on the coast of Africa and on Indian Ocean islands off the coast of Africa—the first of which was discovered on 29 July 2015 on [[Réunion]]—have been confirmed as pieces of Flight 370.<ref name=bbc2/><ref name="mh370.gov.my"/><ref name="MSN debris ID"/><ref name="ATSB Mozambique debris id"/> The bulk of the aircraft has not been located, prompting many theories about its disappearance.
On 22 January 2018, a search by private US marine exploration company Ocean Infinity began in the search zone around {{coord|-35.6|92.8|type:landmark_scale:10000000|name=CSIRO crash area}}, the most likely crash site according to the drift study published in 2017.<ref name="star23">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |title=Ship hired to find MH370 arrives in search zone |date=23 January 2018 |newspaper=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]] |access-date=23 January 2018 |agency=Reuters |location=Sydney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141402/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |title=Norwegian vessel to arrive at MH370 search area this weekend |date=18 January 2018 |newspaper=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=19 January 2018 |last=Shah |first=Aliza |location=Kuala Lumpur |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010703/https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |archive-date=7 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742|title=Malaysia says search resumes for missing flight MH370|work=[[Channel NewsAsia]]|date=23 January 2018|archive-date=24 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070815/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742}}</ref> In a previous search attempt, Malaysia had established a [[Joint Investigation Team]] (JIT) to investigate the incident, working with foreign aviation authorities and experts. Malaysia released a final report concerning Flight 370 in October 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brumfiel |first=Geoff |title=Final Report On MH370 Says Failure To Locate Airliner Is 'Almost Inconceivable' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/03/555330250/final-report-on-mh370-says-failure-to-locate-airliner-is-almost-inconceivable |publisher=NPR |date=3 October 2017 |access-date=31 March 2023}}</ref> Neither the crew nor the aircraft's communication systems relayed a distress signal, indications of bad weather, or technical problems before the aircraft vanished. Two passengers travelling on stolen passports were investigated, but eliminated as suspects. Malaysian police identified the captain as the prime suspect if human intervention was<!-- subjunctive --> the cause of the disappearance, after clearing all others on the flight of suspicion over possible motives. Power was lost to the aircraft's [[satellite data unit]] (SDU) at some point between 01:07 and 02:03; the SDU logged onto Inmarsat's satellite communication network at 02:25, which was three minutes after the aircraft had left the range of radar. Based on analysis of the satellite communications, the aircraft was postulated to have turned south after passing north of [[Sumatra]] and then to have flown for six hours with little deviation in its track, ending when its [[Fuel starvation|fuel was exhausted]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pasztor |first1=Andy |last2=Ostrower |first2=Jon |title=U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Flew On for Hours |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=13 March 2014 |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>
In January 2018, a search by private US marine exploration company Ocean Infinity began in the search zone around {{coord|-35.6|92.8|type:landmark_scale:10000000|name=CSIRO crash area}}, the most likely crash site according to the drift study published in 2017.<ref name="star23">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |title=Ship hired to find MH370 arrives in search zone |date=23 January 2018 |newspaper=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]] |access-date=23 January 2018 |agency=Reuters |location=Sydney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141402/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |title=Norwegian vessel to arrive at MH370 search area this weekend |date=18 January 2018 |newspaper=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=19 January 2018 |last=Shah |first=Aliza |location=Kuala Lumpur |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010703/https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |archive-date=7 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742|title=Malaysia says search resumes for missing flight MH370|work=[[Channel NewsAsia]]|date=23 January 2018|archive-date=24 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070815/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742}}</ref> In a previous search attempt, Malaysia had established a [[Joint Investigation Team]] (JIT) to investigate the incident, working with foreign aviation authorities and experts. Malaysia released a final report concerning Flight 370 on 17 October, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brumfiel |first=Geoff |title=Final Report On MH370 Says Failure To Locate Airliner Is 'Almost Inconceivable' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/03/555330250/final-report-on-mh370-says-failure-to-locate-airliner-is-almost-inconceivable |publisher=NPR |date=3 October 2017 |access-date=31 March 2023 |archive-date=3 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403190342/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/03/555330250/final-report-on-mh370-says-failure-to-locate-airliner-is-almost-inconceivable |url-status=live }}</ref> Neither the crew nor the aircraft's communication systems relayed a distress signal, indications of bad weather, or technical problems before the aircraft vanished. Two passengers travelling on stolen passports were investigated, but eliminated as suspects. Malaysian police identified the captain as the prime suspect if human intervention was<!-- subjunctive --> the cause of the disappearance, after clearing all others on the flight of suspicion over possible motives. Power was lost to the aircraft's [[satellite data unit]] (SDU) at some point between 01:07 and 02:03; the SDU logged onto Inmarsat's satellite communication network at 02:25, which was three minutes after the aircraft had left the range of radar. Based on analysis of the satellite communications, the aircraft was postulated to have turned south after passing north of [[Sumatra]] and then to have flown for six hours with little deviation in its track, ending when its [[Fuel starvation|fuel was exhausted]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pasztor |first1=Andy |last2=Ostrower |first2=Jon |title=U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Flew On for Hours |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=13 March 2014 |access-date=8 March 2023 |archive-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105005526/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282 |url-status=live }}</ref>
With the loss of all 239 lives aboard, Flight 370 is the second-deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 and the second-deadliest incident of Malaysia Airlines' history, second to Flight 17 in both categories. Malaysia Airlines was struggling financially, a problem that was exacerbated by a decrease of ticket sales after the disappearance of Flight 370 and the downing of Flight 17; the airline was renationalised by the end of 2014. The Malaysian government received significant criticism, especially from China, for failing to disclose information promptly during the early weeks of the search.<!-- supported by the "Aftermath" section ("Information sharing", "China" subsections), per WP:Lead only controversial statements in the lead need inline citations --> Flight 370's disappearance brought to public attention the limits of aircraft tracking and flight recorders, including the limited battery life of underwater locator beacons (an issue that had been raised about four years earlier<!-- AF447 was lost almost five years earlier, but the recommendations were made during late 2009, not quite 4.5 years earlier, so four years is more appropriate --> following the loss of [[Air France Flight 447]], but had never been resolved). In response to Flight 370's disappearance, the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] adopted new standards for aircraft position reporting over open ocean, extended recording time for [[cockpit voice recorder]]s, and, starting from 2020, new aircraft designs have been required to have a means of recovering the [[flight recorder]]s, or the information they contain, before they sink into the water.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-malaysia-airlines-flight-safety-20160304-story.html|title=How disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight is changing safety standards|date=4 March 2016|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
With the loss of all 239 lives on board, Flight 370 is the second-deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 and the second-deadliest incident of Malaysia Airlines' history, second to Flight 17 in both categories. Malaysia Airlines was struggling financially, a problem that was exacerbated by a decrease of ticket sales after the disappearance of Flight 370 and the downing of Flight 17; the airline was renationalised by the end of 2014. The Malaysian government received significant criticism, especially from China, for failing to disclose information promptly during the early weeks of the search.<!-- supported by the "Aftermath" section ("Information sharing", "China" subsections), per WP:Lead only controversial statements in the lead need inline citations --> Flight 370's disappearance brought to public attention the limits of aircraft tracking and flight recorders, including the limited battery life of underwater locator beacons (an issue that had been raised about four years earlier<!-- AF447 was lost almost five years earlier, but the recommendations were made during late 2009, not quite 4.5 years earlier, so four years is more appropriate --> following the loss of [[Air France Flight 447]], but had never been resolved). In response to Flight 370's disappearance, the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] adopted new standards for aircraft position reporting over open ocean, extended recording time for [[cockpit voice recorder]]s, and, starting from 2020, new aircraft designs have been required to have a means of recovering the [[flight recorder]]s, or the information they contain, before they sink into the water.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-malaysia-airlines-flight-safety-20160304-story.html|title=How disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight is changing safety standards|date=4 March 2016|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=11 March 2022|archive-date=12 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312205603/https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-malaysia-airlines-flight-safety-20160304-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Aircraft ==
{{multiple image |header=Interior photographs of 9M-MRO{{efn|from (April 2004)}} |align=right |direction=vertical
|image1=Boeing 777-2H6-ER, Malaysia Airlines AN0561319.jpg
|caption1=Cockpit
|image2=Boeing 777-2H6-ER, Malaysia Airlines AN0561322.jpg
|caption2=Economy Classclass Seatsseats
|image3=Boeing 777-2H6-ER, Malaysia Airlines AN0561323.jpg
|caption3=Business Classclass Seatsseats
|caption_align=center
}}
Flight 370 was operated with a Boeing 777-2H6ER,{{efn|The aircraft is a Boeing 777-200ER (for Extended Range) model; Boeing assigns a [[List of Boeing customer codes|unique customer code]] for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which replaces part of the model number at the time the aircraft is built. The code for Malaysia Airlines is "H6", hence "777-2H6ER".<ref name="AutoVQ-29"/>}} [[serial number]] 28420, [[aircraft registration|registration]] 9M-MRO. ItThe was the 404th Boeing 777 produced,<ref name="Airfleets"/> first flown on 14 May 2002, andaircraft was delivered new to Malaysia Airlines on 31 May 2002.<ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my" />{{Rp|39}} The aircraft was powered by two [[Rolls-Royce Trent 800|Rolls-Royce Trent 892]] engines<ref name="Airfleets"/> and configured to carry 282 passengers in total capacity.<ref name="AutoVQ-30"/><ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my" />{{Rp|39}} It had accumulated 53,471.6 hours and 7,526 cycles (takeoffs and landings) in service<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|22}} and had not previously been involved in any major incidents,<ref name=20140308flightglobal/> though a minor incident while taxiing at [[Shanghai Pudong International Airport]] in August 2012 resulted in a broken [[wing tip]].<ref name="20120626news"/><ref name="20120809aviation-safety"/> Its last [[Aircraft maintenance checks|maintenance "A check"]] was carried out on 23 February 2014.<ref name=Flight396801/> The aircraft was in compliance with all applicable Airworthiness Directives for the airframe and engines. A replenishment of the crew member oxygen system was performed on 7 March 2014, a routine maintenance task; an examination of this procedure found nothing unusual.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|27}} Ten years after MH370's disappearance, however, leaked documents have shown that MH370 was given supplemental fuel and crew member oxygen supplies just before takeoff.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunne |first=John |date=2024-03-08 |title='Extra fuel' twist in missing flight MH370 riddle |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/mh370-missing-flight-fuel-oxygen-b1144129.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=Evening Standard}}</ref>
The Boeing 777 was introduced in 1994 and has an excellent safety record.<ref name=BI777>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-777-one-of-safest-planes-in-history-emirates-crash-2016-8?r=US&IR=T |title=A Boeing 777 just crashed, but it's still one of the safest planes ever to fly |first=Benjamin |last=Zhang |date=3 August 2016 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803153823/https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-777-one-of-safest-planes-in-history-emirates-crash-2016-8?r=US&IR=T |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwhitmore/2019/08/16/what-is-the-safest-airplane-to-fly/#5fdb47c65c72 |title=What Is The Safest Airplane To Fly? |date=16 August 2019 |first=Geoff |last=Whitmore |work=[[Forbes]] |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201155103/https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwhitmore/2019/08/16/what-is-the-safest-airplane-to-fly/#5fdb47c65c72 |url-status=live }}</ref> Since its first commercial flight in June 1995, the type has suffered only [[List of accidents and incidents involving a Boeing 777|seven other hull losses]]:<!--in over 5 million flights CHECK & CITE--> the crash of [[British Airways Flight 38]] in 2008; a cockpit fire in a parked [[EgyptAir Flight 667]] at [[Cairo International Airport]] in 2011;<ref name=20121130flightglobal/><ref name="20110729avherald"/> the crash of [[Asiana Airlines Flight 214]] in 2013, in which three people died; [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17]], which was shot down over [[Ukraine]], killing all 298 people aboard in July 2014;<ref name="CNN MH370-MH17"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh17-reportedly-shot-down-near-ukraine-russia-border-1.2709881|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 reportedly shot down near Ukraine-Russia border|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|author=CBC News|location=Dominion of Canada|work=CBC News|date=17 July 2014|access-date=19 July 2014|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111221850/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh17-reportedly-shot-down-near-ukraine-russia-border-1.2709881|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Emirates Flight 521]], which crashed and burned out while landing at [[Dubai International Airport]] in August 2016;<ref name="DC201608">{{cite news |title=Emirates flight from Trivandrum crash-lands in Dubai, passengers safe|url=httphttps://www.deccanchronicle.com/world/asia/030816/emirates-flight-from-trivandrum-to-dubai-crash-lands-passengers-safe.html|access-date=3 August 2016|newspaper=Deccan Chronicle|date=3 August 2016|archive-date=17 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917054413/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/world/asia/030816/emirates-flight-from-trivandrum-to-dubai-crash-lands-passengers-safe.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and in November 2017, the seventh Boeing 777 hull loss occurred when a [[Singapore Airlines]] 777-200ER was written off after catching fire and burning out at [[Singapore Changi Airport]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20171129-0 |title=ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 777-212ER 9V-SQK Singapore-Changi International Airport (SIN) |website=[[Aviation Safety Network|aviation-safety.net]] |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022155801/https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20171129-0 |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Passengers and crew ==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders floatright" style="font-size:85%; text-align:right; margin:0 0 1.5em 1.5em;"
|+
|+ People on board by nationality<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines/>
|-
! scope="col" | Nationality<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines/>
! scope="col" data-sort-type="number"| Count
|-
Line 83 ⟶ 86:
|-
! scope="row" | China
| 153{{efn|Including one Hong KongerKong resident.<ref name="AutoVQ-31"/>}}
|-
! scope="row" | France
| 4
|-
! scope="row" | India<ref>{{cite web |author=Singh |first=Ranjit |date=12 March 2014 |title=MH370: Five Indian nationals identified |url=http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/mh370-five-indian-nationals-identified-31687 |url-status=live title|archive-url=MH370https: Five Indian //web.archive.org/web/20141012212539/http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/mh370-five-indian-nationals -identified-31687 |publisher=astro AWANI |author=Ranjit Singh | archive-date=12 MarchOctober 2014 | access-date=29 May 2014 |publisher=astro AWANI}}</ref>
| 5
|-
Line 117 ⟶ 120:
! scope="row" | United States
| 3
|- style="background: #eaecf0;" class="sortbottom"
!'''Total (14 Nationalities)'''|| style="text-align:leftcenter;" | Total'''239'''
|- class="sortbottom"
| '''239'''
|}
The aircraft was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 different nations.<ref name="BBC who was on board">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26503469|title=Missing Malaysia plane: The passengers on board MH370|date=17 January 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124170939/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26503469|url-status=live}}</ref> On the day of the disappearance, Malaysia Airlines released the names and nationalities of the passengers and crew, based on the [[Manifest (transportation)|flight manifest]].<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines/> The passenger list was later modified to include two Iranian passengers travelling on stolen [[Austrian passport|Austrian]] and [[Italian passport]]s.<ref name="BBC_2014-03-11_a"/><!-- Original list had 1 Austrian & 1 Italian (15 nations), but these turned out to be 2 Iranians (reduced to 14 nations) -->
=== Crew ===
All 12 crew members—two pilots and 10 cabin crew—were Malaysian citizens.<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines/>
* The [[pilot in command]] was 5352-year-old Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah from [[Penang]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fernandez |first1=Celine |last2=Wong |first2=Chun Han |title=Pilot Zaharie, of Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane, a Passionate Aviator |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304020104579431214234709946 |access-date=August 16, 2024 |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |date=March 10, 2014 |quote=Those Who Know Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah Recall an Amiable Geek Who Loves to Fly}}</ref> He joined Malaysia Airlines as a cadet pilot in 1981, and after training and receiving his commercial pilot's licencelicense, he became a [[Second officer (aeronautics)|second officer]] with the airline in 1983. He was promoted to captain of [[Boeing 737-400]] airliners in 1991, captain of [[Airbus A330-300]] in 1996, and captain of [[Boeing 777-200]] in 1998. He had been a type-rating instructor and a type-rating examiner since 2007. Zaharie had a total of 18,365 hours of flying experience.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|13}}<ref name="20140308straitstimes"/><ref name="20140309in"/>
* The [[First officer (aeronautics)|co-pilot]] was 2726-year-old First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid. He joined Malaysia Airlines as a cadet pilot in 2007; after becoming a second officer of Boeing 737-400 airliners, he was promoted to first officer of the Boeing 737-400 in 2010 and then transitioned to the Airbus A330-300 in 2012. In November 2013, he began training as first officer of Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Flight 370 was his final training flight, and he was scheduled to be examined on his next flight. Fariq had accumulated 2,763 hours of flying experience.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|14}}<ref name="20140308nst"/><ref name="cnn-firstoff"/>
=== Passengers ===
Of the 227 passengers, 153 were Chinese citizens,<ref name="BBC who was on board" /> 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 12 different countries.<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines/><ref name="20140309washingtonpost" /> Twenty passengers, 12 of whom were from Malaysia and eight from China, were employees of [[Freescale Semiconductor]].<ref name="20140309washingtonpost" /><ref name="20140308edition" /><ref name="20140309reuters" />
Through a 2007 agreement with Malaysia Airlines, [[Tzu Chi]] (an international Buddhist organisation) immediately sent specially trained teams to Beijing and Malaysia to give emotional assistance to passengers' families.<ref name="AutoVQ-32" /><ref name="20140320npr" /> The airline also sent its own team of caregivers and volunteers<ref name=20140309thestar /> and agreed to bear the expense of bringing family members of the passengers to Kuala Lumpur and providing them with accommodation, medical care, and counselling.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/caregivers-from-malaysia-australia-assigned-to-families-of-passengers-onboa |title=Caregivers from Malaysia, Australia assigned to families of passengers onboard MH370 |website=The Malay Mail |date=9 March 2014 |access-date=30 March 2014 |archive-date=11 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311165415/http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/caregivers-from-malaysia-australia-assigned-to-families-of-passengers-onboa |url-status=live }}</ref> Altogether, 115 family members of the Chinese passengers flew to Kuala Lumpur.<ref name="AutoVQ-33" /> Some other family members chose to remain in China, fearing they would feel too isolated in Malaysia.<ref name="20140310nst" />
== <span id="Disappearance">Flight and disappearance</span> ==
[[File:MH370 flight path with English labels.png|thumb|left<!-- left alignment prevents stacking this image, external media, and radar image -->|upright=1.8<!-- large enough to be readable on an average computer screen...per MOS:IMAGESYNTAX "Images containing important detail (for example, a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable." -->|Known flight path taken by Flight 370 (red), derived from [[primary radar|primary]] (military) and [[Secondary surveillance radar|secondary]] ([[Air traffic control|ATC]]) radar data|alt=Map of southeast Asia that shows the southern tip of Vietnam in the upper right (northeast), Malay Peninsula (southern part of Thailand, part of Malaysia, and Singapore), upper part of Sumatra island, most of the Gulf of Thailand, southwestern part of the South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, and part of the Andaman Sea. The flight path of Flight 370 is shown in red, going from KLIA (lower centre) on a straight path northeast, then (in the upper right side) turning to the right before making a sharp turn left and flies in a path that resembles a wide "V" shape (about a 120–130° angle) and ends in the upper left side. Labels note where the last ACARS message was sent just before Flight 370 crossed from Malaysia into the South China Sea, last detection was made by secondary radar before the aircraft turned right, and where final detection by military radar was made at the point where the path ends.]]
Flight 370 was a scheduled flight in the early morning of Saturday, 8 March 2014, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. It was one of two daily flights operated by Malaysia Airlines from its hub at [[Kuala Lumpur International Airport]] (KLIA) to [[Beijing Capital International Airport]]—scheduled to depart at 00:35 [[Time in Malaysia|local time]] (MYT; [[UTC+08:00]]) and arrive at 06:30 [[Time in China|local time]] (CST; UTC+08:00).<ref>{{cite web|title=Tweet|url=https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/442118255511998464|website=Twitter|publisher=[[Flightradar24]]|access-date=24 October 2014|date=7 March 2014|archive-date=31 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531120037/https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/442118255511998464|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Second daily flight cancelled" /> On board were two pilots, 10 cabin crew, 227 passengers, and {{convert|14296|kg|abbr=on}} of cargo.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015">{{cite web|author=|first=|date=8 March 2014|title=Factual Information, Safety Investigation: Malaysia Airlines MH370 Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRO)|url=http://mh370.mot.gov.my/download/FactualInformation.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309093347/http://mh370.mot.gov.my/download/FactualInformation.pdf|archive-date=9 March 2015|access-date=9 March 2015|website=|publisher=Malaysia Ministry of Transport|location=Malaysia}}</ref>{{Rp|1, 12, 30}}
The planned flight duration was 5 hours and 34 minutes, which would consume an estimated {{convert|37200|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of [[jet fuel]]. The aircraft carried {{convert|49100|kg|lb}} of fuel, including reserves, allowing an endurance of 7 hours and 31 minutes. The extra fuel was enough to divert to [[Alternative airport|alternate airports<!-- Wikilinked because of an issue with semantics, which was an issue raised in the talk page discussion "Alternate is not a synonym of alternative". The wikilink is preferable to using a footnote to explain an "alternate airport" or using "alternative airport", which is not used in aviation. -->]]—[[Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport]] and [[Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport]]—which would require {{convert|4800|kg|lb|abbr=on}} or {{convert|10700|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, respectively, to reach from Beijing.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|1, 30}}
=== Departure ===
At 00:42 MYT, Flight 370 took off from runway 32R,<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|1}} and was cleared by [[air traffic control]] (ATC) to climb to [[flight level]] 180{{efn|name=Flight level|Aircraft altitude is given as feet above sea level and measured, at higher altitudes, by air pressure, which [[Atmospheric pressure#Altitude variation|declines]] as altitude above sea level increases. Using a [[International Standard Atmosphere|standard sea level pressure]] and formula, the nominal altitude of a given air pressure can be determined—referred to as the "pressure altitude". A [[flight level]] is the pressure altitude in hundreds of feet. For example, flight level 350 corresponds to an altitude where air pressure is {{convert|179|mmHg|abbr=on}}, which is nominally {{convert|35000|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=3}} but does not indicate the true altitude.}}—approximately {{convert|18000|ft|sigfig=2}}<!-- since result is 4 digits, using 3 significant figures seems too precise. 18000 ft=5486.4m...so using 5500m as opposed to 5490 is not a huge difference -->—on a direct path to navigational [[waypoint]] IGARI (located at {{coord|6|56|12|N|103|35|6|E|type:landmark_scale:4000000|name=Waypoint IGARI}}). Voice analysis has determined that the first officer communicated with ATC while the flight was on the ground and that the Captain communicated with ATC after departure.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|21}} Shortly after departure, the flight was transferred from the airport's ATC to "Lumpur Radar" air traffic control on [[Airband|frequency]] 132.6 MHz. ATC over peninsular Malaysia and adjacent waters is provided by the Kuala Lumpur [[Area Control Centre]] (ACC); Lumpur Radar is the name of the frequency [[Air traffic control#En route, center, or area control|used for ''en route'' air traffic]].<ref name=FIR-Malaysia /> At 00:46, Lumpur Radar cleared Flight 370 to flight level 350{{efn|name=Flight level}}—approximately {{convert|35000|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=3}}. At 01:01, Flight 370's crew reported to Lumpur Radar that they had reached flight level 350, which they confirmed again at 01:08.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|1–2}}<ref name="Preliminary report">{{cite news|title=Documents: Preliminary report on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|url=http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/world/malaysia-flight-documents/|publisher=Malaysia Department of Civil Aviation|via=CNN|access-date=22 October 2014|archive-date=1 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501200705/http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/world/malaysia-flight-documents/|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Communication lost ===
Line 146 ⟶ 149:
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q13aTqdMAFw ATC conversations with Flight 370] Audio recordings of conversations between ATC and Flight 370 from pre-departure to final contact (00:25–01:19).
}}
The aircraft's final transmission before its disappearance from radar was an automated position report, sent using the [[Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System]] (ACARS) protocol at 01:06 MYT.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|2}}<ref name="Press Con"/><ref name="Ground log">{{cite web |title=Signalling Unit Log for (9M-MRO) Flight MH370 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040818/http://www.dca.gov.my/mainpage/MH370%20Data%20Communication%20Logs.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |url=http://www.dca.gov.my/mainpage/MH370%20Data%20Communication%20Logs.pdf |publisher=Inmarsat/Malaysia Department of Civil Aviation |access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref>{{RP|36}} Among the data provided in this message was the total fuel remaining: {{convert|43800|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ATSB Flight path update">{{cite web|title=MH370 – Flight Path Analysis Update|url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5163181/AE-2014-054_MH370%20-FlightPathAnalysisUpdate.pdf|website=Australian Transport Safety Bureau|access-date=15 November 2014|date=8 October 2014|publisher=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]]|archive-date=18 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918020649/https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5163181/AE-2014-054_MH370%20-FlightPathAnalysisUpdate.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Rp|9}} The last verbal signal to air traffic control occurred at 01:19:30, when Captain Zaharie acknowledged a transition from Lumpur Radar to [[Ho Chi Minh City|Ho Chi Minh]] [[Area Control Centre|ACC]]:{{efn|name=Singapore FIR|Responsibility for air traffic control is partitioned geographically, by international agreements, into [[flight information region]]s (FIRs). Although the airspace at the point where Flight 370 was lost is part of the Singapore FIR, the Kuala Lumpur ACC had been delegated responsibility to provide air traffic control services to aircraft in that part of its FIR.<ref name=FIR-Malaysia />{{Rp|13}}}}<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|2, 21}}<ref name="Preliminary report" /><ref name="Guardian Transcript"/>
{{blockquote|Lumpur Radar: "Malaysian three seven zero, contact Ho Chi Minh one two zero decimal nine. Good night."<br />
Line 159 ⟶ 162:
At the time that the transponder stopped functioning, the Malaysian military's primary radar showed Flight 370 turning right, but then<!-- Source says: "At 1721:13 UTC [0121:13 MYT] the Military radar showed the radar return of MH370 turning right but almost immediately making a constant left turn to a South Westerly direction." --> beginning a left turn to a southwesterly direction.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|3}} From 01:30:35 until 01:35, military radar showed Flight 370 at {{convert|35700|ft|abbr=on}}{{efn|Heights given by primary radar are actual altitudes, unlike the pressure altitudes provided by secondary radar.}} on a 231° magnetic heading, with a ground speed of {{convert|496|kn|km/h mph}}. Flight 370 continued across the Malay Peninsula, fluctuating between {{convert|31000|and|33000|ft|abbr=on}} in altitude.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|3}} A civilian primary radar at [[Sultan Ismail Petra Airport]] with a {{convert|60|nmi|abbr=on}} range made four detections of an unidentified aircraft between 01:30:37 and 01:52:35; the tracks of the unidentified aircraft are "consistent with those of the military data".{{efn|The interim report released by Malaysia during March 2015 states: "All the primary aircraft targets that were recorded by the DCA radar are consistent with those of the military data that were made available to the Investigation Team." The report does not ''explicitly''<!-- emphasis of this term is important and should be italicised per MOS:EMPHASIS --> state that the unidentified aircraft was Flight 370.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|3–4}}}}<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|3–4}} At 01:52<!-- 01:52:35 MYT-->, Flight 370 was detected passing just south of the island of Penang. From there, the aircraft flew across the Strait of Malacca, passing close to the waypoint VAMPI, and [[Pulau Perak]] at 02:03<!-- 02:02:59 MYT -->, after which it flew along air route N571 to waypoints MEKAR, NILAM, and possibly IGOGU.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|3, 38}} The last known radar detection, from a point near the limits of Malaysian military radar, was at 02:22, {{convert|10|nmi|abbr=on}} after passing waypoint MEKAR<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|3, 7}} (which is {{convert|237|nmi|abbr=on}} from Penang) and {{convert|247.3|nmi|abbr=on}} northwest of Penang airport at an altitude of {{convert|29500|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="AutoVQ-2"/><ref name="AutoVQ-66"/>
Countries were reluctant to release information collected from military radar because of sensitivity about revealing their capabilities. [[Indonesia]] has an [[early-warning radar]] system, but its ATC radar did not register any aircraft with the transponder code used by Flight 370, despite the aircraft possibly having flown near, or over, the northern tip of Sumatra.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|4}}<ref name="Preliminary report" /> Indonesian military radar tracked Flight 370 earlier when ''en route'' to waypoint IGARI before the transponder is thought to have been turned off, but did not provide information on whether it was detected afterwards.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|4}}<ref name=WSJ-radar /> Thailand and Vietnam also detected Flight 370 on radar before the transponder stopped working. The radar position symbols for the transponder code used by Flight 370 vanished after the transponder is thought to have been turned off.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|4–5}} Vietnam's deputy minister of transport Pham Quy Tieu stated that Vietnam had noticed MH370 turning back toward the west and that its operators had twice informed Malaysian authorities the same day on 8 March.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/vietnam-says-it-told-malaysia-that-missing-plane-mh370-had-turned-back |title=Vietnam says it told Malaysia that missing plane MH370 had turned back |work=[[The Straits Times]] |date=12 March 2014 |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-date=5 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305231839/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/vietnam-says-it-told-malaysia-that-missing-plane-mh370-had-turned-back |url-status=live }}</ref> Thai military radar detected an aircraft that might have been Flight 370, but it is not known at what time the last radar contact was made, and the signal did not include identifying data.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-thailand-gives-radar-data-10-days-after-plane-lost-20140318-hvk7i.html |title=Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Thailand gives radar data 10 days after plane lost |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |last=Doksone |first=Thanyarat |date=19 March 2014 |access-date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830155007/http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-thailand-gives-radar-data-10-days-after-plane-lost-20140318-hvk7i.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Also, the flight was not detected by Australia's conventional system<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fragment/how-could-australian-radar-miss-flight-mh370 |title=How could Australian radar miss flight MH370? |date=26 March 2014 |publisher=[[Special Broadcasting Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319111421/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fragment/how-could-australian-radar-miss-flight-mh370 |archive-date=19 March 2017}}</ref> or its long-range [[Jindalee Operational Radar Network|JORN]] [[over-the-horizon radar]] system, which has an official range of {{cvt|3000|km}}; the latter was not in operation on the night of the disappearance.<ref name="JORN-FAQ" />
=== Satellite communication resumes ===
{{Further|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications}}
At 02:25 MYT, the aircraft's satellite communication system sent a "log-on request" message—the first message since the [[ACARS]] transmission at 01:07—which was relayed by satellite to a ground station, both operated by satellite telecommunications company [[Inmarsat]]. After logging on to the network, the satellite data unit aboard the aircraft responded to hourly status requests from Inmarsat and two ground-to-aircraft telephone calls, at 02:39 and 07:13, both unanswered by the cockpit.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|18}}<ref name="Ground log" /> The final status request and aircraft acknowledgement occurred at 08:10, about 1 hour and 40 minutes after the flight was scheduled to arrive in Beijing. The aircraft sent a log-on request at 08:19:29, which was followed, after a response from the ground station, by a "log-on acknowledgement" message at 08:19:37. The log-on acknowledgement is the last piece of data received from Flight 370. The aircraft did not respond to a status request from Inmarsat at 09:15.<ref name=ATSB /><ref name="Ground log" /><ref name="Inmarsat(26 March)" /><ref name=Fox-Inmarsat />
Sometime after the final ACARS transmission at 01:06, the satellite communication system aboard the aircraft went offline (possibly due to a power interruption), and remained offline during the plane's initial deviation from its scheduled flight path. However, for an unknown reason, at 02:25 MYT, the aircraft's satellite communication system booted back up and sent a "log-on request" message—the first message since the [[ACARS]] transmission at 01:06—which was relayed by satellite to a ground station, both operated by satellite telecommunications company [[Inmarsat]]. After logging on to the network, the satellite data unit aboard the aircraft responded to hourly status requests from Inmarsat for the next 6 hours and two ground-to-aircraft telephone calls, at 02:39 and 07:13, both unanswered by the cockpit.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|18}}<ref name="Ground log" /> The final status request and aircraft acknowledgement occurred at 08:10, about 1 hour and 40 minutes after the flight was scheduled to arrive in Beijing. The aircraft sent a log-on request at 08:19:29, which was followed, after a response from the ground station, by a "log-on acknowledgement" message at 08:19:37. The log-on acknowledgement is the last piece of data received from Flight 370. The aircraft did not respond to a status request from Inmarsat at 09:15.<ref name=ATSB /><ref name="Ground log" /><ref name="Inmarsat(26 March)" /><ref name=Fox-Inmarsat />
The general consensus among investigators is that Flight 370 crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean sometime between 08:19 and 09:15 on 8 March due to fuel exhaustion, although the exact time and location of the crash remains uncertain.
=== Response by air traffic control ===
Line 168 ⟶ 174:
At 01:38 MYT, Ho Chi Minh Area Control Centre (ACC) contacted Kuala Lumpur Area Control Centre to query the whereabouts of Flight 370 and informed Kuala Lumpur that ACC had not established verbal communication with Flight 370, which was last detected by radar at waypoint BITOD. The two centres exchanged four more calls during the next 20 minutes with no new information.<ref name="Preliminary report" /><ref name="AW atc response" />
At 02:03, Kuala Lumpur ACC relayed to Ho Chi Minh ACC information received from Malaysia Airlines' operations centre that Flight 370 was in Cambodian airspace. Ho Chi Minh ACC contacted Kuala Lumpur ACC twice in the following eight minutes asking for confirmation that Flight 370 was in Cambodian airspace.<ref name="Preliminary report" /> At 02:15, the watch supervisor at Kuala Lumpur ACC queried Malaysia Airlines' operations centre, which said that it could exchange signals with Flight 370 and that Flight 370 was in Cambodian airspace.<ref name="AW atc response" /> Kuala Lumpur ACC contacted Ho Chi Minh ACC to ask whether the planned flight path for Flight 370 passed through Cambodian airspace. Ho Chi Minh ACC responded that Flight 370 was not supposed to enter Cambodian airspace and that they had already contacted [[Phnom Penh]] ACC (which controls Cambodian airspace), which had no communication with Flight 370.<ref name="Preliminary report" /> Kuala Lumpur ACC contacted Malaysia Airlines' operations centre at 02:34, inquiring about the communication status with Flight 370, and were informed that Flight 370 was in a normal condition based on a signal download and that it was located at {{Coord|14|54|N|109|15|E|dim:1000km_region:VN}}.<ref name="AW atc response" /> Later, another Malaysia Airlines aircraft (Flight 386 bound for Shanghai) attempted, at the request of Ho Chi Minh ACC, to contact Flight 370 on the Lumpur Radar frequency – the frequency on which Flight 370 last made contact with Malaysian air traffic control – and on emergency frequencies. The attempt was unsuccessful.<ref name="Preliminary report" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Inquiry details controllers' hunt as MH370 vanished|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/inquiry-details-controllers39-hunt-as-mh370-vanished-398793/|website=[[FlightGlobal]]|first=David |last=Kaminski-Morrow |date= 1 May 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116012804/https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/inquiry-details-controllers39-hunt-as-mh370-vanished-398793/|url-status=live}}</ref>
At 03:30, Malaysia Airlines' operations centre informed Kuala Lumpur ACC that the locations it had provided earlier were "based on flight projection and not reliable for aircraft positioning." Over the next hour, Kuala Lumpur ACC contacted Ho Chi Minh ACC asking whether they had signalledsignaled Chinese air traffic control. At 05:09, [[Singapore]] ACC was queried for information about Flight 370. At 05:20, an undisclosed official contacted Kuala Lumpur ACC requesting information about Flight 370; he opined that, based on known information, "MH370 never left Malaysian airspace."<ref name="Preliminary report" />
The watch supervisor at Kuala Lumpur ACC activated the Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) at 05:30, more than four hours after communication was lost with Flight 370.<ref name="AW atc response">{{cite web |last1=Broderick |first1=Sean |title=First MH370 Report Details Confusion in Hours After Flight Was Lost |url=http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/first-mh370-report-details-confusion-hours-after-flight-was-lost |website=Aviation Week |access-date=22 October 2014 |date=1 May 2014 |archive-date=31 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531141316/http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/first-mh370-report-details-confusion-hours-after-flight-was-lost |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ARCC is a command post at an Area Control Centre that coordinates [[Search and rescue|search-and-rescue]] activities when an aircraft is lost.
=== {{Anchor|Assumed loss}}Presumed loss ===
Malaysia Airlines issued a media statement at 07:24 MYT on 8 March, one hour after the scheduled arrival time of the flight at Beijing, stating that communication with the flight had been lost by Malaysian ATC at 02:40 and that the government had initiated search-and-rescue operations;.<ref name="MAS press statements 8–17 March"/> Unbeknownst to investigators or Malaysia Airlines at the time, Flight 370 was still airborne at the time of this initial media statement, and search-and-rescue operations were commenced while the plane was still in flight over the Indian Ocean (albeit the search-and-rescue operations initially focused on the South China Sea, not the Indian Ocean where Flight 370 presumably crashed). The time when contact was lost was later corrected to 01:21.<ref name="MAS press statements 8–17 March"/> Neither the crew nor the aircraft's communication systems relayed a [[distress signal]], indications of bad weather, or technical problems before the aircraft vanished from radar screens.<ref name="20140312avweek"/>
On 24 March, Malaysian Prime Minister [[Najib Razak]] appeared before media at 22:00 local time to give a statement regarding Flight 370, during which he announced that he had been briefed by the [[Air Accidents Investigation Branch]] that it and Inmarsat (the satellite data provider) had concluded that the airliner's last position before it disappeared was in the southern Indian Ocean. As no places exist where it could have landed, the aircraft must therefore have crashed into the sea.<ref name="20140324theguardian"/>
Line 186 ⟶ 192:
=== Reported sightings ===
The news media reported several sightings of an aircraft fitting the description of the missing Boeing 777. For example, on 19 March 2014, [[CNN]] reported that witnesses including fishermen, an oil rig worker, and people on the [[Kuda Huvadhoo]] atoll in the Maldives saw the missing airliner. A fisherman claimed to have seen an unusually low-flying aircraft off the coast of [[Kota Bharu]], while an oil-rig worker {{convert|186|mi|km}} southeast of [[Vung Tau]] claimed he saw a "burning object" in the sky that morning, a claim credible enough for the Vietnamese authorities to send a search-and-rescue mission, and Indonesian fishermen reported witnessing an aircraft crash near the [[Malacca Straits]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martinez |first1=Michael |title=Flying low? Burning object? Ground witnesses claim they saw Flight 370 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/19/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-ground-witnesses/ |access-date=19 May 2015 |agency=CNN |date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001061103/https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/19/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-ground-witnesses/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Three months later, the ''[[ThePhuket Daily TelegraphGazette]]'' reported that a British woman sailing in the Indian Ocean claimed to have seen an aircraft on fire.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Husted |first1=Chris |title="I thought I saw MH370 on fire,' says Phuket yachtie |url=https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/I-thought-saw-MH370-fire-says-Phuket-yachtie |access-date=9 August 2024 |publisher=Phuket Gazette |date=2 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605015441/http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/I-thought-saw-MH370-fire-says-Phuket/29654#ad-image-0 |archive-date=5 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pearlman |first1=Jonathan |title=Malaysia Airlines plane search: British yachtswoman 'saw MH370 on fire' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10872261/Malaysia-Airlines-plane-search-British-yachtswoman-saw-MH370-on-fire.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10872261/Malaysia-Airlines-plane-search-British-yachtswoman-saw-MH370-on-fire.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2015 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=3 June 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
== Search ==
{{Main|Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}}
[[File:Ocean Shield deploys the Bluefin 21 underwater vehicle.jpg|thumb|right|[[ADV Ocean Shield|ADV ''Ocean Shield'']] deploys the [[Bluefin-21]] autonomous underwater vehicle, which conducted the seafloor sonar survey from 14 April to 28 May 2014|alt=Crane lowering the Bluefin 21 into the water]]
A search-and-rescue effort was launched in [[southeast Asia]] soon after the disappearance of Flight 370. Following the initial analysis of communications between the aircraft and a satellite, the surface search was moved to the southern Indian Ocean one week after the aircraft's disappearance. Between 18 March and 28 April, 19 vessels and 345 sorties by military aircraft searched over {{convert|4600000|sqkm|abbr=on}}.<ref name="SIO search facts statistics">{{cite web|title=Search for MH370 Facts and statistics Surface search of the southern Indian Ocean 17 March – 28 April 2014|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/search/files/MH370_Facts_and_statistics-Surface_search_of_the_southern_Indian_Ocean.pdf|website=jacc.gov.au|publisher=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=5 December 2014|archive-date=11 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311183840/http://www.jacc.gov.au/search/files/MH370_Facts_and_statistics-Surface_search_of_the_southern_Indian_Ocean.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The final phase of the search was a [[bathymetric survey]] and sonar search of the sea floor, about {{convert|1800|km|nmi mi}} southwest of Perth, Western Australia.<ref name="NCA: ATSB October update">{{cite news|title=MH370 missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Search might be in wrong spot, investigators say|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-search-might-be-in-wrong-spot-investigators-say/story-fnizu68q-1227084277721|access-date=19 October 2014|publisher=[[News Corp Australia]] | website=[[News.com.au]] |first=Robyn |last=Ironside|date=9 October 2014|archive-date=19 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019090105/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-search-might-be-in-wrong-spot-investigators-say/story-fnizu68q-1227084277721|url-status=live}}</ref> With effect from 30 March 2014, the search was coordinated by the [[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]] (JACC), an Australian government agency that was established specifically to manage the effort to locate and recover Flight 370, and which primarily involved the Malaysian, Chinese, and Australian governments.<ref name=JACC-about>{{cite web|title=About Us|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/about.aspx|website=jacc.gov.au|publisher=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=5 December 2014|archive-date=10 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310181856/http://www.jacc.gov.au/about.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:US_Navy_P-8_Poseidon_taking_off_at_Perth_Airport.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Boeing P-8 Poseidon|P-8 Poseidon]] patrol aircraft of the [[US Navy]] departs [[Perth Airport]] to search for Flight 370, 22 March 2014]]
On 17 January 2017, the official search for Flight 370—which had proven to be the most expensive search operation in aviation history<ref name="CNN search expense">{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Sophie |date=16 June 2014 |title=MH370: How long will the search continue? |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-how-long-will-search-continue/ |accessurl-datestatus=15live November 2014|workarchive-url=CNNhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141214111433/http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-how-long-will-search-continue/ |archive-date=1614 JuneDecember 2014 |access-date=15 November 2014 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref name="Newsweek search continues August 2014">{{cite news|title=The Hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Continues|url=http://www.newsweek.com/hunt-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-continues-263291|access-date=15 November 2014|work=Newsweek|agency=Reuters|date=6 August 2014|archive-date=14 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214100614/http://www.newsweek.com/hunt-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-continues-263291|url-status=live}}</ref>—was suspended after yielding no evidence of the aircraft other than some marine debris on the coast of Africa.<ref name="Search suspended">{{cite news|title=MH370: Families say search suspension for Malaysian plane 'irresponsible'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38647365|access-date=17 January 2017|work=BBC News|date=17 January 2017|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117081607/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38647365|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bloomberg: search costs Jan 2017">{{cite news|last1=Whitley|first1=Angus|title=MH370 Search Ends to Leave Aviation's Biggest Mystery Unsolved|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/mh370-search-ends-to-leave-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-unsolved|access-date=17 January 2017|work=Bloomberg News|date=17 January 2017|quote=Australian investigators put the cost of the operation at A$180 million ($135 million).|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117210708/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/mh370-search-ends-to-leave-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-unsolved|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CNN: search cost Jan 2017">{{cite news|last1=Perry|first1=Juliet|last2=Berlinger|first2=Joshua|title=MH370: Underwater search for missing plane suspended|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/asia/mh370-search-suspended/index.html|access-date=17 January 2017|work=CNN|date=17 January 2017|quote=151 – Estimated cost of search in millions of U.S. dollars|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117062931/http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/asia/mh370-search-suspended/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CT: search cost Jan 2017">{{cite news|title=After 3 years, MH370 search ends with no plane, few answers|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-mh370-search-ends-20170116-story.html|access-date=17 January 2017|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=17 January 2017|quote=The Joint Agency Coordination Center in Australia, which has helped lead the $160 million hunt for the Boeing 777 in remote waters west of Australia, said the search had officially been suspended after crews finished their fruitless sweep of the 120,000-square kilometer (46,000-square mile) search zone.|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117224843/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-mh370-search-ends-20170116-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The final ATSB report, published on 317 October 2017, stated that the underwater search for the aircraft, {{as of|2017|June|30|lc=y}}, had cost a total of US$155 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=155000000|start_year=2017}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}). The underwater search accounted for 86% of this amount, [[bathymetry]] 10%, and [[programme management]] 4%. Malaysia had supported 58% of the total cost, Australia 32%, and China 10%.<ref name=Flight3Oct2017>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/atsb-final-mh370-report-calls-for-more-precise-flig-441732/ |title= ATSB final MH370 report calls for more precise flight tracking |date= 3 October 2017 |first= Greg |last= Waldron |website= [[FlightGlobal]] |access-date= 3 October 2017 |archive-date= 3 October 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171003065523/https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/atsb-final-mh370-report-calls-for-more-precise-flig-441732/ |url-status= live }}</ref> The report also concluded that the location where the aircraft went down had been narrowed to an area of {{convert|25,000|sqkm|abbr=on}} by using satellite images and debris drift analysis.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/03/mh370s-location-an-almost-inconceivable-mystery-final-report|title=MH370's location an 'almost inconceivable' mystery – final report|first=Christopher|last=Knaus|website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=3 October 2017|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017222854/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/03/mh370s-location-an-almost-inconceivable-mystery-final-report|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ATSB Final Report AE-2014-054">{{cite web|url=https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5773565/operational-search-for-mh370_final_3oct2017.pdf|title=ATSB Transport Safety Report, External Aviation Investigation, AE-2014-054: The Operational Search for MH370|publisher=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]]|date=3 October 2017|access-date=7 October 2017|format=Final report|archive-date=10 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310104643/https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5773565/operational-search-for-mh370_final_3oct2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In January 2018, the private American marine-exploration company Ocean Infinity resumed the search for MH370 in the narrowed 25,000 km<sup>2</sup> area, using the Norwegian ship ''[[Seabed Constructor]]''.<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/07/us-company-resumes-search-missing-flight-mh370/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/07/us-company-resumes-search-missing-flight-mh370/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=US company resumes search for missing flight MH370|date=7 January 2018|work=The Telegraph|access-date=7 January 2018|agency=Associated Press|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-ocean-infinity-new-search-for-missing-plane/|title=MH370: Private company to resume search for lost Malaysia Airlines plane|access-date=7 January 2018|archive-date=7 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107221527/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-ocean-infinity-new-search-for-missing-plane/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="InfinityWeek1"/><ref name="economist.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21733399-swarm-submarine-drones-will-scour-depths-plane-fantastical-ship|title=A fantastical ship has set out to seek Malaysian Airlines flight 370|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=8 January 2018|archive-date=21 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421162746/https://economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21733399-swarm-submarine-drones-will-scour-depths-plane-fantastical-ship|url-status=live}}</ref> The search area was significantly extended during the course of the search, and by the end of May 2018, the vessel had searched a total area of more than {{convert|112000|sqkm|abbr=on}} using eight [[autonomous underwater vehicle]]s (AUVs).<ref name="InfinityWeek5">{{cite web|title=MH 370 Operational Search Update #5|url=https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-5.pdf|website=oceaninfinity.com|publisher=Government of Malaysia|access-date=1 March 2018|archive-date=2 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302044511/https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-5.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="conclusion">{{cite web |title= MH370 Conclusion of current search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 |url= https://oceaninfinity.com/conclusion-current-search-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370/ |website= oceaninfinity.com |publisher= oceaninfinity |access-date= 29 May 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180530035152/https://oceaninfinity.com/conclusion-current-search-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370/ |archive-date= 30 May 2018 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The contract with the Malaysian government ended soon afterward, and the search was concluded without success on 9 June 2018.<ref name="ended"/>
=== Southeast Asia ===
{{anchor|initial search area}}[[File:MH370 initial search Southeast Asia.svg|thumb|upright=2<!-- large enough to be at least somewhat readable; in line with MOS:IMAGESYNTAX -->|The initial search area in Southeast Asia|alt=Map of southeast Asia with flight path and planned flight path of Flight 370 in the foreground. The search areas are depicted in a transparent grey colour. Search areas include the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand near the location where Flight 370 disappeared from secondary radar, a rectangular area over the Malay Peninsula, and a region that covers roughly half of the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea.<!-- alt=A bathymetric map of Southeast Asia with the known flight path of Flight 370 shown. -->]]
The Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) was activated at 05:30 MYT—four hours after communication was lost with the aircraft—to coordinate search and rescue efforts.<ref name="AW atc response" /> Search efforts began in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. On the second day of the search, Malaysian officials said that radar recordings indicated that Flight 370 may have turned around before vanishing from radar screens;<ref name="20140309washingtonpost" /> the search zone was expanded to include part of the [[Strait of Malacca]].<ref name="AutoVQ-63"/> On 12 March, the chief of the [[Royal Malaysian Air Force]] announced that an unidentified aircraft—believed to be Flight 370—had travelled across the Malay peninsula and was last sighted on military radar {{convert|370|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} northwest of the island of Penang; search efforts were subsequently increased in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.<ref name="AutoVQ-66"/>
Records of signals sent between the aircraft and a communications satellite over the Indian Ocean revealed that the plane had continued flying for almost six hours after its final sighting on Malaysian military radar. Initial analysis of these communications determined that Flight 370 was along one of two arcs—equidistant from the satellite—when its last signal was sent. On 15 March, the same day upon which the analysis was disclosed publicly, authorities announced that they would abandon search efforts in the South China Sea, Gulf of Thailand, and Strait of Malacca in order to focus their efforts on the two corridors. The northern arc—from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan—was soon discounted, for the aircraft would have had to pass through heavily militarised airspace, and those countries claimed that their military radar would have detected an unidentified aircraft entering their airspace.<ref name="AutoVQ-68"/><ref name=TheGuardian-16032014>{{cite news |last1=Hodal |first1=Kate |title=Flight MH370: Malaysia asks for help in continued search for missing plane |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/16/flight-mh370-malaysia-asks-help-missing-plane |access-date=4 November 2014 |work=The Guardian |location=Songkhla |date=16 March 2014 |url-access=registration |archive-date=3 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103190237/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/16/flight-mh370-malaysia-asks-help-missing-plane |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="20140315nytblog"/>
=== Southern Indian Ocean ===
Line 208 ⟶ 214:
==== Initial search ====
From 18 to 27 March 2014, the search effort focused on a {{convert|305000315000|sqkm|abbr=on}} area about {{convert|2600|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} southwest of Perth.<ref name="Search map 19 March"/> The search area, which Australian prime minister [[Tony Abbott]] called "as close to nowhere as it's possible to be", is renowned for its [[Roaring Forties|strong winds]], inhospitable climate, hostile seas, and deep ocean floors.<ref name="AutoVQ-17"/><ref name="Search map 18 March"/> Satellite imagery of the region was analysed;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/perth-remote-sensing-firm-on-mh370-mission-ng-ya-368670|title=Perth remote sensing firm on MH370 mission|date=3 April 2014|website=The West Australian|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207035233/https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/perth-remote-sensing-firm-on-mh370-mission-ng-ya-368670|url-status=live}}</ref> several objects of interest and two possible debris fields were identified on images made between 16 and 26 March. None of these possible objects were found by aircraft or ships.<ref name="BBC-satellite debris">{{cite news|title=Flight MH370: Images of ocean debris|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26662641|access-date=10 November 2014|publisher=BBC News|date=28 March 2014|archive-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321143007/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26662641|url-status=live}}</ref>
Revised estimates of the radar track and the aircraft's remaining fuel led to a move of the search {{convert|1100|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} northeast of the previous area on 28 March,<ref name="BBC_2014-03-28_b"/><ref name="NST(28 March)"/><ref name="CNN(28 March)"/> which was followed by another shift on 4 April.<ref name="JACC_2014-04-04_mr006">{{cite web|title=Search and recovery continues for Malaysian flight MH370 (4 April 2014 am)|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr006.aspx|publisher=[[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]]|date=4 April 2014|access-date=6 May 2014|archive-date=5 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505071902/http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr006.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Search map 4 April">{{cite web|url=https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/asset.amsa.gov.au/MH370+Day+18/Charts/2014_04_04_cumulative_search_handout.pdf|title=Incident 2014/1475 – search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 – area searched (4 April)|publisher=Australian Maritime Safety Authority|date=4 April 2014|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035159/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/asset.amsa.gov.au/MH370+Day+18/Charts/2014_04_04_cumulative_search_handout.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 2 and 17 April, an effort was made to detect the [[underwater locator beacon]]s (ULBs, informally known as "pingers") attached to the aircraft's [[flight recorder]]s, because the beacons' batteries were expected to expire around 7 April.<ref name="BBC_2014-03-31_a">{{cite news|last=Donnison|first=Jon|title=Malaysia flight MH370: No time limit on search, says Tony Abbott|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26814929|work=BBC News|date=31 March 2014|access-date=8 May 2014|archive-date=3 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403095926/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26814929|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="British submarine">{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1235477/royal-navy-submarine-joins-mh370-search |title=Royal Navy Submarine Joins MH370 Search |date=2 April 2014 |access-date=12 April 2015 |publisher=Sky News |archive-date=7 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707163000/http://news.sky.com/story/1235477/royal-navy-submarine-joins-mh370-search |url-status=live }}</ref> Australian naval cutter [[ABFC Ocean Shield|ADV ''Ocean Shield'']], equipped with a [[towed pinger locator]] (TPL), joined China's ''[[Haixun 01]]'', equipped with a hand-held hydrophone, and the Royal Navy's [[HMS Echo (H87)|HMS ''Echo'']], equipped with a hull-mounted hydrophone, in the search.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|11–12}}<ref name="ATSB Final Report AE-2014-054"/>{{rp|36}}<ref name="BBC_2014-03-31_a"/><ref name=20140404IBT>{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.com/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-towed-pinger-locators-deployed-underwater-hunt-black-1567381?ft=74gk7 | title=Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Towed Pinger Locators Deployed, Underwater Hunt For Black Box Launched With Hopes Of A Breakthrough | website=International Business Times | date=4 April 2014 | access-date=23 March 2018 | first1=Suman | last1=Varandani | archive-date=24 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324041402/http://www.ibtimes.com/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-towed-pinger-locators-deployed-underwater-hunt-black-1567381?ft=74gk7 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="JACC_2014-04-04_mr007">{{cite web|title=Pinger locator equipment commences operation (4 April 2014)|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr007.aspx|publisher=[[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]]|date=4 April 2014|access-date=6 May 2014|archive-date=31 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531173951/http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr007.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Operators considered the effort to have little chance of success<ref name="wday95224">{{cite web|url=http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/95224/group/News/ |title=Only days left before Malaysia airlines flight 370's black box dies |publisher=WDAY |date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407072117/http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/95224/group/News/ |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=13 July 2014 }}</ref> given the vast search area and the fact that a TPL can only search up to {{convert|50|mi2|order=flip|km2|abbr=on}} per day.<ref name="wday95224"/>
Revised estimates of the radar track and the aircraft's remaining fuel led to a move of the search {{convert|1100|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} northeast of the previous area on 28 March,<ref name="BBC_2014-03-28_b"/><ref name="NST(28 March)"/><ref name="CNN(28 March)"/> which was followed by another shift on 4 April.<ref name="JACC_2014-04-04_mr006">{{cite web|title=Search and recovery continues for Malaysian flight MH370 (4 April 2014 am)|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr006.aspx|publisher=[[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]]|date=4 April 2014|access-date=6 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="Search map 4 April">{{cite web|url=https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/asset.amsa.gov.au/MH370+Day+18/Charts/2014_04_04_cumulative_search_handout.pdf|title=Incident 2014/1475 – search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 – area searched (4 April)|publisher=Australian Maritime Safety Authority|date=4 April 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref> Between 2 and 17 April, an effort was made to detect the [[underwater locator beacon]]s (ULBs, informally known as "pingers") attached to the aircraft's [[flight recorder]]s, because the beacons' batteries were expected to expire around 7 April.<ref name="BBC_2014-03-31_a">{{cite news|last=Donnison|first=Jon|title=Malaysia flight MH370: No time limit on search, says Tony Abbott|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26814929|work=BBC News|date=31 March 2014|access-date=8 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="British submarine">{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/story/1235477/royal-navy-submarine-joins-mh370-search |title=Royal Navy Submarine Joins MH370 Search |date=2 April 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015|publisher=Sky News }}</ref> Australian naval cutter [[ABFC Ocean Shield|ADV ''Ocean Shield'']], equipped with a [[towed pinger locator]] (TPL), joined China's ''[[Haixun 01]]'', equipped with a hand-held hydrophone, and the Royal Navy's [[HMS Echo (H87)|HMS ''Echo'']], equipped with a hull-mounted hydrophone, in the search.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|11–12}}<ref name="ATSB Final Report AE-2014-054"/>{{rp|36}}<ref name="BBC_2014-03-31_a"/><ref name=20140404IBT>{{cite web | url=http://www.ibtimes.com/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-towed-pinger-locators-deployed-underwater-hunt-black-1567381?ft=74gk7 | title=Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Towed Pinger Locators Deployed, Underwater Hunt For Black Box Launched With Hopes Of A Breakthrough| website=International Business Times | date=4 April 2014 | access-date=23 March 2018 | first1=Suman | last1=Varandani}}</ref><ref name="JACC_2014-04-04_mr007">{{cite web|title=Pinger locator equipment commences operation (4 April 2014)|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/media/releases/2014/april/mr007.aspx|publisher=[[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]]|date=4 April 2014|access-date=6 May 2014}}</ref> Operators considered the effort to have little chance of success<ref name="wday95224">{{cite web|url=http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/95224/group/News/ |title=Only days left before Malaysia airlines flight 370's black box dies |publisher=WDAY |date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407072117/http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/95224/group/News/ |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=13 July 2014 }}</ref> given the vast search area and the fact that a TPL can only search up to {{convert|50|mi2|order=flip|km2|abbr=on}} per day.<ref name="wday95224"/> Between 4 and 8 April, several acoustic detections were made that were close to the frequency and rhythm of the sound emitted by the flight recorders' ULBs; [[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370#Underwater locator beacons|analysis of the acoustic detections]] determined that, although unlikely, the detections could have come from a damaged ULB.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|13}} A sonar search of the seafloor near the detections was carried out between 14 April and 28 May but yielded no sign of Flight 370.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|14}} In a March 2015 report, it was revealed that the battery of the ULB attached to Flight 370's flight data recorder may have expired in December 2012 and thus may not have been as capable of sending signals as would an unexpired battery.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://phys.org/news/2015-03-mh370-underwater-beacon-battery-expired.html |title=MH370 report: Underwater locator beacon battery had expired |work=phys.org |last=Ng |first=Eileen |date=8 March 2015 |access-date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014234441/https://phys.org/news/2015-03-mh370-underwater-beacon-battery-expired.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Samantha |last=Hawley |title=Malaysia Airlines MH370: Report finds battery powering locator beacon on black box expired in 2012, no red flags raised over crew or aircraft |date=8 March 2015 |access-date=8 March 2015 |website=Australian Broadcasting Corp. |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-08/mh370-report-says-black-box-locator-beacon-expired/6289462 |archive-date=8 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308132611/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-08/mh370-report-says-black-box-locator-beacon-expired/6289462 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== Underwater search ====
{{commons and category|Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|Category:Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}}
In late June 2014, details of the next phase of the search were announced;<ref>{{cite news|last1=Smyth|first1=Jamie|title=Search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to resume in new area|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/912130e8-fd06-11e3-8ca9-00144feab7de.html#axzz3JS0bpHI4|access-date=18 November 2014|work=Financial Times|date=26 June 2014|archive-date=31 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831224222/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/912130e8-fd06-11e3-8ca9-00144feab7de.html#axzz3JS0bpHI4|url-status=live}}</ref> officials have called this phase the "underwater search" despite the previous seafloor sonar survey.<ref name=JACC-search>{{cite web|title=Search for MH370|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/search/index.aspx|website=jacc.gov.au|publisher=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=14 December 2014|archive-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620180213/http://www.jacc.gov.au/search/index.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Continued refinement of the analysis of Flight 370's satellite communications identified a "wide area search" along the "7th arc"{{efn|name="7th arc"}} where Flight 370 was located when it last communicated with the satellite. The priority search area was in the southern extent of the wide area search.<ref name="Operational search update 8 Oct">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update |url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20141008.aspx|website=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=12 November 2014|date=8 October 2014|archive-date=8 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208064243/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20141008.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the equipment used for the underwater search is known to be most effective when towed {{convert|650|ft|order=flip|abbr=on}} above the seafloor at the end of a {{convert|6|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} cable.<ref name="NYT-bathymetric survey">{{cite news|last1=Innis|first1=Michelle|title=Rugged Seabed Seen in New Maps Further Complicates Search for Malaysia Airlines Jet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/world/asia/search-resumes-for-missing-malaysian-airliner.html|access-date=18 November 2014|work=The New York Times|date=6 October 2014|archive-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027123923/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/world/asia/search-resumes-for-missing-malaysian-airliner.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Available [[Bathymetry|bathymetric]] data for this region was of poor resolution, thus necessitating a bathymetric survey of the search area before the underwater phase began.<ref name="Operational search update 5 Nov">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update |url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20141105.aspx|website=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|date=5 November 2014|access-date=5 December 2014|archive-date=11 March 2018|archive-url=http://webarchive.nla.gov.au/gov/20180311050517/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20141105.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Commencing in May, the survey charted around {{convert|208000|sqkm|abbr=on}} of seafloor until 17 December 2014, when it was suspended so that the ship conducting the survey could be mobilised in the underwater search.<ref name="JACC search update 7 Jan">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|date= 7 January 2015|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150107.aspx|website=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=8 January 2015|archive-date=10 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110070806/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150107.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
The governments of Malaysia, China, and Australia made a joint commitment to thoroughly search {{convert|120000|sqkm|abbr=on}} of seafloor.<ref name="Operational search update 09 December 2015">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|url=http://jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20151209.aspx|website=JACC|access-date=9 December 2015|date=9 December 2015|archive-date=10 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210213135/http://jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20151209.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> This phase of the search, which began on 6 October 2014,<ref name="Operational search update 8 Oct" /> used three vessels equipped with towed deep-water vehicles that use side-scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounders, and video cameras to locate and identify aircraft debris.<ref name="WSJ-5th phase begins">{{cite news|last=Stewart|first=Robb M|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Search Reboots|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-search-reboots-1412578236|access-date=8 October 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=6 October 2014|archive-date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009010007/http://online.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-search-reboots-1412578236|url-status=live}}</ref> A fourth vessel participated in the search between January and May 2015, using an [[autonomous underwater vehicle|AUV]] to search areas that could not be effectively searched using equipment on the other vessels.<ref name="14 Jan 2015 Search update">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150114.aspx|website=JACC|access-date=2 February 2015|date=14 January 2015|quote=Fugro Supporter is expected to arrive in the search area and commence search activities in late January. Fugro Supporter has been equipped with a Kongsberg HUGIN 4500 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The AUV will be used to scan those portions of the search area that cannot be searched effectively by the equipment on the other search vessels.|archive-date=19 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119230517/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150114.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="JACC search update 28 Jan 2015">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|date= 28 January 2015|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150128.aspx|website=JACC|access-date=1 February 2015|archive-date=30 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130023357/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150128.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="13 May 2015 search update">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|url=http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150513.aspx|website=JACC|access-date=2 June 2015|date=13 May 2015|archive-date=17 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517124216/http://www.jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150513.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the discovery of the flaperon on Réunion, the [[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] (ATSB) reviewed its drift calculations for debris from the aircraft and, according to the JACC, was satisfied that the search area was still the most likely crash site.<ref name="Operational search update 5 August 2015" /> Reverse drift modelling of the debris, to determine its origin after 16 months, also supported the underwater search area, although this method is very imprecise over long periods.<ref name="Operational search update 5 August 2015" /> On 17 January 2017, the three countries jointly announced the suspension of the search for Flight 370.<ref name="Search suspended"/><ref name="MH370 Joint Communique">{{cite web|title=MH370 Joint Communique|url=http://jacc.gov.au/media/communiques/2017/com005.aspx|website=JACC|date=17 January 2017|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=17 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117171757/http://jacc.gov.au/media/communiques/2017/com005.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2018 search===
On 17 October 2017, Dutch-based [[Fugro]] and American company [[Ocean Infinity]] offered to resume the search for the aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/17/mh370-companies-approach-malaysia-restarting-new-search-for-plane|title=MH370: three companies approach Malaysia over restarting search for plane|agency=Reuters|date=17 October 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 October 2017|url-access=registration|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017045944/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/17/mh370-companies-approach-malaysia-restarting-new-search-for-plane|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2018, Ocean Infinity announced that it was planning to resume the search in the narrowed {{convert|25000|sqkm|abbr=on}} area. The search attempt was approved by the Malaysian government, provided that payment would be made only if the wreckage were<!--subjunctive--> found.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> Ocean Infinity chartered the Norwegian ship ''[[Seabed Constructor]]'' to perform the search.<ref name="economist.com"/>
In late January, it was reported that the [[Automatic identification system|AIS tracking system]] had detected the vessel reaching the search zone on 21 January. The vessel then started moving to {{coord|-35.6|92.8|type:landmark_scale:10000000|name=CSIRO crash area}}, the most likely crash site according to the drift study by the [[Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation]] (CSIRO).<ref name="star23"/> The planned search area of "site 1", where the search began, was {{convert|33012|sqkm|abbr=on}}, while the extended search area covered a further {{convert|48500|sqkm|abbr=on}}.<ref name="InfinityWeek1">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update #1|url=https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-1.pdf|website=oceaninfinity.com|publisher=Government of Malaysia|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=8 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208174245/https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In April, a report by Ocean Infinity revealed that "site 4", farther northeast along the 7th arc,{{efn|name="7th arc"|The 7th arc is a line on the map of possible positions where the aircraft went down due to fuel exhaustion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/the-search/maps/ |title=The Search – Maps – The Seventh Arc |work=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] |access-date=2 October 2019 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002203401/https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/the-search/maps/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/new-analysis-helps-refine-mh370-search-area-419681/ |title=New analysis helps refine MH370 search area |date=3 December 2015 |first=Ellis |last=Taylor |website=[[FlightGlobal]] |access-date=2 October 2019 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002204516/https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/new-analysis-helps-refine-mh370-search-area-419681/ |url-status=live }} 7th arc is indicated in Figure 1 (by a pink line).</ref> It corresponds to the seventh and final handshake with the tracking satellite at 08:19.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/the-search/faqs/ |title=Frequently asked questions: Why is the seventh satellite handshake' or arc so important? |work=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] |quote=The seventh handshake was the last communications MH370 had with the satellite... we are confident that the point where the aircraft ran out of fuel lies on the arc delineated by the seventh handshake. |access-date=2 October 2019 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002203401/https://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/the-search/faqs/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} had been added to the search plan.<ref name="InfinityWeek12">{{cite web|title=MH 370 Operational Search Update #12|url=https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-12.pdf|website=oceaninfinity.com|publisher=Government of Malaysia|access-date=20 April 2018|archive-date=23 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423170022/https://oceaninfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/MH370-Search-Weekly-Report-12.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the end of May 2018, the vessel had searched a total area of over {{convert|112000|sqkm|abbr=on}}, using eight [[autonomous underwater vehicle|AUVs]];<ref name="InfinityWeek5"/><ref name="conclusion"/> all areas of "site 1" (including areas beyond that originally planned for "site 1"), "site 2", and "site 3" had been searched.<ref name="InfinityWeek18">{{cite web|title=MH 370 Operational Search Update #18|url=http://mh370.gov.my/en/mh370-underwater-search-2018?download=150:29-may-2018-english-version|website=mh370.gov.my|publisher=Government of Malaysia|access-date=29 May 2018|archive-date=20 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920215828/http://mh370.gov.my/en/mh370-underwater-search-2018?download=150:29-may-2018-english-version|url-status=dead}}</ref> The final phase of the search was conducted in "site 4" in May 2018,<ref name="InfinityWeek18"/> "before the weather limits Ocean Infinity's ability to continue working this year."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://oceaninfinity.com/update-search-missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370 |title= Update on search for Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 |work= OceanInfinity.com |date= 30 April 2018 |access-date= 30 July 2018 |archive-date= 12 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140738/https://oceaninfinity.com/update-search-missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> Malaysia's new transport minister [[Loke Siew Fook]] announced on 23 May 2018 that the search for MH370 would conclude at the end of the month.<ref name="loke">{{cite news |url= https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/23/asia/mh370-search-to-end-intl/index.html |title=MH370 search to end on May 29 after four years |first=Angela |last=Dewan |work=CNN |date=23 May 2018 |access-date=24 May 2018 |archive-date=23 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180523202136/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/23/asia/mh370-search-to-end-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ocean Infinity confirmed on 31 May that its contract with the Malaysian government had ended,<ref name=perthnow>{{cite web|url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/transport/mh370-hunt-continues-for-few-more-days-ng-s-1864235|title=MH370 hunt continues for few more days|date=1 June 2018 |access-date= 30 July 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142250/https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/transport/mh370-hunt-continues-for-few-more-days-ng-s-1864235|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/mh370-search-ship-seabed-constructor-not-ready-to-stop-yet/news-story/d20ba9dc35fddf95e8a92770c5fe5ffe?from=rss-basic |title=MH370 search: It's not over till it's over |access-date= 30 July 2018 |archive-date=4 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204112133/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/mh370-search-ship-seabed-constructor-not-ready-to-stop-yet/news-story/d20ba9dc35fddf95e8a92770c5fe5ffe?from=rss-basic |url-status=live }}</ref> and it was reported on 9 June 2018 that the Ocean Infinity search had come to an end.<ref name="ended">{{cite web |url= https://changingtimes.media/2018/06/09/mh370-ocean-infinity-search-ends-amid-calls-for-new-disclosures-and-further-investigation/ |title=MH370: Ocean Infinity search ends amid calls for new disclosures and further investigation |date=8 June 2018 |access-date=30 July 2018 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142211/https://changingtimes.media/2018/06/09/mh370-ocean-infinity-search-ends-amid-calls-for-new-disclosures-and-further-investigation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Ocean-floor mapping data collected during the search have been donated to the [[Nippon Foundation]]–[[General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans|GEBCO]] Seabed 2030 Project, to be incorporated into the global map of the ocean floor.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.marinetechnologynews.com/news/ocean-infinity-donates-seabed-561884 |title= Ocean Infinity Donates Data to Seabed Mapping Project |date= 21 June 2018 |access-date= 30 July 2018 |archive-date= 21 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180621201418/https://www.marinetechnologynews.com/news/ocean-infinity-donates-seabed-561884 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://seabed2030.gebco.net/resources_for_journalists/documents/ocean_infinity_press_release.pdf|title=Ocean Infinity donates 120,000 square kilometres of data from search for missing Malaysian airliner to The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project|date=21 June 2018|publisher=[[Nippon Foundation]]|format=press release|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622192734/https://seabed2030.gebco.net/resources_for_journalists/documents/ocean_infinity_press_release.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In March 2019, in the wake of the fifth anniversary of the disappearance, the Malaysian government stated that it was willing to look at any "credible leads or specific proposals" regarding a new search.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/07/mh370-search-glimmer-of-hope-remains-with-malaysia-open-to-fresh-hunt|title=MH370: relatives call for 'serious commitment' from Malaysia to find plane|first=Naaman|last=Zhou|date=7 March 2019|work=The Guardian|url-access=registration|access-date=23 March 2019|archive-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307045422/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/07/mh370-search-glimmer-of-hope-remains-with-malaysia-open-to-fresh-hunt|url-status=live}}</ref> Ocean Infinity stated that it was ready to resume the search on the same no-find, no-fee basis, believing that it would benefit from the experience that it had gained from its search for the wreck of Argentinian submarine [[ARA San Juan (S-42)|ARA ''San Juan'']] and [[bulk carrier]] ship ''[[Stellar Daisy]].'' Ocean Infinity believed that the most probable location was still somewhere along the 7th arc around the area identified previously and upon which its 2018 search was based.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airlineratings.com/news/mh370-ocean-infinity-stands-ready-resume-search/|title=MH370: Ocean Infinity stands ready to resume search|first=Steve|last=Creedy|date=4 March 2019|access-date=23 March 2019|archive-date=23 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323111055/https://www.airlineratings.com/news/mh370-ocean-infinity-stands-ready-resume-search/|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== 2023Potential 2024 search ===
In March 2022, Ocean Infinity committed to resuming its search in 2023 or 2024, pending approval by the Malaysian government.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Thomas |first=Geoffrey |date=6 March 2022 |title=Ocean Infinity commits to new search for MH370 in 2023 or 2024 |url=https://www.airlineratings.com/news/ocean-infinity-commits-new-search-mh370-2023-2024/ |access-date=22 March 2022 |website=Airline Ratings |language=en-AU |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306100807/https://www.airlineratings.com/news/ocean-infinity-commits-new-search-mh370-2023-2024/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, Ocean Infinity was reviewing data from their previous 2018 search to ensure nothing was missed. CEO Oliver Plunkett hoped to resume the search in the summer of 2023 using Ocean Infinity's new "''Armada"'' vessel. The transportation minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr [[Wee Ka Siong]], requested credible new evidence from Ocean Infinity in order to resume the search, which Plunkett is allegedly in possession of.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Iskandat |first=Iylia Marsya |date=5 March 2023 |title=Ocean Infinity wants to resume MH370 search |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/03/886151/ocean-infinity-wants-resume-mh370-search |access-date=28 March 2023 |website=New Straits Times |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328220919/https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/03/886151/ocean-infinity-wants-resume-mh370-search |url-status=live }}</ref> Claims of yet-to-be-identified new evidence has incited victims' families to further push for another search.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Cait |date=7 March 2023 |title=Families of MH370 victims' push for another search as technology firm says it has new evidence |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/08/families-of-mh370-victims-push-for-another-search-as-technology-firm-says-it-has-new-evidence |access-date=31 March 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331005736/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/08/families-of-mh370-victims-push-for-another-search-as-technology-firm-says-it-has-new-evidence |url-status=live }}</ref>
In March 2024, days before the tenth anniversary of the disappearance, Malaysia said it would consult with Australia about collaborating on another expedition by the Ocean Infinity team.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Azhar |first1=Danial |last2=Leong |first2=Mandy |date=2024-03-03 |title=Malaysia says MH370 search must go on, 10 years after plane vanished |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-says-mh370-search-must-go-10-years-after-plane-vanished-2024-03-03/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |work=Reuters |language=en |archive-date=3 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303190817/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-says-mh370-search-must-go-10-years-after-plane-vanished-2024-03-03/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nazzaro |first=Miranda |date=2024-03-03 |title=Malaysia signals it may revive search for missing flight MH370, a decade later |url=https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/4505455-malaysia-revive-search-flight-mh370-decade-later/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=The Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304014840/https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/4505455-malaysia-revive-search-flight-mh370-decade-later/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title='The search must go on': Malaysian government 'committed' to finding MH370 | date=3 March 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkiLplVNrA |access-date=2024-03-04 |language=en |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304014846/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkiLplVNrA |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Marine debris ==
By October 2017, 20 pieces of debris believed to be from 9M-MRO had been recovered from beaches in the western Indian Ocean;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mh370.gov.my/phocadownload/3rd_IS/Summary%20of%20Debris%20300417.pdf|title=Summary of Possible MH370 Debris Recovered|date=April 2017|access-date=23 October 2017|publisher=Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, Ministry of Transport, Malaysia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123145719/http://www.mh370.gov.my/phocadownload/3rd_IS/Summary%20of%20Debris%20300417.pdf|archive-date=23 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 18 of the items were "identified as being very likely or almost certain to originate from MH370", while the other two were "assessed as probably from the accident aircraft."<ref name="ATSB Final Report AE-2014-054"/>{{rp|106}} On 16 August 2017, the [[Australian Transport Safety Bureau|ATSB]] released two reports: the analysis of [[satellite imagery]] collected on 23 March 2014, two weeks after MH370 disappeared, classifying 12 objects in the ocean as "probably man-made";<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/new-reports-offer-clues-to-mh370-location-440313/ |title= New reports offer clues to MH370 location |date= 16 August 2017 |first= Mavis |last= Toh |website= [[FlightGlobal]] |access-date= 16 August 2017 |archive-date= 6 October 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171006155945/https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/new-reports-offer-clues-to-mh370-location-440313/ |url-status= live }}</ref> and a drift study of the recovered objects by the [[CSIRO]], identifying the crash area "with unprecedented precision and certainty" at {{coord|-35.6|92.8|type:landmark_scale:10000000|name=CSIRO crash area}}, northeast of the main {{convert|120,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on|adj=on}} underwater search zone.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://atwonline.com/safety/new-report-suggests-resting-place-mh370 |title= New report suggests resting place of MH370 |date= 16 August 2017 |author= Alan Dron |work= Aviation Week Network |access-date= 17 August 2017 |archive-date= 18 August 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170818045404/http://atwonline.com/safety/new-report-suggests-resting-place-mh370 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Australia's CSIRO believes it can locate missing MH370|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/australia-csiro-believes-locate-missing-mh370-170816102755016.html|agency=Aljazeera|date=16 August 2017|access-date=6 October 2017|archive-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005203655/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/australia-csiro-believes-locate-missing-mh370-170816102755016.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Flaperon===
Line 235 ⟶ 245:
[[File:Reunion debris compared to MH370 flight paths and underwater search area.png|thumb|Location of flaperon discovery relative to Flight 370's flight path and the main search area]]
[[File:Indian Ocean Gyre.png|thumb|Currents within the Indian Ocean]]
The first item of debris to be positively identified as originating from Flight 370 was the right [[flaperon]] (a [[trailing edge]] control surface).<ref name="guardian20150730">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/mh370-search-what-is-the-debris-found-in-la-reunion |title=MH370 search: what is the 'flaperon' debris found in Réunion? |last1=Safi |first1=Michael |last2=Holmes |first2=Oliver |date=30 July 2015 |work=The Guardian |url-access=registration |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202110031/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/mh370-search-what-is-the-debris-found-in-la-reunion |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Boeing "777 Aircraft Maintenance Manual" [D633W101-RBA], Chapter 6 Dimensions and Areas, Section 06-44 Wings (Major zones 500 and 600), p. 221, 3 May 2008</ref><ref>ATSB final report (AE-2014-054) dated 3 October 2017, p. 103. "The flaperon was the first item of debris positively confirmed to have come from MH370."</ref> It was discovered in late July 2015 on a beach in [[Saint-André, Réunion|Saint-André]], [[Réunion]], an island in the western Indian Ocean, about {{convert|4000|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} west of the underwater search area.<ref name="BBC: Réunion debris 30-07-2015"/> The item was transported from Réunion (an [[Overseas departments and territories of France|overseas department of France]]) to [[Toulouse]], where it was examined by France's civil aviation accident investigation agency, the [[Bureau d'Enquêtesof etEnquiry d'Analysesand pourAnalysis lafor SécuritéCivil de l'Aviation CivileSafety]] (BEA), and a French defence ministry laboratory.<ref name="BBC: Réunion debris 30-07-2015"/> Malaysia sent its own investigators to both Réunion and Toulouse.<ref name="BBC: Réunion debris 30-07-2015"/><ref>{{cite news |title=MH370 search: Plane debris arrives in France |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33739851 |access-date=2 August 2015 |work=BBC News |date=1 August 2015 |archive-date=5 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005062237/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33739851 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 3 September 2015, French officials announced that serial numbers found on internal components of the flaperon linked it "with certainty" to Flight 370.<ref name="francetvinfo 3 Sept 2015">{{cite news|language=fr|date=3 September 2015|url=http://www.francetvinfo.fr/live/message/55e/862/7a6/674/763/493/562/000.html|publisher=Francetvinfo|title=Le débris d'avion retrouvé fin juillet à La Réunion appartient "avec certitude" au vol MH370, annonce le parquet de Paris|access-date=3 September 2015|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111100458/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/live/message/55e/862/7a6/674/763/493/562/000.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These serial numbers were retrieved using a [[borescope]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hanna|first1=Jason|last2=Vandoorne|first2=Saskya|date=3 September 2015|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/europe/mh370-investigation/index.html|publisher=CNN|title='Certainty' that Reunion debris from MH370, French official says|access-date=3 September 2015|archive-date=3 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903171235/http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/europe/mh370-investigation/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Nicola|title=Analysis Confirms Plane Debris Came From Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-flaperon-reunion.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=3 September 2015|access-date=27 February 2017|archive-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000828/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-flaperon-reunion.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=BBC33794012>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33794012 |title=MH370: Reunion debris is from missing plane, says Najib |work=[[BBC News]] |date=6 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828142244/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33794012 |archive-date=28 August 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mh370/11779673/MH370-Malaysian-government-confirms-debris-is-from-a-Boeing-777.html |title=MH370: Malaysian government confirms debris is from a Boeing 777 |last=Shahrestani |first=Vin |date=3 August 2015 |work=The Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806010230/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mh370/11779673/MH370-Malaysian-government-confirms-debris-is-from-a-Boeing-777.html |archive-date=6 August 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
After the discovery, French police conducted a search of the waters around Réunion for additional debris,<ref name="BBC: Réunion debris 30-07-2015">{{cite news|title=MH370 search: Réunion debris to be tested in France|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33714780|access-date=30 July 2015|work=BBC News|date=30 July 2015|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924014642/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33714780|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Adamson |first1=Thomas |last2=Ng |first2=Eileen |title=Malaysia Seeks Help in Finding More Possible MH370 Debris |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-seeks-expand-search-mh370-debris-32832669 |access-date=8 August 2015 |work=ABC News |agency=AP |date=2 August 2015 |quote=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. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804213635/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-seeks-expand-search-mh370-debris-32832669 |archive-date=4 August 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Fr24: Reunion search 7 Aug 2015">{{cite news|title=France launches search for more MH370 debris on Réunion|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20150807-france-steps-reunion-island-search-flight-mh370-wreckage|access-date=8 August 2015|work=France24|date=7 August 2015|quote=The prefect of the French overseas department, Dominique Sorain, said Friday that a helicopter and water vehicles would scour an area 120 kilometres (75 miles) by 40 kilometres (25 miles) around the east coast of the island, where the wing part, known as a flaperon, was found. Bad weather forced the suspension of operations on Friday evening with the search set to begin again on Sunday morning.|archive-date=8 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808035211/http://www.france24.com/en/20150807-france-steps-reunion-island-search-flight-mh370-wreckage|url-status=live}}</ref> and found a damaged suitcase that mightwas <!-- or might not -->beinitially linked to Flight 370.,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aubusson |first1=Kate |date=31 July 2015 |title=MH370: Suitcase reportedly found on {{sic|nolink=y|Reunion}} Island, close to where plane debris recovered |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/mh370-suitcase-reportedly-found-on-reunion-island-close-to-where-plane-debris-recovered-20150730-gio73i.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801161006/http://www.smh.com.au/world/mh370-suitcase-reportedly-found-on-reunion-island-close-to-where-plane-debris-recovered-20150730-gio73i.html |archive-date=1 August 2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=31 July 2015}}</ref> but officials have since doubted this connection.<ref>{{updateCite web after|2017date=2015-07-31 |10|4|reasontitle=WasMH370 itsearch fromlive: flight'Convincing 370?}}evidence' plane was downed in Indian Ocean - Malaysian official<!-- No"offical" updatein yetoriginal received--> as|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11772187/MH370-debris-found-live.html of|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209061107/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11772187/MH370-debris-found-live.html Feb 2019|archive-date=2024-02-09 |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref> The location of the discovery was consistent with models of debris dispersal 16 months after an origin in the search area then in progress off the west coast of Australia.<ref name="Operational search update 5 August 2015">{{cite web|title=MH370 Operational Search Update|url=http://jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150805.aspx|publisher=Joint Agency Coordination Centre|access-date=8 August 2015|date=5 August 2015|archive-date=11 March 2018|archive-url=http://webarchive.nla.gov.au/gov/20180311050517/http://jacc.gov.au/families/operational_reports/opsearch-update-20150805.aspx|url-status=live}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="BBC: Réunion debris 30-07-2015"/><ref name="ATSB/CSIRO Drift model 4 Aug 2015">{{cite web|title=MH370: Aircraft Debris and Drift Modelling|url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2015/mh370-drift-analysis.aspx|publisher=Australian Transport Safety Bureau/The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation|access-date=8 August 2015|date=4 August 2015|archive-date=5 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805235912/http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2015/mh370-drift-analysis.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/malaysia-airlines-370-searchers-treating-debris-major-lead/story?id=32775033|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Searchers Treating Debris as Major Lead|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]| access-date=30 July 2015|archive-date=31 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731063608/https://abcnews.go.com/International/malaysia-airlines-370-searchers-treating-debris-major-lead/story?id=32775033|url-status=live}}</ref> A Chinese water bottle and an Indonesian cleaning product were also found in the same area.<ref>{{cite news|title='Chinese water bottle, Indonesian canister' wash up on Reunion Island after possible MH370 wing flap find|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1845475/chinese-water-bottle-indonesian-canister-wash-reunion|agency=AFP, Reuters|newspaper=South China Morning Post|access-date=31 July 2015|date=31 July 2015|archive-date=31 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731154312/http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/1845475/chinese-water-bottle-indonesian-canister-wash-reunion|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=MH370 Search: New Items Wash Ashore On {{sic|nolink=y|Reunion}}|url=http://news.sky.com/story/1528192/mh370-search-new-items-wash-ashore-on-reunion|access-date=31 July 2015|work=Sky News|date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802232244/https://news.sky.com/story/1528192/mh370-search-new-items-wash-ashore-on-reunion |archive-date=2 August 2015}}</ref>
In August 2015, France carried out an aerial search for possible marine debris around the island, covering an area of {{convert|120 by 40|km|mi|abbr=on}} along the east coast of Réunion.<ref name="Fr24: Reunion search 7 Aug 2015"/> Foot patrols were also planned to search for debris along the beaches.<ref name="CNN: Reunion search 6 Aug 2015">{{cite news|last1=Mullen|first1=Jethro|last2=Shoichet|first2=Catherine|last3=Fantz|first3=Ashley|title=MH370: More plane debris has washed up on {{sic|nolink=y|Reunion}}, Malaysia says|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/06/world/mh370-investigation/|access-date=8 August 2015|work=CNN|date=6 August 2015|archive-date=6 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806221204/http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/06/world/mh370-investigation/|url-status=live}}</ref> Malaysia asked authorities in neighbouring states to be on the alert for marine debris that might have come from an aircraft.<ref name="ABC: Malaysia seeks help in debris search">{{cite news|last1=Ng |first1=Eileen |last2=Adamson |first2=Thomas |title=Malaysia Seeks Help in Finding More Possible MH370 Debris |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-seeks-expand-search-mh370-debris-32832669 |access-date=8 August 2015 |work=ABC News (US) |agency=AP |date=2 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804213635/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malaysia-seeks-expand-search-mh370-debris-32832669 |archive-date=4 August 2015 }}</ref> On 14 August, it was announced that no debris that could be traced to Flight 370 had been found at sea off Réunion, but that some items had been found on land.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=MH370: Search on {{sic|nolink=y|Reunion}} island to end Monday |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/08/14/MH370-Reunion-to-end-search/ |newspaper=The Star |location=Malaysia |date=14 August 2015 |access-date=14 August 2015 |archive-date=14 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814200815/http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/08/14/MH370-Reunion-to-end-search/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Air and sea searches for debris ended on 17 August.<ref>{{cite news |title=France ends search for MH370 debris off Réunion coast |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/17/flight-mh370-france-search-reunion-missing |newspaper=The Guardian |agency=AFP |date=17 August 2015 |access-date=17 August 2015 |url-access=registration |archive-date=18 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818012816/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/17/flight-mh370-france-search-reunion-missing |url-status=live }}</ref>
The flaperon was covered in ''[[Lepas anatifera]]'' barnacles, which grow in certain patterns and only while underwater. Researchers have analysed the barnacles on the flaperon in an attempt to deduce its path to Réunion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mh370-search-debris-barnacles.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us |title=The Sea Creatures That Opened a New Mystery About MH370 |first1=Jeff |last1=Wise |work=[[Intelligencer (website)|Intelligencer]] |date=2024-03-07 |accessdate=2024-03-10 |archive-date=10 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310233520/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mh370-search-debris-barnacles.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Parts from the right stabiliser and right wing===
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On 7 March 2016, more debris, possibly from the aircraft, was found on the island of [[Réunion]]. [[Aziz Kaprawi|Ab Aziz Kaprawi]], Malaysia's deputy transport minister, said that "an unidentified grey item with a blue border" might be linked to Flight 370. Both Malaysian and Australian authorities, coordinating the search in the South Indian Ocean, sent teams to verify whether the debris was from the missing aircraft.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2016/03/07/more-debris-found-on-reunion-island.html |title=More debris found on Reunion Island |work=Sky News Australia |date=8 March 2016 |access-date=8 March 2016 |archive-date=8 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308105716/http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2016/03/07/more-debris-found-on-reunion-island.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/07/c_135163689.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160309080013/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/07/c_135163689.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 9 March 2016 |title=Suspected new debris found in Reunion Island could be from MH370 |agency=Xinhua |date=8 March 2016 |access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>
On 21 March 2016, South African archaeologist Neels Kruger found a grey piece of debris on a beach near [[Mossel Bay]], South Africa, that had an unmistakable partial logo of [[Rolls-Royce Holdings|Rolls-Royce]], the manufacturer of the missing aircraft's engines.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/possible-piece-of-mh370-engine-found-on-south-african-beach |title=Possible piece of MH370 engine found on South African beach |newspaper=The Guardian |location=Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg |date=23 March 2016 |url-access=registration |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=14 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214164405/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/possible-piece-of-mh370-engine-found-on-south-african-beach |url-status=live }}</ref> The Malaysian ministry of transport acknowledged that the piece could be that of an engine cowling.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeJYReNUMAAis3C.jpg|title=New Debris Located in South Africa|format=Media statement|date=22 March 2016|first=Tiong Lai|last=Liow|publisher=[[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)]]|author-link=Liow Tiong Lai|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104203926/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeJYReNUMAAis3C.jpg|archive-date=4 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> An additional piece of possible debris, suggested to have come from the interior of the aircraft, was found on the island of [[Rodrigues]], [[Mauritius]], in late March.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35953295 |title=MH370 search: New debris found in Mauritius to be examined |work=BBC News |date=3 April 2016 |access-date=3 April 2016 |archive-date=3 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403141130/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35953295 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 11 May 2016, Australian authorities determined that the two pieces of debris were "almost certainly" from Flight 370.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/debris-found-in-south/2777822.html |title=Debris found in South Africa, Mauritius 'almost certainly' from MH370: Malaysian minister |work=ChannelNews Asia |location=Singapore |date=12 May 2016 |access-date=12 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720032621/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/debris-found-in-south/2777822.html|archive-date=20 July 2016}}</ref>
===Flap and further search===
On 24 June 2016, Australian transport minister [[Darren Chester]] said that a piece of aircraft debris had been found on [[Pemba Island]], off the coast of [[Tanzania]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Potential MH370 debris found on island off African coast|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/potential-mh370-debris-found-on-island-off-african-coast/2016/06/24/21f62326-3a13-11e6-af02-1df55f0c77ff_story.html|archive-date=25 June 2016|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |agency=Associated Press|date=24 June 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625123911/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/potential-mh370-debris-found-on-island-off-african-coast/2016/06/24/21f62326-3a13-11e6-af02-1df55f0c77ff_story.html}}</ref> It was handed over to the authorities so that experts from Malaysia could determine its origin.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/01/suspected-mh370-debris-to-be-analysed-in-tanzania/ |title=Suspected MH370 debris to be analysed in Tanzania |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=Star Media Group Berhad |website=The Star Online |date=1 July 2016 |access-date=2 July 2016 |archive-date=7 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707015435/http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/07/01/suspected-mh370-debris-to-be-analysed-in-tanzania/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On 20 July, the Australian government released photographs of the piece, which was believed to be an outboard [[Flap (aeronautics)|flap]] from one of the aircraft's wings.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McBride|first1=Brian|title=New Photos Show Wing Flap Believed to Be From Missing MH370|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/photos-show-wing-flap-believed-missing-mh370/story?id=40725539|access-date=20 July 2016|publisher=ABC News Internet Ventures |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=20 July 2016|archive-date=21 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721115956/https://abcnews.go.com/International/photos-show-wing-flap-believed-missing-mh370/story?id=40725539|url-status=live}}</ref> Malaysia's transport ministry confirmed on 15 September that the debris was indeed from the missing aircraft.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Malaysia-confirms-debris-found-in-Tanzania-is-from-MH370/articleshow/54346577.cms |title=Malaysia confirms debris found in Tanzania is from MH370 |agency=Agence France Presse |website=Times of India |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd |date=15 September 2016 |access-date=15 September 2016 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209174922/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Malaysia-confirms-debris-found-in-Tanzania-is-from-MH370/articleshow/54346577.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 21 November 2016, families of the victims announced that they would carry out a search for debris in December on the island of [[Madagascar]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38047793 |title=MH370 relatives to search for debris in Madagascar |website=BBC News |date=21 November 2016 |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-date=22 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161122055541/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38047793 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 30 November 2018, five pieces of debris recovered between December 2016 and August 2018 on the Malagasy coast, and believed by victims' relatives to be from MH370, were handed to Malaysian transport minister [[Loke Siew Fook|Anthony Loke]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Palin |first1=Megan |title='Massive breakthrough': Flight MH370 'crashed violently' |url=https://www.cairnspost.com.au/travel/massive-breakthrough-flight-mh370-crashed-violently/news-story/977695d66a18b10a4fe37577fc4ce62f |access-date=2 December 2018 |work=Cairns Post |date=1 December 2018}}</ref>
[[Texas A&M University]] mathematics professor [[Goong Chen]] has argued that the plane may have entered the sea vertically; any other angle of entry would mademake the aircraft splinter into many pieces, which would have necessarily been found already.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.tamu.edu/~goong.chen/mh370.pdf|title=Some comments, questions and answers regarding MH370 (related to the recent work by G. Chen et al.)|website=Math.tamu.edu|access-date=12 March 2019|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228224915/https://www.math.tamu.edu/~goong.chen/mh370.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/21/us/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-theories/|title=MH370 possibly plunged straight into ocean, expert says|author=Michael Martinez|author2= Don Melvin|date=30 July 2015|website=Cnn.com|access-date=25 May 2021|archive-date=5 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005170620/http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/21/us/malaysia-airlines-flight-370-theories/|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Investigation ==
<!-- Please use this section in relation to the investigation as to why the aeroplane may have diverted from its original course. Discussion of the search should go in above sections-->
{{update|section|date=May 2018}}<!-- Template doesn't support explanation when used for section. Template added due to outdated information (affecting the "Analysis of satellite communication" and "Possible in-flight events" sub-sections) after the latest report and book released on 3 December 2015 and 30 November 2015, respectively, see: http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2014/aair/ae-2014-054.aspx MH370 -->
=== International participation ===
Malaysia quickly assembled a Joint Investigation Team (JIT), consisting of specialists from Malaysia, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France,<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|1}}<ref name="BBC_2014-04-06"/> which was led in accordance with [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]] standards by "an independent investigator in charge".<ref name=NST-Investigation>{{cite web|title=MH370 Tragedy: DCA has authority to analyse black box of missing plane Read more: MH370 Tragedy: DCA has authority to analyse black box of missing plane |url=http://www2.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-mh370-tragedy-font-dca-has-authority-to-analyse-black-box-of-missing-plane-1.555040 |website=New Straits Times |access-date=3 July 2014 |date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174533/http://www2.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-mh370-tragedy-font-dca-has-authority-to-analyse-black-box-of-missing-plane-1.555040 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name="bernama20140329"/><ref name="20140329scmp"/> The team consisted of an airworthiness group, an operations group, and a medical and human factors group. The airworthiness group were tasked with examining issues relating to maintenance records, structures, and systems of the aircraft; the operations group were to review the flight recorders, operations, and meteorology; and the medical and human factors group would investigate psychological, pathological, and survival factors.<ref name="ICAO investigation team"/> Malaysia also announced, on 6 April 2014, that it had set up three ministerial committees: a Next of Kin Committee, a committee to organise the formation of the JIT, and a committee responsible for the Malaysian assets deployed in the search effort.<ref name="ICAO investigation team"/> The criminal investigation was led by the [[Royal Malaysia Police]],<ref name="Official accident declaration" />{{Rp|9}} assisted by [[Interpol]] and other relevant international law enforcement authorities.<ref name="AutoVQ-38"/><ref name="AutoVQ-39"/>
Line 269 ⟶ 278:
On 17 March, Australia took control of co-ordinating the search, rescue, and recovery operations. For the next six weeks, the [[Australian Maritime Safety Authority]] (AMSA) and ATSB worked to determine the search area, correlating information with the JIT and other government and academic sources, while the [[Joint Agency Coordination Centre]] (JACC) coordinated the search efforts.<!-- Further info about the JACC should go in the "Search" section, since this section deals with the INVESTIGATION of events. --> Following the fourth phase of the search, the ATSB took responsibility for defining the search area. In May, a search strategy working group was established by the ATSB<!-- ATSB report (26 June) describes the "search strategy group" on p.1, but later uses "SSWG" (p.35) and on the acronym definitions page says SSWG is "Search Strategy Working Group" (p.44). --> to determine the most likely position of the aircraft at the 00:19 UTC (08:19 MYT) satellite transmission. The working group included aircraft and satellite experts from: [[Air Accidents Investigation Branch]] (UK), [[Boeing]] (US), [[Defence Science and Technology Group]]{{efn|The agency's name changed on 1 July 2015. It was previously known as the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.<ref name="DST name change"/>}} (Australia), Department of Civil Aviation (Malaysia), [[Inmarsat]] (UK), [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (US), and [[Thales Group|Thales]] (France).<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|1}}<ref name="AutoVQ-11"/><ref name="AutoVQ-12"/>
{{as of|October 2018}}, France was the only country that was continuing the investigation (by means of its [[Air Transport Gendarmerie]]), with the intention of verifying all of the technical data transmitted, particularly those provided by Inmarsat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/la-france-relance-l-enquete-sur-le-mh-370-05-08-2018-7844253.php|title=La France relance l'enquête sur le MH 370|trans-title=France relaunches investigation into MH 370|date=5 August 2018|first=Jean-Marc|last=Ducos|work=[[Le Parisien]]|language=fr|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808012131/http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/la-france-relance-l-enquete-sur-le-mh-370-05-08-2018-7844253.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2018/10/19/disparition-du-mh370-l-enquete-continue_5371536_3216.html|title=Disparition du vol MH370 : l'enquête continue|trans-title=Disappearance of Flight MH370: the investigation continues|date=19 October 2018|work=[[Le Monde]]|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|language=fr|access-date=2 January 2019|archive-date=2 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102073121/https://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2018/10/19/disparition-du-mh370-l-enquete-continue_5371536_3216.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2024, researchers at [[Cardiff University]] in the United Kingdom conducted a study on underwater [[hydrophone]] signals generated by airplane crashes in the ocean. The researchers claimed that these signals could be key to detecting the final resting place of MH370, potentially bringing the UK back into the search efforts.<ref name=":1" />
=== Interim and final reports ===
On 8 March 2015, exactly one year after the disappearance of Flight 370, the [[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)|Malaysian Ministry of Transport]] issued an interim report titled "Factual Information: Safety Information for MH370", which focused on providing factual information about the missing airplane, rather than the analysis of possible causes of the disappearance.<ref name="CNN-March 2015 report">{{cite news|last1=Mullen|first1=Jethro|title=Investigators find no unusual signs among MH370 pilots and cabin crew|url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/08/asia/malaysia-missing-plane-mh370/|publisher=CNN|access-date=9 March 2015|date=8 March 2015|quote=The report, which contained factual information about the missing plane rather than analysis, offered relatives of the 239 people on board no apparent answers about why the aircraft dropped off radar.}}</ref> A brief update statement was provided one year later, in March 2016, regarding the status of the investigation.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370|title=2nd Interim Statement: Safety Investigation for MH370 (9M-MRO)|url=http://www.mh370.gov.my/phocadownload/2nd_Interim_Statement/2nd%20Interim%20Statement%20-%20English.pdf|access-date=3 March 2017|date=8 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313213943/http://www.mh370.gov.my/phocadownload/2nd_Interim_Statement/2nd%20Interim%20Statement%20-%20English.pdf|archive-date=13 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Interim and final reports ===
The final ATSB report was published on 3 October 2017.<ref name=Flight3Oct2017/> The final report from the [[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)|Malaysian Ministry of Transport]], dated 2 July 2018,<ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my">{{cite web | url=http://mh370.mot.gov.my/ | title=MH370 Safety Investigation Report | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205400/http://mh370.mot.gov.my/MH370SafetyInvestigationReport.pdf|archivedate=11 November 2020|url-status=dead|publisher=Ministry of Transport Malaysia | date=30 July 2018| access-date=14 August 2018 }}</ref> was released to the public in Kuala Lumpur on 30 July 2018.<ref name=guardreport2018>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/jul/30/mh370-final-report-released-by-malaysian-government-live |title=Malaysian investigators release 1,500-page report into disappearance of MH370 – as it happened |first1=Kate |last1=Lyons |first2=Hannah |last2=Ellis-Petersen |first3=Lily |last3=Kuo |first4=Naaman |last4=Zhou |display-authors=1 |date=30 July 2018 |access-date=30 July 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |location= London |type=News blog}}</ref> This report did not provide any new information concerning the fate of MH370, but it did indicate errors made by Malaysian air traffic controllers in their limited efforts to communicate with the aircraft.<ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my"/><ref name=guardreport2018/> Following these accounts of air traffic control failings, the Chairman of the [[Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia|Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia]], Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, resigned on 31 July 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Malaysia aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman quits over MH370 report |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/malaysia-aviation-chief-azharuddin-abdul-rahman-quits-over-mh370-report/262259 |access-date=30 January 2019 |publisher=[[Times Now]] |date=31 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MH370 report: Malaysia aviation chief quits over air traffic failings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/31/mh370-report-malaysia-aviation-chief-quits-over-air-traffic-failings |last=Ellis-Petersen |first=Hannah |access-date=31 July 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |location= London |date=31 July 2018 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/31/malaysian-aviation-chief-resigns-after-investigation-found-someone-veered-mh370-off-course/|title=Malaysian aviation chief resigns after investigation found someone veered MH370 off course |first=Cleve R. Jr.|last=Wootson|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=31 July 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801014952/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/31/malaysian-aviation-chief-resigns-after-investigation-found-someone-veered-mh370-off-course/|archive-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>
Two interim reports were issued in 8 March 2015, and March 2016. They contained factual information about the plane but no analysis. The final report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, published on 3 October 2017, was 440 pages and called for planes to be equipped with more precise flight tracking technology.<ref name=Flight3Oct2017/> The final report from the [[Ministry of Transport (Malaysia)|Malaysian Ministry of Transport]], was 1,500 pages, released on 30 July 2018.<ref name=guardreport2018>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/jul/30/mh370-final-report-released-by-malaysian-government-live |title=Malaysian investigators release 1,500-page report into disappearance of MH370 – as it happened |first1=Kate |last1=Lyons |first2=Hannah |last2=Ellis-Petersen |first3=Lily |last3=Kuo |first4=Naaman |last4=Zhou |display-authors=1 |date=30 July 2018 |access-date=30 July 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |type=News blog |archive-date=1 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801070116/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/jul/30/mh370-final-report-released-by-malaysian-government-live |url-status=live }}</ref> It confirmed that the plane was manually turned around, taking it off its normal flight path just after 1am, "either by the pilot or a third party" and that the plane was missing for twenty minutes before anyone was alerted.<ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my">{{cite web | url=http://mh370.mot.gov.my/ | title=MH370 Safety Investigation Report | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205400/http://mh370.mot.gov.my/MH370SafetyInvestigationReport.pdf|archivedate=11 November 2020|url-status=dead|publisher=Ministry of Transport Malaysia | date=30 July 2018| access-date=14 August 2018 }}</ref><ref name=guardreport2018/> Following these accounts of air traffic control failings, the Chairman of the [[Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia|Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia]], Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, resigned on 31 July 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Malaysia aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman quits over MH370 report |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/malaysia-aviation-chief-azharuddin-abdul-rahman-quits-over-mh370-report/262259 |access-date=30 January 2019 |publisher=[[Times Now]] |date=31 July 2018 |archive-date=30 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130162431/https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/malaysia-aviation-chief-azharuddin-abdul-rahman-quits-over-mh370-report/262259 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MH370 report: Malaysia aviation chief quits over air traffic failings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/31/mh370-report-malaysia-aviation-chief-quits-over-air-traffic-failings |last=Ellis-Petersen |first=Hannah |access-date=31 July 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=31 July 2018 |url-access=registration |archive-date=31 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731100201/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/31/mh370-report-malaysia-aviation-chief-quits-over-air-traffic-failings |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/31/malaysian-aviation-chief-resigns-after-investigation-found-someone-veered-mh370-off-course/|title=Malaysian aviation chief resigns after investigation found someone veered MH370 off course |first=Cleve R. Jr.|last=Wootson|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=31 July 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801014952/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/31/malaysian-aviation-chief-resigns-after-investigation-found-someone-veered-mh370-off-course/|archive-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>
=== Analysis of satellite communication ===
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==== Technical background ====
[[File:Inmarsat-3 crop.jpg|thumb|A depiction of an [[Inmarsat#Satellites|Inmarsat-3 series]] satellite. Flight 370 was in contact with Inmarsat-3 F1 (also known as "IOR" for Indian Ocean Region).|alt=A depiction of a satellite in space.]]
Aeronautical satellite communication (SATCOM) systems are used to transmit messages sent from the aircraft cockpit, as well as automated data signals from onboard equipment, using the [[ACARS]] communications protocol. SATCOM may also be used for the transmission of [[Future Air Navigation System|FANS]] and [[Aeronautical Telecommunication Network|ATN]] messages, and for providing voice, fax and data links<ref name="classicaero">{{cite web|title=Classic Aero services and SwiftBroadband|url=http://www.inmarsat.com/service/aviation-safety/|work=[[Inmarsat]]|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328221911/http://www.inmarsat.com/service/aviation-safety/|url-status=live}}</ref> using other protocols.<ref name="Telegraph-delays"/><ref name=RGN>{{cite web|last=Kirby|first=Mary|title=SITA aids MH370 investigation; expert explains|url=http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2014/03/14/sita-aids-mh370-investigation-expert-explains/|website=Runway Girl Network|date=14 March 2014|access-date=26 March 2014|archive-date=26 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326105450/http://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2014/03/14/sita-aids-mh370-investigation-expert-explains/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ATM>{{cite web|last=Turner|first=Aimee|title=Malaysian MH370: SATCOMS 101 (Part One)|url=http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/03/mh370-satcoms-101/|website=AirTrafficManagement.net|date=16 March 2014|access-date=26 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322143315/http://www.airtrafficmanagement.net/2014/03/mh370-satcoms-101/|archive-date=22 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The aircraft uses a [[satellite data unit]] (SDU) to send and receive signals over the satellite communications network; this operates independently from the other onboard systems that communicate via SATCOM, mostly using the ACARS protocol. Signals from the SDU are transmitted to a communications satellite, which [[RF power amplifier|amplifies]] the signal and changes its [[Radio frequency|frequency]] before relaying it to a [[ground station]], where the signal is processed and, if applicable, routed to its intended destination (e.g. Malaysia Airlines' operations centre); signals are sent from the ground to the aircraft in reverse order.
When the SDU is first powered on, it attempts to connect with the Inmarsat network by transmitting a log-on request, which is acknowledged by the ground station.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|17}}<ref name="ATM"/> This is partly to determine whether the SDU belongs to an active service subscriber, and also to identify which satellite should be used for transmitting messages to the SDU.<ref name="ATM"/> After connecting, if no further contact has been received from the data terminal (the SDU) for one hour,{{efn|The timing of the log-on interrogation message is determined by an inactivity timer, which was set to one hour at the time of Flight 370's disappearance (it was later reduced to 15 minutes).<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|18}}}} the ground station transmits a "log-on interrogation" message, commonly referred to as a "ping";<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|18}} if the terminal is active, it will respond to the ping automatically. The entire process of interrogating the terminal is referred to as a "[[Handshake (computing)|handshake]]".<ref name="Inmarsat(26 March)" /><ref name="myDCA_20140325">{{cite web|title=Information provided to MH370 investigation by UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) |url=http://mh370.dca.gov.my/information-provided-to-mh370-by-aaib/ |date=25 March 2014 |author=Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia) |author-link=Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia) |publisher=[[Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia]] |access-date=6 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406010301/http://mh370.dca.gov.my/information-provided-to-mh370-by-aaib/ |archive-date=6 April 2014}}</ref>
==== CommunicationsSDU from 02:25 to 08:19 MYTcommunications ====
Although the ACARS data link on Flight 370 stopped functioning between 01:07 and 02:03 MYT (most likely around the same time the plane lost contact by secondary radar),<ref name="Ground log" />{{Rp|36}} the SDU remained operative.<ref name=ATSB /> After last contact by primary radar west of Malaysia, the following events were recorded in the log of Inmarsat's ground station at [[Perth]], Western Australia (all times are [[Time in Malaysia|MYT]]/UTC+8):<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|18}}<ref name="Ground log"/>{{efn|Information released and reported publicly about SATCOM transmissions from Flight 370 have been inconsistent, especially the use of the terms "ping" and "handshake". It was initially reported as six "handshakes" or "pings" with one "partial handshake or ping" sent at 00:19 UTC by Flight 370, unprovoked by the ground station. The events listed may consist of several "transmissions" between the aircraft and ground station over the course of a few seconds. A readable copy of the ground station log of transmissions to and from Flight 370 is available [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185716/http://www.dca.gov.my/mainpage/MH370%20Data%20Communication%20Logs.pdf online]}}
* 02:25:27 – First handshake ("log-on request" initiated by aircraft)
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Since the aircraft did not respond to a ping at 09:15, it can be concluded that at some point between 08:19 and 09:15, the aircraft lost the ability to communicate with the ground station.<ref name="Inmarsat(26 March)"/><ref name=Fox-Inmarsat /><ref name="myDCA_20140325" /> The log-on message sent from the aircraft at 08:19:29 was "log-on request"; there are only a few reasons the SDU would transmit this request, such as a power interruption, software failure, loss of critical systems providing input to the SDU, or a loss of the link due to the aircraft's [[:wiktionary:aircraft attitude|attitude]]<!-- ATTitude NOT ALTitude. This has been changed many times. Because there is no concise Wikipedia article/section to point to, a link to the definition on Wiktionary is appropriate -->.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|22}} Investigators consider the most likely reason to be that it was sent during power-up after an electrical outage.
The log-on request sent earlier in the flight at 02:25 also reveals that the satellite communication system was offline from some point after the final ACARS transmission at 01:06 until 02:25, possibly due to a power interruption. However, it is not known why the satellite system booted back up at 02:25 after being offline for some time.
At 08:19, the aircraft had been airborne for 7 hours and 38 minutes; the typical Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight is 5{{frac|1|2}} hours, so [[fuel starvation|fuel exhaustion]] was likely.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|33}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Considerations on defining the search area – MH370|url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2014/considerations-on-defining-the-search-area-mh370.aspx|publisher=ATSB – Australian Transport Safety Bureau|access-date=28 May 2014|archive-date=26 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526210049/http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2014/considerations-on-defining-the-search-area-mh370.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the event of fuel exhaustion and engine flame-out, which would eliminate power to the SDU, the aircraft's [[ram air turbine]] (RAT) would deploy, providing power to some instruments and flight controls, including the SDU.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|33}} Approximately 90 seconds after the 02:25 handshake—also a log-on request—communications from the aircraft's [[in-flight entertainment]] system were recorded in the ground station log. Similar messages would be expected following the 08:19 handshake, but none were received, supporting the fuel-exhaustion scenario.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|22}}
==== Analysis ====
[[File:MH370 location probability heat map per DST Group analysis.jpg|thumb|A [[heat map]] indicating the probable location of missing Flight 370 based on a [[Bayesian inferencesearch theory|Bayesian methodanalysis]] analysis of possible flight paths by Australia's [[Defence Science and Technology Group]]<!-- Note: Original file name included "HeatMap", which is why it's being added here. Original file URL: http://jacc.gov.au/media/maps/files/20151201_IndicativeArea_Bathy_DSTO_HeatMap_A4.jpg --><ref>{{Cite report |date=3 December 2015 |title=MH370 – Definition of Underwater Search Areas |url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5733650/AE-2014-054_MH370-Definition%20of%20Underwater%20Search%20Areas_3Dec2015.pdf |publisher=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] |access-date=3 December 2015 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412232900/http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5733650/AE-2014-054_MH370-Definition%20of%20Underwater%20Search%20Areas_3Dec2015.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
Two parameters associated with these transmissions that were recorded in a log at the ground station were key to the investigation:
* Burst time offset (BTO) – the time difference between when a signal is sent from the ground station and when the response is received. This measure is proportional to twice the distance from the ground station via the satellite to the aircraft and includes the time that the SDU takes between receiving and responding to the message and time between reception and processing at the ground station. This measure was analysed to determine the distance between the satellite and the aircraft at the time each of the seven handshakes occurred, and thereby defining seven circles on the Earth's surface<!---(conceptually it should be up in the air at flight level)--> the points on whose circumference are equidistant from the satellite at the calculated distance. Those circles were then reduced to arcs by eliminating those parts of each circle that lay outside the aircraft's range.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|18}}<ref name=JN-Inmarsat />{{rp|4–6}}
* Burst frequency offset (BFO) – the difference between the expected and received frequency of transmissions. The difference is caused by: [[Doppler effect|Doppler shifts]] as the signals travelled from the aircraft to the satellite to the ground station; the frequency translations made in the satellite and at the ground station; a small, constant error (bias) in the SDU that results from drift and ageing; and compensation applied by the SDU to counter the Doppler shift on the uplink. This measure was analysed to determine the aircraft's speed and heading, but multiple combinations of speed and heading can be valid solutions.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|18}}<ref name=JN-Inmarsat />{{rp|9–11}}
By combining the distance between the aircraft and satellite, speed, and heading with aircraft performance constraints (e.g. fuel consumption, possible speeds and altitudes), investigators generated candidate paths that were analysed separately by two methods. The first assumed the aircraft was flying on one of the three [[autopilot]] modes (two are further affected by whether the navigation system used magnetic north or true north as a reference), calculated the BTO and BFO values along these routes, and compared them with the values recorded from Flight 370. The second method generated paths which had the aircraft's speed and heading adjusted at the time of each handshake to minimise the difference between the calculated BFO of the path and the values recorded from Flight 370.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|18, 25–28}}<ref name="ATSB Flight path update"/>{{Rp|10–11}} A [[probability distribution]] for each method at the BTO arc of the sixth handshake of the two methods was created and then compared; 80% of the highest probability paths for both analyses combined intersect the BTO arc of the sixth handshake between 32.5°S and 38.1°S, which can be extrapolated to 33.5°S and 38.3°S along the BTO arc of the seventh handshake.<ref name="ATSB Flight path update" />{{Rp|12}}
=== PossibleAnalysis in-flightof eventshydrophone data ===
In May 2024, researchers at [[Cardiff University]] raised questions about the official location and the time of the impact, in ''[[Scientific Reports]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-23 |title=Scientists plan sea explosions to resolve Malaysian Airlines MH 370 mystery {{!}} World News |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/world/mh-370-malaysian-airlines-mh-370-mystery-9345950/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> Dr Usama Kadri stated that hydrophone data relating to MH370's crash identified "only a single, relatively weak signal" within the time frame and location of the official search, unlike the "clear pressure signals" shown in previous accidents' data with such impact.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=20 May 2024 |title=Underwater signals generated by open sea airplane crashes could be key to detecting final resting place of MH370 |url=https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2813809-underwater-signals-generated-by-open-sea-airplane-crashes-could-be-key-to-detecting-final-resting-place-of-mh370 |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Cardiff University |language=en}}</ref> He also noted that, "it is implausible to imagine that a significant crash of an aircraft on the ocean surface would fail to generate a discernible pressure signature,"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kadri |first=Usama |date=2024-05-02 |title=Underwater acoustic analysis reveals unique pressure signals associated with aircraft crashes in the sea: revisiting MH370 |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=10102 |doi=10.1038/s41598-024-60529-1 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=11065988 |pmid=38698079|bibcode=2024NatSR..1410102K }}</ref> suggesting that controlled explosion experiments could "almost pinpoint" the aircraft’s location, or possibly raise the need to reassess the time frame or location currently established.<ref name=":1" />
== Speculated causes of disappearance ==
==== Power interruption ====
{{Main|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance theories}}
The SATCOM link functioned normally from pre-flight (beginning at 00:00 MYT<!-- exactly -->) until it responded to a ground-to-air ACARS message with an acknowledge message at 01:07. Ground-to-air ACARS messages continued to be transmitted to Flight 370 until Inmarsat's network sent multiple "Request for Acknowledge" messages at 02:03, without a response from the aircraft. At some time between 01:07 and 02:03, power was lost to the SDU. At 02:25, the aircraft's SDU sent a "log-on request".<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|22}}<ref name="Ground log" />{{Rp|36–39}} It is uncommon for a log-on request to be made in-flight, but it could occur for multiple reasons. An analysis of the characteristics and timing of these requests suggest a power interruption in-flight is the most likely culprit.<ref name=SMH-30June>{{cite web|last=Han|first=Esther|title=MH370 power outage linked to possible hijacking attempt|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/mh370-power-outage-linked-to-possible-hijacking-attempt-20140630-zsqp2.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=30 June 2014|access-date=1 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=ATSB />{{rp|33}}
<!-- NOTE: It was widely reported in media around the world after the report was released that the power loss mid-flight was the result of a hijacking or deliberate tampering. These reports rely on statements by "aviation experts" and no officials responsible for the search or investigation have discussed hijacking or deliberate foul play related to the power loss. Therefore, all such theories are merely speculation and belong on the "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 unofficial disappearance theories" article. -->
==== UnresponsiveMurder/suicide crewby orpilot hypoxia ====
Malaysian police searched the homes of the pilots and seized financial records for all 12 crew members. The preliminary report issued by Malaysia in March 2015 stated that there was "no evidence of recent or imminent significant financial transactions carried out" by any of the pilots or crew, and that analysis of the behaviour of the pilots on CCTV showed "no significant behavioural changes".<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|20, 21}}
An analysis by the ATSB comparing the evidence available for Flight 370 with three categories of accidents—an in-flight upset (e.g., [[Stall (fluid mechanics)#Aerodynamic description of a stall|stall]]), a [[Gliding flight|glide event]] (e.g., engine failure, fuel exhaustion), and an [[Uncontrolled decompression#Gradual decompression|unresponsive crew or hypoxia event]]—concluded that an unresponsive crew or hypoxia event "best fit the available evidence" for the five-hour period of the flight as it travelled south over the Indian Ocean without communication or significant deviations in its track,<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|34}} likely on autopilot.<ref name=Reuters-26June /><ref name=WSJ-26June /> No consensus exists among investigators on the unresponsive crew or hypoxia theory.<ref name=NYT-hypoxia>{{cite news|last1=Bradsher|first1=Keith|title=Pressure Loss Is Explored in Vanishing of Jetliner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370.html|access-date=29 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 June 2014}}</ref> If no control inputs were made following flameout and the disengagement of autopilot, the aircraft would likely have entered a [[spiral dive]]<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|33}} and entered the ocean within {{convert|20|nmi|km mi|abbr=on}} of the flameout and disengagement of autopilot.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|35}}<!-- at this point the report refers to an inflight upset followed by loss of control, which in the case of Flight 370 would mean flameout and the disengagement of autopilot -->
However, US officials believe the most likely explanation to be that someone in the cockpit of Flight 370 re-programmed the aircraft's autopilot to travel south across the Indian Ocean.<ref name="AutoVQ-45"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-deputy-pm-warren-truss-announces-underwater-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-will-begin-in-august/story-fnizu68q-1226967783002|title=Deputy PM Warren Truss announces underwater search for missing plane will begin in August|website=NewsComAu|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627001802/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-deputy-pm-warren-truss-announces-underwater-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-will-begin-in-august/story-fnizu68q-1226967783002|url-status=dead}}</ref> Media reports claimed that Malaysian police had identified Captain Zaharie as the prime suspect, if human intervention were eventually proven to be the cause of Flight 370's disappearance.<ref name="Australian-pilot behaviour">{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=Suspicion falls again on Malaysia Airlines flight 370's captain Zaharie Shah|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/suspicion-falls-again-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-370s-captain-zaharie-shah/story-e6frg95x-1226962734150|website=The Australian|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014|archive-date=5 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705053302/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/suspicion-falls-again-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-370s-captain-zaharie-shah/story-e6frg95x-1226962734150|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=MH370 pilot 'chief suspect'|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622143549/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 June 2014|website=The Sunday Times|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Pilot behaviour">{{cite web|title=Malaysian police investigation names MH370 pilot 'prime suspect'|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|publisher=[[News Corp Australia]]|website=[[News.com.au]]|first1=Jenni|last1=Ryall|author2=Staff writers|name-list-style=amp|access-date=3 July 2014|date=23 June 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702153926/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|url-status=dead}}</ref><!-- Note: Articles discussing the flight simulator revelation all reference the The Sunday Times article, which is behind a pay wall. The ST article is listed as a reference, but the editor who added it was unable to verify that article's claims, only assuming that other new source's claims citing that article are accurate. The "Australian (newspaper)" article lists "Michael Sheridan" (author of TST article) and "The Times" at top and may be identical to the ST article. --> In 2020, [[Tony Abbott]], the Prime Minister of Australia when MH370 disappeared, disclosed in a Sky News documentary: "My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government, is that from very, very early on, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lavalette |first=Tristan |date=19 February 2020 |title=Abbott says top Malaysian leaders suspected pilot of MH370 |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-3feb92bc2b2105c4bce97d06316e9e8c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225082433/https://apnews.com/general-news-3feb92bc2b2105c4bce97d06316e9e8c |archive-date=25 December 2023 |access-date= |website=AP News}}</ref>
The analysis of the flaperon showed that the landing flaps were not extended, supporting the spiral dive at high speed theory.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/02/asia/mh370-crash-landing-report/index.html |title=MH370 out of control and spiraling fast before crash, report says |work=[[CNN]] |last=Westcott |first=Ben |date=3 November 2016 |access-date=7 July 2017}}</ref> In May 2018, the ATSB again asserted that the flight was not in control when it crashed, its spokesperson adding that "We have quite a bit of data to tell us that the aircraft, if it was being controlled at the end, it wasn't very successfully being controlled."<ref name="Uncontrolled Spiral Crash into the Sea">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44216778 |title=MH370 not deliberately crashed by pilot, say investigators |date=22 May 2018 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=24 May 2018}}</ref>
The murder/suicide theory is consistent with an unproven suggestion by retired British aviation engineer Richard Godfrey that the flight path of the aircraft could be plotted by analysis of the disruption to [[WSPR (amateur radio software)|Weak Signal Propagation Reporter]] (WSPR) signals on the day in question. He claimed in November 2021 that his analysis using the technology indicated that the aircraft was put into a [[Holding (aeronautics)|holding pattern]] for around 22 minutes in an area 150 nautical miles from the coast of [[Sumatra]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2021/11/10/engineer-says-doomed-mh370-plane-flew-in-circles-for-20-mins-before-vanishing/|title=Engineer says doomed MH370 plane 'flew in circles for 20 mins before vanishing'|date=November 10, 2021|newspaper=New York Post}}</ref>{{rs|date=June 2024|reason=See WP:NYPOST}} It was reported in March 2024 that scientists at the [[University of Liverpool]] were undertaking a major new study to verify how viable the technology is, and what this could mean for locating the aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001x0yh/why-planes-vanish-the-hunt-for-mh370 |publisher=BBC iPlayer |date=6 March 2024 |access-date=7 March 2024 |archive-date=6 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240306110244/https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001x0yh/why-planes-vanish-the-hunt-for-mh370 |url-status=live }}</ref> However the creator of WSPR, Nobel Prize laureate [[Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.]], has stated: "I do not believe that historical data from the WSPR network can provide any information useful for aircraft tracking". Specifically relating to MH370, Taylor stated: "It's crazy to think that historical WSPR data could be used to track the course of ill-fated flight MH370. Or, for that matter, any other aircraft flight".<ref>{{cite web |title=WSPR Can't Find MH370 |url=https://mh370.radiantphysics.com/2021/12/19/wspr-cant-find-mh370/ |date=19 December 2021 |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=17 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317052641/https://mh370.radiantphysics.com/2021/12/19/wspr-cant-find-mh370/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Speculated causes of disappearance ===
{{Main|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance theories}}
==== PassengerPilot's involvementflight simulator ====
In 2016, [[New York (magazine)|''New York'']] magazine wrote that a confidential document from the Malaysian police investigation showed an [[FBI|FBI analysis]] of the flight simulator's computer hard drive found a route on Captain Zaharie's home flight simulator that closely matched the projected flight over the Indian Ocean and that this evidence had been withheld from the publicly released investigative report.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wise|first1=Jeff|title=Exclusive: MH370 Pilot Flew a Suicide Route on His Home Simulator Closely Matching Final Flight|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html|website=New York Magazine|publisher=New York Media|date=22 July 2016|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-date=23 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723005940/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''New York'' wrote as follows:
Two men boarded Flight 370 with stolen passports, which raised suspicion in the immediate aftermath<!-- within 36 hours --> of its disappearance.<ref name="20140309nytimes"/><ref name="cnn14"/> The passports, one Austrian and one Italian, had been reported stolen in Thailand within the preceding two years.<ref name="20140309nytimes"/> Interpol stated that both passports were listed on its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, and that no check had been made against the database since the passports were first reported as stolen.<ref name="20140309washingtonpost" /><ref name="Interpol"/> Malaysia's Home Minister, [[Ahmad Zahid Hamidi]], criticised his country's immigration officials for failing to stop the passengers travelling with the stolen European passports.<ref name="SMH_2014-03-10"/> The two one-way tickets purchased for the holders of these passports were booked through [[China Southern Airlines]].<ref name="20140309nytimes"/> It was reported that an Iranian had ordered the cheapest tickets to Europe via telephone in Bangkok, Thailand, and paid by cash.<ref name="20140310ibtimes"/><ref name="AutoVQ-40"/> 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 two men were believed to be [[asylum seekers]].<ref name="AutoVQ-41"/><ref name="AutoVQ-42"/> The [[Secretary General of Interpol]] stated that the organisation was "inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident".<ref name="BBC_2014-03-11_a" />
{{cquote|''New York'' has obtained a confidential document from the Malaysian police investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that shows that the plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, conducted a simulated flight deep into the remote southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished under uncannily similar circumstances. The revelation, which Malaysia withheld from a lengthy public report on the investigation, is the strongest evidence yet that Zaharie made off with the plane in a [[Suicide by pilot|premeditated act of mass murder-suicide]]. {{pb}}[...] The newly unveiled documents [...] suggest Malaysian officials have suppressed at least one key piece of incriminating information. This is not entirely surprising: There is a history in aircraft investigations of national safety boards refusing to believe that their pilots could have intentionally crashed an aircraft full of passengers.}}
The FBI's findings about the flight simulation were confirmed by the ATSB.<ref>{{cite web|title=MH370 pilot's flight simulator plotted course over southern Indian Ocean|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/mh370-pilot-flight-simulator-plot-course-southern-indian-ocean|last=Hunt|first=Elle|work=The Guardian|location=Sydney|date=28 July 2016|access-date=28 July 2016|url-access=registration|archive-date=28 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728123158/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/mh370-pilot-flight-simulator-plot-course-southern-indian-ocean|url-status=live}}</ref> News of the simulation was also confirmed by the Malaysian government,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-confirms-flight-370-pilot-plotted-fatal-route/ |website=CBS News |title=Malaysia confirms Flight 370 pilot plotted fatal route |date=5 August 2016 |access-date=15 May 2018 |archive-date=15 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515044258/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-confirms-flight-370-pilot-plotted-fatal-route/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but reported as "nothing sinister".<ref name="ABCus_2014-04-02"/><ref name="BBC_2014-03-29"/>
United States and Malaysian officials reviewed the backgrounds of every passenger named on the manifest.<ref name="20140309washingtonpost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/four-flew-with-false-id-aboard-malaysia-airlines-plane-that-vanished-over-south-china-sea/2014/03/09/4b0d8a8c-a763-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html|title=Debris spotted may be from missing Malaysian Airline flight|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=9 March 2014|author1=Simon Denyer, Robert Barnes |author2=Chico Harlan |name-list-style=amp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309183226/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/four-flew-with-false-id-aboard-malaysia-airlines-plane-that-vanished-over-south-china-sea/2014/03/09/4b0d8a8c-a763-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html|archive-date=9 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 18 March, the Chinese government announced that it had checked all of the Chinese citizens on the aircraft and had ruled out the possibility that any were involved in "destruction or terror attacks".<ref name="AutoVQ-43"/> One passenger, who worked as a flight engineer for a Swiss jet [[Air charter|charter company]], was briefly under suspicion as a potential hijacker because he was thought to have the relevant "aviation skills".<ref name="20140317straitstimes"/>
==== CrewPower involvementinterruption ====
The SATCOM link functioned normally from pre-flight (beginning at 00:00 MYT<!-- exactly -->) until it responded to a ground-to-air ACARS message with an acknowledge message at 01:07. At some time between 01:07 and 02:03, power was lost to the Satellite Data Unit (SDU). The final report stated "it is likely that the loss of communication prior to the diversion is due to the systems being manually turned off or power interrupted to them." Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, said it was clear that the radar transponders and the flight data transmission system were turned off deliberately by someone trying to hide the plane's position and heading.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marks |first=Paul |date=15 March 2014 |title=Data transmission system on MH370 deliberately disabled |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25232-data-transmission-system-on-mh370-deliberately-disabled/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115072035/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25232-data-transmission-system-on-mh370-deliberately-disabled/ |archive-date=15 January 2024 |access-date= |website=New Scientist}}</ref> At 02:25, the aircraft's SDU rebooted itself and sent a log-on request.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|22}}<ref name="Ground log" />{{Rp|36–39}}
US officials believe the most likely explanation to be that someone in the cockpit of Flight 370 re-programmed the aircraft's autopilot to travel south across the Indian Ocean.<ref name="AutoVQ-45"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-deputy-pm-warren-truss-announces-underwater-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-will-begin-in-august/story-fnizu68q-1226967783002|title=Deputy PM Warren Truss announces underwater search for missing plane will begin in August|website=NewsComAu|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=27 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627001802/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/mh370-deputy-pm-warren-truss-announces-underwater-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-will-begin-in-august/story-fnizu68q-1226967783002|url-status=dead}}</ref> Malaysian police searched the homes of the pilots and seized financial records for all 12 crew members, including bank statements, credit card bills and mortgage documents.<ref name=MYChronicle-pilots>{{cite web|title=FBI to Quiz Wife of MH370 Pilot Amid Talk of Cockpit Hijack|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-fbi-3276536|website=Mirror Online |access-date=13 August 2015|date=24 March 2014|quote=Police are also examining reports that he received a two-minute phone call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile number obtained using a false identity.}}</ref><ref name="BBC_2014-03-15"/> On 2 April 2014, Malaysia's Police Inspector-General said that more than 170 interviews had been conducted as part of Malaysia's criminal investigation, including interviews with family members of the pilots and crew.<ref name="20140311channelnewsasia"/><ref name="BBC_2014-04-02"/>
Media reports claimed that Malaysian police had identified Captain Zaharie as the prime suspect, if human intervention were eventually proven to be the cause of Flight 370's disappearance.<ref name="Australian-pilot behaviour">{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=Suspicion falls again on Malaysia Airlines flight 370's captain Zaharie Shah|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/suspicion-falls-again-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-370s-captain-zaharie-shah/story-e6frg95x-1226962734150|website=The Australian|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=MH370 pilot 'chief suspect'|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622143549/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 June 2014|website=The Sunday Times|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Pilot behaviour">{{cite web|title=Malaysian police investigation names MH370 pilot 'prime suspect'|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|publisher=[[News Corp Australia]]|website=[[News.com.au]]|first1=Jenni|last1=Ryall|author2=Staff writers|name-list-style=amp|access-date=3 July 2014|date=23 June 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702153926/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|url-status=dead}}</ref><!-- Note: Articles discussing the flight simulator revelation all reference the The Sunday Times article, which is behind a pay wall. The ST article is listed as a reference, but the editor who added it was unable to verify that article's claims, only assuming that other new source's claims citing that article are accurate. The "Australian (newspaper)" article lists "Michael Sheridan" (author of TST article) and "The Times" at top and may be identical to the ST article. --> The United States' [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) reconstructed the deleted data from Captain Zaharie's home [[flight simulator]], but a Malaysian government spokesman indicated that "nothing sinister" had been found on it.<ref name="ABCus_2014-04-02"/><ref name="BBC_2014-03-29"/> The preliminary report issued by Malaysia in March 2015 stated that there was "no evidence of recent or imminent significant financial transactions carried out" by any of the pilots or crew, and that analysis of the behaviour of the pilots on CCTV showed "no significant behavioural changes".<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|20, 21}}
=== Passenger involvement ===
In 2016, [[New York (magazine)|''New York'']] magazine wrote that a confidential document from the Malaysian police investigation showed an FBI analysis of the flight simulator's computer hard drive found a route on the pilot's home flight simulator that closely matched the projected flight over the Indian Ocean and that this evidence had been withheld from the publicly released investigative report.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wise|first1=Jeff|title=Exclusive: MH370 Pilot Flew a Suicide Route on His Home Simulator Closely Matching Final Flight|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html|website=New York Magazine|publisher=New York Media |date=22 July 2016|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> ''New York'' wrote as follows:
United States and Malaysian officials reviewed the backgrounds of every passenger named on the manifest.<ref name="20140309washingtonpost">{{cite news |last1=Denyer |first1=Simon |last2=Barnes |first2=Robert |last3=Harlan |first3=Chico |name-list-style=amp |date=9 March 2014 |title=Debris spotted may be from missing Malaysian Airline flight |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/four-flew-with-false-id-aboard-malaysia-airlines-plane-that-vanished-over-south-china-sea/2014/03/09/4b0d8a8c-a763-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309183226/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/four-flew-with-false-id-aboard-malaysia-airlines-plane-that-vanished-over-south-china-sea/2014/03/09/4b0d8a8c-a763-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html |archive-date=9 March 2014 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> One passenger, who worked as a flight engineer for a Swiss jet [[Air charter|charter company]], was briefly under suspicion as a potential hijacker because he was thought to have the relevant "aviation skills".<ref name="20140317straitstimes"/>
Two men were found to have boarded Flight 370 with stolen passports, which raised suspicion in the immediate aftermath<!-- within 36 hours --> of its disappearance.<ref name="20140309nytimes"/><ref name="cnn14"/> The passports, one Austrian and one Italian, had been reported stolen in Thailand within the preceding two years.<ref name="20140309nytimes"/> 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. They were believed to be [[asylum seekers]],<ref name="AutoVQ-41"/><ref name="AutoVQ-42"/> and the [[Secretary General of Interpol]] later stated that the organisation was "inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident".<ref name="BBC_2014-03-11_a" />
{{cquote|''New York'' has obtained a confidential document from the Malaysian police investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that shows that the plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, conducted a simulated flight deep into the remote southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished under uncannily similar circumstances. The revelation, which Malaysia withheld from a lengthy public report on the investigation, is the strongest evidence yet that Zaharie made off with the plane in a [[Suicide by pilot|premeditated act of mass murder-suicide]].<p>The document presents the findings of the Malaysian police's investigation into Zaharie. It reveals that after the plane disappeared in March of 2014, Malaysia turned over to the FBI hard drives that Zaharie used to record sessions on an elaborate home-built flight simulator. The FBI was able to recover six deleted data points that had been stored by the [[Microsoft Flight Simulator X]] program in the weeks before MH370 disappeared, according to the document. Each point records the airplane's altitude, speed, direction of flight, and other key parameters at a given moment.<p>....<p>The newly unveiled documents, however, suggest Malaysian officials have suppressed at least one key piece of incriminating information. This is not entirely surprising: There is a history in aircraft investigations of national safety boards refusing to believe that their pilots could have intentionally crashed an aircraft full of passengers.}}
On 18 March, the Chinese government announced that it had checked all of the Chinese citizens on the aircraft and had ruled out the possibility that any were involved in "destruction or terror attacks".<ref name="AutoVQ-43"/>
The FBI findings were later confirmed by the ATSB, although the agency stressed that this did not prove the pilot's involvement.<ref>{{cite web|title=MH370 pilot's flight simulator plotted course over southern Indian Ocean|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/mh370-pilot-flight-simulator-plot-course-southern-indian-ocean|last=Hunt |first=Elle|work=The Guardian |location=Sydney |date=28 July 2016|access-date=28 July 2016 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The find was similarly confirmed by the Malaysian government.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-confirms-flight-370-pilot-plotted-fatal-route/ |website=CBS News |title=Malaysia confirms Flight 370 pilot plotted fatal route |date=5 August 2016 |access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref>
=== Cargo ===
In 2018, the sister of the pilot said that the safety investigation report on MH370 showed "nothing negative"<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/07/31/mh370-report-clears-my-brother-of-blame-says-pilots-sister/|title=MH370 report clears my brother of blame, says pilot's sister|date=31 July 2018|work=Free Malaysia Today|access-date=1 August 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913182929/https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/07/31/mh370-report-clears-my-brother-of-blame-says-pilots-sister/|url-status=dead}}</ref> about the pilot flying the plane.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/mh370-latest-news-malaysia-airlines-missing-plane-final-report-pilot-terrorism-crash-a8469926.html|title=MH370: This is everything we now know about aviation's greatest mystery|work=The Independent|access-date=1 August 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1484966|title=MH370: Safety investigation report released today not final|website=bernama.com|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1484982|title=MH370: Safety investigation team unable to determine real cause of disappearance|website=www.bernama.com|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> According to the report, "There were seven 'manually programmed' waypoint coordinates that, when connected together, will create a flight path from KLIA to an area south of the Indian Ocean through the Andaman Sea. But a forensic report concluded there were no unusual activities other than game-related flight simulations."<ref name="Independent simulator">{{cite news |last1=Calder |first1=Simon |title=MH370: Everything we now know about aviation's greatest mystery |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/mh370-latest-news-malaysia-airlines-missing-plane-final-report-pilot-terrorism-crash-a8469926.html |access-date=13 September 2018 |work=The Independent |date=30 July 2018}}</ref> The waypoints were recovered from a backup file dated 3 February 2014 but the report reached no conclusion regarding the dates they had been set.<ref name="mh370.mot.gov.my"/>{{rp|27}}
Flight 370 was carrying {{convert|10806|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of cargo, of which four [[unit load device]]s (standardized cargo containers) of [[mangosteen]]s (a tropical fruit) (total {{Convert|4566|kg|lb|abbr=on}}) and {{convert|221|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of [[lithium-ion battery|lithium-ion batteries]] were of interest, according to Malaysian investigators.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|103, 107–109}} According to the [[Inspector-General of Police (Malaysia)|head of Malaysian police]], [[Khalid Abu Bakar]], the people who handled the mangosteens and the Chinese importers were questioned to rule out sabotage.<ref name="Telegraph: Mangosteens">{{cite news|last1=Pearlman|first1=Jonathan|title=MH370: Malaysian police probe fruit farmers as investigation widens|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10742287/MH370-Malaysian-police-probe-fruit-farmers-as-investigation-widens.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10742287/MH370-Malaysian-police-probe-fruit-farmers-as-investigation-widens.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=1 August 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=3 April 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The lithium-ion batteries were contained in a {{convert|2453|kg|lb|abbr=on|adj=on}} consignment being shipped from [[Motorola Solutions]] facilities in [[Bayan Lepas]], Malaysia, to [[Tianjin]], China. They were packaged in accordance with IATA guidelines, but did not go through any additional inspections at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before being loaded onto Flight 370;<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|104}} Lithium-ion batteries can cause intense fires if they overheat and ignite, which has occurred on other flights,<ref name="JOC: Cathay ban li-ion bulk shipments">{{cite news|last1=Knowler|first1=Greg|title=Cathay slaps blanket ban on bulk lithium battery shipments|url=http://www.joc.com/air-cargo/cathay-slaps-blanket-ban-bulk-lithium-battery-shipments_20150415.html|access-date=1 August 2015|work=The Journal of Commerce|date=15 April 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923004445/http://www.joc.com/air-cargo/cathay-slaps-blanket-ban-bulk-lithium-battery-shipments_20150415.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC: Li-ion batteries aircraft fires">{{cite news|title=Safety worries lead U.S. airline to ban battery shipments|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31709198|access-date=1 August 2015|work=BBC News|date=3 March 2015|archive-date=27 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727041253/http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31709198|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USA Today: UPS Flight 6">{{cite news|last1=Jansen|first1=Bart|title=Crash investigators trace UPS plane fire to batteries|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/24/ups-crash-dubai-lithium/2582213/|access-date=1 August 2015|work=USA Today|date=25 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111054236/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/24/ups-crash-dubai-lithium/2582213/|archive-date=11 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> and has led to strict regulations on transport aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Levin|first1=Alan|title=Exploding Lithium Batteries Riskier to Planes: Research|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-11/exploding-lithium-batteries-riskier-to-planes-research|access-date=1 August 2015|work=Bloomberg Business|date=11 August 2014|archive-date=11 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911090720/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-11/exploding-lithium-batteries-riskier-to-planes-research|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="JOC: Cathay ban li-ion bulk shipments"/>
==== Cargo ====
Flight 370 was carrying {{convert|10806|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of cargo, of which four [[unit load device]]s (standardized cargo containers) of [[mangosteen]]s (a tropical fruit) (total {{Convert|4566|kg|lb|abbr=on}}) and {{convert|221|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of [[lithium-ion battery|lithium-ion batteries]] were of interest, according to Malaysian investigators.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|103, 107–109}} The mangosteens were loaded into the [[aft]] cargo bay of the aircraft at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and inspected by officials from Malaysia's Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority before being loaded onto Flight 370.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|108}} According to the [[Inspector-General of Police (Malaysia)|head of Malaysian police]], [[Khalid Abu Bakar]], the people who handled the mangosteens and the Chinese importers were questioned to rule out sabotage.<ref name="Telegraph: Mangosteens">{{cite news|last1=Pearlman|first1=Jonathan|title=MH370: Malaysian police probe fruit farmers as investigation widens|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10742287/MH370-Malaysian-police-probe-fruit-farmers-as-investigation-widens.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10742287/MH370-Malaysian-police-probe-fruit-farmers-as-investigation-widens.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=1 August 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=3 April 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
=== Unresponsive crew or hypoxia ===
The lithium-ion batteries were contained in a {{convert|2453|kg|lb|abbr=on|adj=on}} consignment being shipped from [[Motorola Solutions]] facilities in [[Bayan Lepas]], Malaysia, to [[Tianjin]], China; the rest of the consignment consisted of [[walkie-talkie]] chargers and accessories.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|103}} The batteries were assembled on 7 March and the consignment was transported to the Penang Cargo Complex—operated by [[MASkargo]] (Malaysia Airlines' cargo subsidiary)—where it was loaded onto a lorry for transfer to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and onwards by air to Beijing.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|104}} At the Penang Cargo Complex, the consignment was inspected by MASkargo employees and Malaysian customs officials, but did not go through a security screening before the lorry was [[Supply chain security|sealed]] for transfer to the airport. The consignment did not go through any additional inspections at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before being loaded onto Flight 370;<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|104}} it was divided among two pallets in the forward cargo bay of the aircraft and one pallet placed in the rear of the aft cargo bay.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|106}} The batteries were packaged in accordance with IATA guidelines,{{efn|The 2014 IATA ''Lithium Battery Guidance Document'' (5 November 2013), which is based on the provisions of the ICAO's ''Technical Instruction for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air'' (2013–2014 edition) and the 55th edition of the IATA's ''Dangerous Goods Regulations''.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|106, Appendix 1.18I}}}} so they were not regulated as dangerous goods.<ref name="Interim report-March 2015" />{{Rp|106}}
An analysis by the ATSB comparing the evidence available for Flight 370 with three categories of accidents—an in-flight upset (e.g., [[Stall (fluid mechanics)#Aerodynamic description of a stall|stall]]), a [[Gliding flight|glide event]] (e.g., engine failure, fuel exhaustion), and an [[Uncontrolled decompression#Gradual decompression|unresponsive crew or hypoxia event]]—concluded that an unresponsive crew or hypoxia event "best fit the available evidence" for the five-hour period of the flight as it travelled south over the Indian Ocean without communication or significant deviations in its track,<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|34}} likely on autopilot.<ref name=Reuters-26June /><ref name=WSJ-26June /> No consensus exists among investigators on the unresponsive crew or hypoxia theory.<ref name=NYT-hypoxia>{{cite news|last1=Bradsher|first1=Keith|title=Pressure Loss Is Explored in Vanishing of Jetliner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370.html|access-date=29 June 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 June 2014|archive-date=29 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629041010/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight-370.html|url-status=live}}</ref> If no control inputs were made following flameout and the disengagement of autopilot, the aircraft would likely have entered a [[spiral dive]]<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|33}} and entered the ocean within {{convert|20|nmi|km mi|abbr=on}} of the flameout and disengagement of autopilot.<ref name=ATSB />{{rp|35}}<!-- at this point the report refers to an inflight upset followed by loss of control, which in the case of Flight 370 would mean flameout and the disengagement of autopilot -->
The analysis of the flaperon showed that the landing flaps were not extended, supporting the spiral dive at high speed theory.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/02/asia/mh370-crash-landing-report/index.html |title=MH370 out of control and spiraling fast before crash, report says |work=[[CNN]] |last=Westcott |first=Ben |date=3 November 2016 |access-date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730061918/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/02/asia/mh370-crash-landing-report/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2018, the ATSB again asserted that the flight was not in control when it crashed, its spokesperson adding that "We have quite a bit of data to tell us that the aircraft, if it was being controlled at the end, it wasn't very successfully being controlled".<ref name="Uncontrolled Spiral Crash into the Sea">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44216778 |title=MH370 not deliberately crashed by pilot, say investigators |date=22 May 2018 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=24 May 2018 |archive-date=24 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524073124/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44216778 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Lithium-ion batteries can cause intense fires if they overheat and ignite, which has led to strict regulations on their transport aboard aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Levin|first1=Alan|title=Exploding Lithium Batteries Riskier to Planes: Research|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-11/exploding-lithium-batteries-riskier-to-planes-research|access-date=1 August 2015|work=Bloomberg Business|date=11 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="JOC: Cathay ban li-ion bulk shipments"/> A fire fuelled by lithium-ion batteries caused the crash of [[UPS Airlines Flight 6]], and lithium-ion batteries are suspected to have caused a fire which resulted in the crash of [[Asiana Airlines Flight 991]]; both were cargo aircraft.<ref name="JOC: Cathay ban li-ion bulk shipments"/><ref name="BBC: Li-ion batteries aircraft fires"/><ref name="USA Today: UPS Flight 6">{{cite news|last1=Jansen|first1=Bart|title=Crash investigators trace UPS plane fire to batteries|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/24/ups-crash-dubai-lithium/2582213/|access-date=1 August 2015|work=USA Today|date=25 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111054236/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/24/ups-crash-dubai-lithium/2582213/|archive-date=11 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Some airlines have stopped carrying bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries on passenger aircraft, citing safety concerns.<ref name="JOC: Cathay ban li-ion bulk shipments">{{cite news|last1=Knowler|first1=Greg|title=Cathay slaps blanket ban on bulk lithium battery shipments|url=http://www.joc.com/air-cargo/cathay-slaps-blanket-ban-bulk-lithium-battery-shipments_20150415.html|access-date=1 August 2015|work=The Journal of Commerce|date=15 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="BBC: Li-ion batteries aircraft fires">{{cite news|title=Safety worries lead U.S. airline to ban battery shipments|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31709198|access-date=1 August 2015|work=BBC News|date=3 March 2015}}</ref>
== <span id="Criticism and response">Aftermath</span> ==
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Criticism was also levelled at the delay of the search efforts. On 11 March 2014, three days after the aircraft disappeared, British satellite company [[Inmarsat]] (or its partner, [[SITA (IT company)|SITA]]) had provided officials with data suggesting that the aircraft was nowhere near the areas in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea being searched at the time, and that it may have diverted its course through a southern or northern corridor. This information was not acknowledged publicly until it was released by the Malaysian Prime Minister in a press conference on 15 March.<ref name=Telegraph-delays /><ref name="20140319online"/> Explaining why information about satellite signals had not been made available earlier, Malaysia Airlines stated 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.<ref name="MAS press statements 8–17 March"/> Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin claimed that Malaysian and US investigators had immediately discussed the Inmarsat data upon receipt on 12 March, and that they had agreed to send the data to the US for further processing on two separate occasions. Data analysis was completed on 14 March, by which time the AAIB had independently arrived at the same conclusion.<ref name="myDCA_20140321"/>
In June 2014, relatives of passengers on Flight 370 began a [[crowdfunding]] campaign on [[Indiegogo]] to raise US$100,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=100000|start_year=2014}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}})<!-- check web archive before campaign ended (shows goal was $100,000). The current page shows "$100,516" is 101% of goal. -->—with an ultimate goal of raising US$5 million—as a reward to encourage anyone with knowledge of the location of Flight 370, or the cause of its disappearance, to reveal what they knew.<ref name="Indiegogo campaign"/><ref name="CNN-crowdfunding reward">{{cite news|last1=Molko|first1=David|last2=Yan|first2=Holly|title=MH370 families seek $5 million for investigation, reward|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-families-fund/index.html|access-date=10 April 2015|work=CNN|date=9 June 2014|archive-date=30 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330075418/http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-families-fund/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign, which ended on 8 August 2014, raised US$100,516 from 1,007 contributors.<ref name="Indiegogo campaign">{{cite web|title=MH370 Is Missing With 239 People on Board, Help The Families Find The Truth|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mh370-is-missing-with-239-people-on-board-help-the-families-find-the-truth|website=Indiegogo|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410023633/https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mh370-is-missing-with-239-people-on-board-help-the-families-find-the-truth|archive-date=10 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Malaysia Airlines ===
{{see also|Malaysia Airlines#2011–2014: Third unprofitability, 2014 aircraft losses, bankruptcy|l1=Malaysia Airlines –§ 2014 aircraft losses}}
A month after the disappearance, Malaysia Airlines' chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya acknowledged that ticket sales had declined but failed to provide specific details. This may have partially resulted from the suspension of the airline's advertising campaigns following the disappearance. Ahmad stated in an interview with ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' that the airline's "primary focus...is that we do take care of the families in terms of their emotional needs and also their financial needs. It is important that we provide answers for them. It is important that the world has answers, as well."<ref name=WSJ-MASfinancial>{{cite web|last1=Raghuvanshi|first1=Gaurav|last2=Ng|first2=Jason|title=Malaysia Airlines Says Priority Is Families of the Missing, Though Ticket Sales Fall|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303532704579483060366249526|website=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=3 July 2014|date=6 April 2014|archive-date=23 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140623100955/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303532704579483060366249526?|url-status=live}}</ref> In further remarks, Ahmad said he was not sure when the airline could start repairing its image, but that the airline was adequately insured to cover the financial loss stemming from Flight 370's disappearance.<ref name=WSJ-MASfinancial /><ref name="MAS Q1 financial report">{{cite web|title=Malaysia Airlines Records RM443 million Loss for Q1 2014|url=http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/corporate-info/press-room/latest/malaysia-airlines-records-rm443-million-loss-for-q12014.html|website=Malaysia Airlines|access-date=3 July 2014|date=15 May 2014|quote=Much of the costs associated by MH370 will be covered by insurance.|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714115404/http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/my/en/corporate-info/press-room/latest/malaysia-airlines-records-rm443-million-loss-for-q12014.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In China, where the majority of passengers were from, bookings on Malaysia Airlines were down 60% in March.<ref name=NYT-MASfinances>{{cite news|title=Flight's Disappearance Knocks Malaysia Airlines|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/business/international/flights-disappearance-knocks-malaysia-airlines.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=3 July 2014|date=15 May 2014|archive-date=25 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625161719/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/business/international/flights-disappearance-knocks-malaysia-airlines.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Malaysia Airlines [[Aviation accidents and incidents#Retirement of flight numbers|retired]] the MH370 [[flight number]] and replaced it with MH318 (Flight 318) beginning 14 March 2014. This follows a common practice among airlines to redesignate flights after notorious accidents.<ref>{{cite news|title=Malaysia Airlines to Retire Call Sign 370|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2014/03/13/airline-to-retire-call-sign-370/|access-date=30 August 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=13 March 2014|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903083950/http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2014/03/13/airline-to-retire-call-sign-370/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Neuman|first1=Scott|title=When Bad Things Happen To Planes, Flight Codes Get 'Retired'|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/13/289800435/when-bad-things-happen-to-planes-flight-codes-get-retired|work=[[NPR]]|access-date=30 August 2014|date=13 March 2014|archive-date=27 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927093643/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/13/289800435/when-bad-things-happen-to-planes-flight-codes-get-retired|url-status=live}}</ref> As of October 2023, Malaysia Airlines still operates the Kuala Lumpur - Beijing route as MH318, however the airline now flies into [[Beijing Daxing International Airport|Beijing Daxing]] rather than Beijing Capital.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MH318 (MAS318) Malaysia Airlines Flight Tracking and History |url=http://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS318 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=FlightAware |language=en |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029083607/https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS318 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Malaysia Airlines was given US$110 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=110000000|start_year=2014}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) from insurers in March 2014 to cover initial payments to passengers' families and the search effort.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=Harry|title=Flight MH370: insurers make first pay out on missing Malaysia Airlines plane|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10717604/Flight-MH370-insurers-make-first-pay-out-on-missing-Malaysia-Airlines-plane.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10717604/Flight-MH370-insurers-make-first-pay-out-on-missing-Malaysia-Airlines-plane.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|website=The Telegraph|access-date=17 July 2014|date=23 March 2014|quote=Malaysia Airlines has already been handed $110 million (£67 million) by insurers over the loss of its missing Boeing 777 on flight MH370}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In May, remarks from lead reinsurer of the flight, [[Allianz]], indicated the insured market loss on Flight 370, including the search, was about US$350 million.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Boyle|first1=Charles|title=Complex Situation Occludes Details on Loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370|url=http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2014/03/27/324543.htm|website=Insurance Journal|access-date=17 July 2014|date=27 March 2014|quote=Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has been identified as both the lead insurer and the lead reinsurer. An Allianz spokesperson in London confirmed that it is officially the latter.|archive-date=8 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808074209/http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2014/03/27/324543.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mathew|first1=Jerin|title=Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 Hits Allianz with $30m Bill|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370-hits-allianz-30m-bill-1448613|website=International Business Times|access-date=17 July 2014|date=15 May 2014|quote=The insured market loss on the aeroplane is about $350m, which include the costs for searching.|archive-date=27 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727023459/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/missing-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh370-hits-allianz-30m-bill-1448613|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2017, Malaysia Airlines announced that they are the first airline to sign up for a new service that would track its airplanes anywhere in the world using orbiting satellites. <ref>{{cite web|last1=Vincent|first1=James|title=Malaysia Airlines will be first to use new satellite-based airplane tracking system|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/19/15354328/malaysia-airlines-satellite-based-tracking|website=The Verge|access-date=27 August 2023|date=19 April 2017|archive-date=27 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827143012/https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/19/15354328/malaysia-airlines-satellite-based-tracking|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Financial troubles ====
At the time of Flight 370's disappearance, Malaysia Airlines was struggling to cut costs to compete with a wave of new, low-cost carriers in the region. In the previous three years, Malaysia Airlines had booked losses of: [[Malaysian ringgit|RM]]1.17 billion (US$356 million) in 2013, RM433 million in 2012, and RM2.5 billion in 2011.<ref name=WSJ-MASfinancial /> Malaysia Airlines lost RM443.4 million (US$137.4 million) in the first quarter of 2014 (January–March).<ref name="MAS Q1 financial report" /> The second quarter—the first full quarter in the aftermath of Flight 370's disappearance—saw a loss of RM307.04 million (US$97.6 million), representing a 75% increase over losses from the second quarter of 2013.<ref name="Q2 losses-NYT">{{cite news|title=Malaysia Airlines Financial Losses Grow|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/business/malaysia-airlines-financial-losses-grow.html|access-date=30 August 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=Reuters|date=29 August 2014|archive-date=29 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829075841/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/business/malaysia-airlines-financial-losses-grow.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Industry analysts expected Malaysia Airlines to lose further market share and face a challenging environment to stand out from competitors while addressing its financial plight.<ref name=WSJ-MASfinancial /> The company's stock, down as much as 20% following the disappearance of Flight 370, had fallen 80% over the previous five years, in contrast to a rise in the Malaysian stock market of about 80% over the same period.<ref name=NYT-MASfinances />
Many analysts and the media suggested that Malaysia Airlines would need to rebrand and repair its image and require government assistance to return to profitability.<ref name=WSJ-privatization>{{cite news|last1=Venkat|first1=P.R.|last2=Raghuvanshi|first2=Gaurav|title=Malaysia Airlines Could Go Private|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-airlines-could-go-private-1404301103|access-date=9 August 2014|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=2 July 2014|archive-date=27 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727213048/http://online.wsj.com/articles/malaysia-airlines-could-go-private-1404301103|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Patterson|first1=Thom|title=Malaysia Air faces new, serious threat as company|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/17/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-sidebar/index.html|access-date=9 August 2014|website=CNN.com|date=18 July 2014|quote=Analysts said it may take a government rescue to save the company from financial disaster.|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411205515/https://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/17/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-sidebar/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Malaysia Airlines considers tie-up with Etihad Airways as restructuring process slowly begins|url=http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/malaysia-airlines-considers-tie-up-with-etihad-as-restructuring-process-slowly-begins-172934|website=centreforaviation.com|publisher=Centre for Aviation|access-date=9 August 2014|date=17 June 2014|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810112319/http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/malaysia-airlines-considers-tie-up-with-etihad-as-restructuring-process-slowly-begins-172934|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ngui|first=Yantoultra|title=Exclusive: State fund plans to take Malaysia Airlines private for restructuring: sources|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airlines-idUSKBN0F70UR20140702|access-date=9 August 2014|work=Reuters|location=Kuala Lumpur|date=2 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705153815/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/02/us-malaysia-airlines-idUSKBN0F70UR20140702 |archive-date=5 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Zhang|first=Benjamin|title=How Malaysia Airlines Can Be Saved From Financial And Reputational Ruin|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/malaysia-airlines-uncertain-future-2014-7|website=Business Insider|access-date=23 July 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003951/http://www.businessinsider.com/malaysia-airlines-uncertain-future-2014-7|url-status=live}}</ref> The loss of Flight 17 in July greatly exacerbated Malaysia Airline's financial problems. The combined effect on consumer confidence of the loss of Flight 370 and Flight 17, and the airline's poor financial performance, led [[Khazanah Nasional]]—the majority shareholder (69.37%)<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hamzah|first1=Al-Zaquan Amer|last2=Leong|first2=Trinna|last3=Ngui|first3=Yantoultra|title=Malaysia Airlines To Go Private With A $435 Million Government Investment|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/malaysia-airlines-overhaul-2014-8|website=Business Insider|agency=Reuters|access-date=9 August 2014|date=8 August 2014|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228232215/https://www.businessinsider.com/malaysia-airlines-overhaul-2014-8|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a Malaysian state-run investment arm—to announce on 8 August its plan to purchase the remainder of the airline, thereby renationalising it.<ref name="NYT-Khazanah takeover">{{cite news|last1=Mouawad|first1=Jad|title=Malaysia Steps in to Save Its Reeling National Airline|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/business/international/malaysia-airlines-to-be-taken-over-by-government.html|access-date=9 August 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 August 2014|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709105419/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/business/international/malaysia-airlines-to-be-taken-over-by-government.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Australian">{{cite news|last1=Creedy|first1=Steve|title=Malaysia Airlines in $460m bid to clear air|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/malaysia-airlines-in-460m-bid-to-clear-air/story-e6frg95x-1227018472442?nk=70b32bc1815c4b34c2328e2c878caf76|access-date=9 August 2014|work=The Australian|date=9 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Reuters Kazanah buyback">{{cite news|last1=Hamzah|first1=Al-Zaquan Amer|last2=Ngui|first2=Yantoultra|title=State fund to take over Malaysia Airlines, plans 'complete overhaul'|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airline-idUSKBN0G807E20140808|access-date=9 August 2014|publisher=Reuters|date=8 August 2014|archive-date=3 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103015120/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airline-idUSKBN0G807E20140808|url-status=live}}</ref> Malaysia Airlines [[Malaysia Airlines#2015–present2015–2020: Renationalisation, restructuring, and rebranding|renationalised]] on 1 September 2015.
==== Compensation for passengers' next of kin ====
Lack of evidence in determining the cause of Flight 370's disappearance, as well as the absence of any physical confirmation that the airplane crashed, raises many issues regarding responsibility for the accident and the payments made by insurance agencies.<ref name=SMH-insurance>{{cite web|title=Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 puzzle raises legal problems|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-puzzle-raises-legal-problems-20140511-zr9fz.html|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=17 July 2014|date=11 May 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702080627/http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-puzzle-raises-legal-problems-20140511-zr9fz.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Under the [[Montreal Convention]], it is the carrier's responsibility to prove lack of fault in an accident and each passenger's [[next of kin]] are automatically entitled, regardless of fault, to a payment of approximately US$175,000{{efn|The exact amount of this compensation is 113,100 [[special drawing rights]]. Using the official exchange rates on 16 July 2014, this is worth approximately: [[Malaysian ringgit|RM]]557,000; [[Renminbi|¥]]1,073,000; US$174,000; €129,000; or £102,000.}} from the airline's insurance company—amounting to a total of almost US$40 million for the 227 passengers on board.<ref name=SMH-insurance />
Malaysia Airlines was also vulnerable to civil action from passengers' families.<ref name=SMH-insurance /> Compensation awarded during civil cases (or settlements reached out of court) was likely to vary widely among passengers, based on the country where the proceedings were to take place. An American court could be expected to award upwards of US$8–10 million, while Chinese courts would be likely to award a small fraction of that amount.<ref name=CNBC-insurance>{{cite news|last1=Bishop|first1=Katrina|title=MH370 families face huge compensation disparity|url=https://www.cnbc.com/id/101522502|work=CNBC|access-date=17 July 2014|date=25 March 2014|archive-date=16 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716233436/http://www.cnbc.com/id/101522502|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CNNMoney-insurance>{{cite web|last1=Wallace|first1=Gregory|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: How much will families be paid?|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/03/25/news/companies/malaysia-airlines-compensation/|website=CNN Money|access-date=17 July 2014|date=26 March 2014|archive-date=20 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620165258/http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/25/news/companies/malaysia-airlines-compensation|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the announcement that the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean, it was not until 29 January 2015 that the Malaysian government officially declared Flight 370 an accident with no survivors, a move that would allow compensation claims to be made.<ref name="BBC declared an accident">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31039460 |title=MH370: Malaysia declares flight disappearance an accident |website=BBC News |date=29 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219115319/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31039460 |archive-date=19 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The first civil case relating to the disappearance was filed in October 2014—even before Flight 370 had been declared an accident—on behalf of two Malaysian boys whose father was a passenger;{{efn|In March 2014, a petition for [[Discovery (law)|discovery]] was filed in a US court by a law firm, not representing relatives of families, against Boeing and Malaysia Airlines. It sought to obtain the names of manufacturers of aircraft parts along with maintenance records. It was reported in the media as a lawsuit or that Malaysia Airlines was being sued.<ref name="SCMP March 2014 lawsuit">{{cite news|title=American law firm plans to bring suit against Boeing and Malaysia Airlines|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1457610/american-law-firm-plans-bring-suit-against-boeing-and-malaysia-airlines|access-date=31 January 2015|work=South China Morning Post|agency=Reuters|archive-date=30 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030025928/http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1457610/american-law-firm-plans-bring-suit-against-boeing-and-malaysia-airlines|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Time-March 2014 lawsuit">{{cite news|last1=Liljas|first1=Per|title=Family Member Files Lawsuit Over Missing Jet as Frustrating Search Continues|url=http://time.com/38260/malaysia-airlines-sued-over-mh370-disappearance/|access-date=31 January 2015|magazine=Time|date=26 March 2014|archive-date=30 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130030507/http://time.com/38260/malaysia-airlines-sued-over-mh370-disappearance/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} they were claiming for negligence in failing to contact the aircraft soon after it was lost and for breach of contract for failing to bring the passenger to his destination.<ref name="WaPo first lawsuit by passenger families">{{cite news|last=Phillip|first=Abby|title=Two Malaysian boys sue airline, government in first case after MH370's mysterious disappearance|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/31/two-malaysian-boys-sue-airline-government-in-first-case-after-mh-370s-mysterious-disappearance/|archive-date=31 October 2014|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=31 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031162337/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/31/two-malaysian-boys-sue-airline-government-in-first-case-after-mh-370s-mysterious-disappearance/}}</ref> Additional civil proceedings against Malaysia Airlines were filed in China and Malaysia.<ref>{{cite news|title=MH370 disappearance: Chinese families file lawsuits seeking answers|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35747869|access-date=18 March 2017|work=BBC News|date=7 March 2016|archive-date=18 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318173929/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35747869|url-status=live}}</ref>
Soon after the disappearance of Flight 370, Malaysia Airlines offered ''[[ex gratia]]'' condolence payments to families of the passengers. In China, the families were offered ¥31,000 (approx. US$5,000) "comfort money",<ref name="AutoVQ-34"/> but some rejected the offer.<ref name="20140311themalaymailonline"/> It was also reported that Malaysian relatives received only $2,000.<ref name="20140311themalaymailonline"/> In June 2014, Malaysia's deputy Foreign Minister [[Hamzah Zainuddin]] said that families of seven passengers received $50,000 advance compensation from Malaysia Airlines, but that full payout would come after the aircraft was found, or officially declared lost<ref>{{cite web|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325114003/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Flight-370-Malaysia-Airlines-begins-insurance-payments/articleshow/36488455.cms|title=Flight 370: Malaysia Airlines begins insurance payments|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Flight-370-Malaysia-Airlines-begins-insurance-payments/articleshow/36488455.cms|website=The Times of India|access-date=17 July 2014|date=13 June 2014|quote=[Hamzah Zainuddin] said full payout would come after the plane is found or officially declared lost.}}</ref> (which later occurred in January 2015).<ref name="BBC declared an accident" />
Line 393 ⟶ 404:
====Before 2016====
AirMany air force experts raised questions and the Malaysian opposition levelled criticisms about the state of Malaysia's air force and radar capabilities. Many criticised the failure of the Royal Malaysian Air Force to identify and respond to an unidentified aircraft (later determined to be Flight 370) flying through Malaysian airspace.<ref name="20110708themalaysianinsider"/><ref name="BBC_2014-03-16"/><ref name="malaysiakini"/><ref name="Time RMAF response">{{cite news|last1=Campbell|first1=Charlie|title=Another Lesson from MH370: Nobody is Watching Malaysian Airspace|url=http://time.com/26883/malaysian-air-force-slammed-for-failing-to-intercepted-mh370/|access-date=20 November 2014|magazine=Time|date=17 March 2014|archive-date=26 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126223709/http://time.com/26883/malaysian-air-force-slammed-for-failing-to-intercepted-mh370/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Malaysian military became aware of the unidentified aircraft only after reviewing radar recordings several hours after the flight's disappearance.<ref name="malaysiakini"/> The failure to recognise and react to the unidentified aircraft was a security breach, and was also a missed opportunity to intercept Flight 370 and prevent the time-consuming and expensive search operation.<ref name="malaysiakini"/><ref name="Time RMAF response" />
The Malaysian Prime Minister, [[Najib Razak]], responded to criticism of his government in an opinion piece published in ''The Wall Street Journal'' in which he acknowledged mistakes had been made, and said time would show that Malaysia had done its best, had helped co-ordinate the search, and would continue to provide support. Najib went on to emphasise the need for the aviation industry to "not only learn the lessons of MH370 but implement them," saying in closing that "the world learned from [[Air France Flight 447]] but didn't act. The same mistake must not be made again."<ref name="WSJ Najib Razak opinion">{{cite news|last1=Razak|first1=Najib|title=Malaysia's Lessons From the Vanished Airplane|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303627504579559170123401220|access-date=22 November 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=13 May 2014|archive-date=5 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205210140/http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303627504579559170123401220|url-status=live}}</ref>
Opposition leader [[Anwar Ibrahim]] criticised the Malaysian government regarding its response to Flight 370's disappearance and the military's response when Flight 370 turned back over the Malay Peninsula; he called for an international committee to take charge of the investigation "to save the image of the country and to save the country."<ref name="HendersonMarch 4, 2014"/> Malaysian authorities have accused Anwar—who was jailed on contentious charges the day before Flight 370 disappeared—of politicising the crisis. Flight 370's captain was a supporter of Anwar, and the two men were acquainted.<ref name="HendersonMarch 4, 2014"/>
Questioned about why Malaysia did not scramble fighter jets to intercept the aircraft as it tracked back across the Malay Peninsula, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin noted that it was deemed a commercial aircraft and was not hostile, remarking: "If you're not going to shoot it down, what's the point of sending [a fighter jet] up?"<ref>{{cite news|title=Multiple authorities let Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappear: ABC|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/23664489/multiple-authorities-let-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-disappear-abc/|access-date=22 November 2014|work=Yahoo News 7|date=20 March 2014|archive-date=20 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520091610/https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/23664489/multiple-authorities-let-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-disappear-abc/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to former air force pilot major Ahmad Zaidi of [[RMAF Butterworth Air Base|RMAF Butterworth]], no pilot stays on the base during the night, so the aircraft could not have been intercepted.<ref>{{cite web|last=admin|date=13 January 2015|title=Meet Major Zaidi, people's hero|url=https://www.therocket.com.my/en/meet-major-zaidi-peoples-hero/|access-date=6 January 2021|website=The Rocket|language=en-US|archive-date=8 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108065818/https://www.therocket.com.my/en/meet-major-zaidi-peoples-hero/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=26 July 2017|title=VIDEO. Vol MH370 : l'armée malaisienne a-t-elle commis une "grosse bourde" ?|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/asie/boeing-disparu/video-vol-mh370-la-grosse-bourde-de-l-armee-malaisienne_2294339.html|access-date=6 January 2021|website=Franceinfo|language=fr|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107074616/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/asie/boeing-disparu/video-vol-mh370-la-grosse-bourde-de-l-armee-malaisienne_2294339.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The response to the crisis and lack of transparency in the response brought attention to the state of media in Malaysia. After decades of tight media control, during which government officials were accustomed to passing over issues without scrutiny or accountability, Malaysia was suddenly thrust into the spotlight of the global media and unable to adjust to demands for transparency.<ref name="Crikey-Criticism Malaysian government">{{cite news|last1=Kingsbury|first1=Damien|title=A sclerotic Malaysian government stumbles in MH370 crisis|url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/03/20/a-sclerotic-malaysian-government-stumbles-in-mh370-crisis/|access-date=22 November 2014|work=Crikey|date=20 March 2014|archive-date=21 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221144830/http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/03/20/a-sclerotic-malaysian-government-stumbles-in-mh370-crisis/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== March 2020 ====
On 8 March 2020, six years after the disappearance, two memorial events were held to mark the anniversary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/families-search-mh370-years-disappearance-200308022632020.html|title=Families want new search for MH370, six years after disappearance|date=8 March 2020|publisher=Al Jazeera|website=[[Aljazeera.com]]|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317182822/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/families-search-mh370-years-disappearance-200308022632020.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pocketimes.sinchew.com.my/%E6%B2%89%E7%97%9B%E6%80%80%E7%BC%85-mh370%E5%85%AD%E5%91%A8%E5%B9%B4/|title=沉痛怀缅 MH370六周年|date=8 March 2020|work=Pocketimes|language=zh|trans-title=Memories of the Sixth Anniversary of MH370|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416221211/https://pocketimes.sinchew.com.my/%E6%B2%89%E7%97%9B%E6%80%80%E7%BC%85-mh370%E5%85%AD%E5%91%A8%E5%B9%B4/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Families of MH370 passengers called for a new search for the flight in a bid to seek closure. Malaysia's former Transport Minister Anthony Loke had attended one of the events, expressing regret at being unable to table the compensation documents at the Cabinet level as per his original intent.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2230062.html|title=MH370赔偿文件未呈内阁 成陆兆福最大遗憾|date=7 March 2020|work=Sinchew Daily|language=zh|trans-title=The MH370 compensation document was not submitted to the cabinet|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416221216/https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2230062.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The families hoped that the new Transport Minister [[Wee Ka Siong]] could expedite the compensation matters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2020/03/14/wee-perfect-fit-for-transport-minister/|title=Wee perfect fit for transport minister|date=14 March 2020|work=Free Malaysia Today|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317232121/https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2020/03/14/wee-perfect-fit-for-transport-minister/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2231520.html|title=MH370家属盼新交长·优先处理赔偿事宜|date=11 March 2020|work=Sinchew Daily|language=zh|trans-title=MH370's family members look forward to the new communications director|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416225147/https://www.sinchew.com.my/content/content_2231520.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Malaysia's transport ministry secretary-general, Datuk Isham Ishak, stated that he had already submitted a request to meet the Prime Minister ([[Muhyiddin Yassin]]) the following week of 15 to 22 March so that he could present the paper on compensation for the families of MH370 victims, and that the ministry would also continue to seek support from the new government to resume the search for the missing aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/08/transport-ministry-to-meet-pm-over-compensation-for-next-of-kin-of-mh370-victims|title=Transport Ministry to meet PM over compensation for next-of kin of MH370 victims|date=8 March 2020|work=The Star|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416225308/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/08/transport-ministry-to-meet-pm-over-compensation-for-next-of-kin-of-mh370-victims|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== China ===
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister [[Xie Hangsheng]] reacted scepticallyskeptically to the conclusion by the Malaysian government that the aircraft had gone down with no survivors, demanding on 24 March 2014 "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."<ref name=20140326nytbradsher/><ref name="BBC_2014-03-25_b"/> The following day, Chinese president [[Xi Jinping]] sent a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur to consult with the Malaysian government over the missing aircraft.<ref name="20140325news"/>
==== Relatives of passengers ====
In the days following the disappearance of Flight 370, relatives of those on board became increasingly frustrated at the lack of news.<ref name="20140309washingtonpost" /> On 25 March 2014, around two hundred family members of the Chinese passengers protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.<ref name="alJazeera25314"/><ref name="Standard25314"/> Relatives who had arrived in Kuala Lumpur after the announcement continued with their protest, accusing Malaysia of hiding the truth and harbouring a murderer. They also wanted an apology from the Malaysian government for its poor initial handling of the disaster and its "premature" conclusion of total loss, drawn without any physical evidence.<ref name="Branigan30-3-14"/> An [[op-ed]] in [[state media]] outlet ''[[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 the Chinese relatives not to allow emotions to prevail over evidence and rationality.<ref name="AutoVQ-56"/> The Chinese ambassador to Malaysia defended the Malaysian government's response, stating that the "radical and irresponsible opinions [of the relatives] do not represent the views of Chinese people and the Chinese government".<ref name="JhaJune 4, 2014"/> The ambassador also strongly criticised Western media for having "published false news, stoked conflict and even spread rumours"<ref name="SMH_2014-04-03"/> to the detriment of relatives and of [[China–Malaysia relations|Sino–Malaysian relations]].<ref name="SMH_2014-04-03"/> On the other hand, a US Department of Defense official criticised China for what he perceived as providing apparently false leads that detracted from the search effort and wasted time and resources.<ref name="AutoVQ-57"/><ref name="AutoVQ-58"/>
The Chinese ambassador to Malaysia defended the Malaysian government's response, stating that the "radical and irresponsible opinions [of the relatives] do not represent the views of Chinese people and the Chinese government".<ref name="JhaJune 4, 2014"/> The ambassador also strongly criticised Western media for having "published false news, stoked conflict and even spread rumours"<ref name="SMH_2014-04-03"/> to the detriment of relatives and of [[China–Malaysia relations|Sino–Malaysian relations]].<ref name="SMH_2014-04-03"/> On the other hand, a US Department of Defense official criticised China for what he perceived as providing apparently false leads that detracted from the search effort and wasted time and resources.<ref name="AutoVQ-57"/><ref name="AutoVQ-58"/>
In July 2019, Beijing-based family members of some MH370 victims received notice from Malaysia Airlines that from July 2019 onwards, MAS would discontinue the "Meet the Families" discussion sessions in Beijing, China. This came after around 50 sessions had taken place.<ref>{{cite news |title=MH370失踪逾5年 马航7月起停止召开中国家属见面会|work=[[Oriental Daily]]|date=20 July 2019|language=zh-my|url=https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/international/2019/07/20/299002}}</ref>
In July 2019, Beijing-based family members of some MH370 victims received notice from Malaysia Airlines that from July 2019 onwards, MAS would discontinue the "Meet the Families" discussion sessions in Beijing, China. This came after around 50 sessions had taken place.<ref>{{cite news|title=MH370失踪逾5年 马航7月起停止召开中国家属见面会|work=[[Oriental Daily]]|date=20 July 2019|language=zh-my|url=https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/international/2019/07/20/299002|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416221035/https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/international/2019/07/20/299002|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Boycotts ====
Some Chinese citizens [[boycott]]ed all things Malaysian, including holidays and singers, in protest of Malaysia's handling of the Flight 370 investigation.<ref name="LATimes-Chinese boycott">{{cite news|last1=Demick|first1=Barbara|title=Chinese boycott Malaysia over missing jetliner|url=https://articleswww.latimes.com/2014/marworld/28/worldworldnow/la-fg-wn-chinese-boycott-malaysia-over-missing-jetliner-20140328-story.html|access-date=30 August 2014|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=28 March 2014|archive-date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905014841/http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/28/world/la-fg-wn-chinese-boycott-malaysia-over-missing-jetliner-20140328|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Millward|first1=Steven|title=As outrage grows over missing flight, Chinese websites ban Malaysia Airlines ticket sales|url=http://www.techinasia.com/china-flight-ticket-sites-boycott-malaysia-airlines-over-mh370/|access-date=30 August 2014|work=TechInAsia|date=28 March 2014|archive-date=2 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802181957/http://www.techinasia.com/china-flight-ticket-sites-boycott-malaysia-airlines-over-mh370/|url-status=live}}</ref> Bookings on Malaysia Airlines from China, where the majority of passengers were from, were down 60% in March.<ref name=NYT-MASfinances /> In late March, several major Chinese ticketing agencies—[[eLong]], LY.com, [[Baidu|Qunar]], and Mango—discontinued the sale of airline tickets to Malaysia<ref name="LATimes-Chinese boycott" /><ref name=Geektime>{{cite web|last1=Gat|first1=Aviva|title=Several Chinese travel booking sites boycott Malaysia Airlines|url=http://www.geektime.com/2014/03/31/several-chinese-travel-booking-sites-boycott-malaysia-airlines/|website=Geektime|access-date=30 August 2014|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903104052/http://www.geektime.com/2014/03/31/several-chinese-travel-booking-sites-boycott-malaysia-airlines/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and several large Chinese travel agencies reported a 50% drop in tourists compared to the same period the year before.<ref name="SCMP-Chinese boycott">{{cite news|last1=Hong|first1=Zhang|last2=Zhou|first2=Laura|title=Chinese tourists boycott Malaysia in wake of MH370 disappearance|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/1457902/malaysia-tourism-hit-sharp-drop-chinese-visitors-wake-mh370-incident?page=all|access-date=30 August 2014|work=South China Morning Post|date=26 March 2014|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903190004/http://www.scmp.com/article/1457902/malaysia-tourism-hit-sharp-drop-chinese-visitors-wake-mh370-incident?page=all|url-status=live}}</ref> China was the third-largest source of visitors to Malaysia prior to Flight 370's disappearance, accounting for 1.79 million tourists in 2013. One market analyst predicted a 20–40% drop in Chinese tourists to Malaysia, resulting in a loss of 4–8 billion yuan (RM2.1–4.2 billion; US$0.65–1.3 billion).<ref name="SCMP-Chinese boycott" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Malaysia to face losses of up to RM4 billion in tourism revenue due to MH370, say analysts|url=http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-to-face-losses-of-up-to-rm4-billion-in-tourism-revenue-due-to-mh37|access-date=30 August 2014|work=[[The Malaysian Insider]]|date=27 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903061851/http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-to-face-losses-of-up-to-rm4-billion-in-tourism-revenue-due-to-mh37|archive-date=3 September 2014}}</ref>
The boycotts were largely led or supported by celebrities.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chinese celebs lash out at M'sia over MH370|url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/258383|access-date=1 December 2019|website=[[Malaysiakini]] |date=27 March 2014|archive-date=16 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416224533/https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/258383|url-status=live}}</ref> Film star [[Chen Kun]] posted a message to [[Sina Weibo|Weibo]]—where he had 70 million followers—stating that he would be boycotting Malaysia until its government told the truth. The post was shared over 70,000 times and drew over 30,000 comments. More than 337,000 people retweeted a tweet from TV host [[Meng Fei (host)|Meng Fei]], thatwhich said that he would join the boycott.<ref name="SCMP-Chinese boycott" />
China and Malaysia had previously nominated 2014 to be the "[[China–Malaysia relations#Diplomatic ties|Malaysia–China Friendship Year]]" to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.<ref name=Geektime />
=== <span id="Air transport authorities">Air transport industry</span> ===
The fact that a modern aircraft could disappear in a digitally connected world was met with surprise and disbelief by the public. While changes in the aviation industry often take years to be implemented, airlines and air transport authorities responded swiftly to take action on several measures to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident.<ref>{{cite news|title=How do you track a plane?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-26544554|access-date=25 November 2014|publisher=BBC News|date=17 March 2014|archive-date=11 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111071229/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-26544554|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pasztor|first=Andy|title=After MH370, Air-Tracking Plan Unveiled|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303851804579560962991371096|access-date=3 December 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=14 May 2014|archive-date=13 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313024120/https://segment-data.zqtk.net/dowjones-d8s23j?url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303851804579560962991371096.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="WSJ air transport industry response">{{cite news|last1=Pasztor|first1=Andy|title=How to Avoid Another Malaysia Flight 370|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/how-to-avoid-another-malaysia-flight-370-1405100436|access-date=3 December 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=13 July 2014|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010095755/http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-to-avoid-another-malaysia-flight-370-1405100436|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Rolphe|first=Martin|title=The future of aircraft surveillance and tracking|url=http://nats.aero/blog/2014/09/future-aircraft-surveillance-tracking/|work=[[NATS Holdings|NATS]]|date=17 September 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015|archive-date=7 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607190920/http://nats.aero/blog/2014/09/future-aircraft-surveillance-tracking/|url-status=live}}</ref>
<!-- Add short paragraph about failure to take action when similar proposals were made in the wake of AF447...
Flight 370's disappearance came nearly five years after the loss of Air France Flight 447 and the two incidents have been; the first recommendation to the ICAO was to: "extend as rapidly as possible to 90 days the regulatory transmission time for [underwater locator beacons] installed on flight recorders".<ref>{{cite web|title=Final Report: Flight AF 447 on 1st June 2009 A330-203, registered F-GZCP|url=http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2009/f-cp090601.en/pdf/f-cp090601.en.pdf|website=bea.aero|publisher=Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile|access-date=3 December 2014|format=PDF|date=27 July 2012}}</ref> {{Rp|203}} -->
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==== <span id="Real-time tracking">Aircraft tracking</span> ====
{{See also<!-- The link is just one issue, not a broad issue, so "see also" is the appropriate template, not "further". -->|Future Air Navigation System#Surveillance improvements}}
The [[International Air Transport Association]] (IATA)—an industry trade organisation representing more than 240 airlines (accounting for 84% of global air traffic)—and the ICAO began working on implementing new measures to track aircraft in flight in real time.<ref name="IATA tracking press release"/> The IATA created a task force (which included several outside stakeholders)<ref name="IATA tracking press release"/> to define a minimal set of requirements that any tracking system must meet, allowing airlines to decide the best solution to track their aircraft. The IATA's task force planned to come up with several short-, medium-, and long-term solutions to ensure that information is provided in a timely manner to support search, rescue, and recovery activities in the wake of an aircraft accident.<ref name="DW tracking">{{cite web |last=Domínguez |first=Gabriel |title=What has the aviation industry learned from Flight MH370?|url=http://www.dw.de/what-has-the-aviation-industry-learned-from-flight-mh370/a-17871162|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=19 October 2014|date=22 August 2014|archive-date=19 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019114757/http://www.dw.de/what-has-the-aviation-industry-learned-from-flight-mh370/a-17871162|url-status=live}}</ref> The task force was expected to provide a report to the ICAO on 30 September 2014, but announced on that date that the report would be delayed, citing the need for further clarification on some issues.<ref name="FlightTracking">{{cite news|title=IATA wants new airline tracking equipment|url=http://www.malaysiasun.com/index.php/sid/222727817/scat/5e8a9e9456185a7e/ht/IATA-wants-new-airline-tracking-equipment|access-date=10 June 2014|newspaper=Malaysia Sun|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223314/http://www.malaysiasun.com/index.php/sid/222727817/scat/5e8a9e9456185a7e/ht/IATA-wants-new-airline-tracking-equipment|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Martell|first=Allison|title=Task force delays aircraft tracking plans promised after MH370 mystery|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airlines-safety-tracking-idUKKCN0HP2C420140930|access-date=8 October 2014|publisher=Reuters|location=Toronto|date=30 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012225150/https://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/09/30/uk-airlines-safety-tracking-idUKKCN0HP2C420140930 |archive-date=12 October 2014 |url-status=livedead}}</ref> In December 2014, the IATA task force recommended that, within 12 months, airlines track commercial aircraft in no longer than 15-minute intervals. The IATA itself did not support the deadline, which it believed could not be met by all airlines, but the proposed standard had the support of the ICAO. Although the ICAO can set standards, it has no legal authority, and such standards must be adopted by member states.<ref name="air tracking ICAO standards">{{cite news|title=UN Aviation Body to Propose 15-minute Flight Tracking Standard|url=https://www.voanews.com/content/reu-un-aviation-body-to-propose-15-minute-flight-tracking-standard/2588127.html|access-date=24 January 2015|website=VOA News|agency=Reuters|date=6 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109192322/https://www.voanews.com/content/reu-un-aviation-body-to-propose-15-minute-flight-tracking-standard/2588127.html |archive-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="PM ICAO tracking standards">{{cite web|last=Peterson|first=Barbara|title=Here's Why Airliners Still Don't Have Real-Time Tracking Tech|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/aviation/safety/mh370-missing-jets-tracking-technology-17521859|website=Popular Mechanics|access-date=24 January 2015|date=12 December 2014|archive-date=13 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313023931/https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a13340/mh370-missing-jets-tracking-technology-17521859/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2016, the ICAO adopted a standard that, by November 2018, all aircraft over open ocean report their position every 15 minutes.<ref name="phys.org: ICAO 2016 amendments"/> In March, the ICAO approved an amendment to the Chicago Convention requiring new aircraft manufactured after 1 January 2021 to have autonomous tracking devices which could send location information at least once per minute in distress circumstances.<ref name="phys.org: ICAO 2016 amendments">{{cite news|last=Lowy|first=Joan|title=Airlines slow to adopt safety technologies after MH370|url=http://phys.org/news/2016-03-airlines-safety-technologies-mh370.html|access-date=21 April 2016|work=phys.org|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Science X Network|date=4 March 2016|archive-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407042639/http://phys.org/news/2016-03-airlines-safety-technologies-mh370.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ASN: ICAO 2016 amendments">{{cite web|title=ICAO updates Annex 6 with requirements to help avoid recurrence of MH370-type disappearances|url=http://news.aviation-safety.net/2016/03/07/icao-updates-annex-6-with-requirements-to-help-avoid-recurrence-of-mh370-type-disappearances/|website=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=21 April 2016|date=7 March 2016|archive-date=30 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430102540/http://news.aviation-safety.net/2016/03/07/icao-updates-annex-6-with-requirements-to-help-avoid-recurrence-of-mh370-type-disappearances/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In May 2014, [[Inmarsat]] said that it would offer its tracking service for free to all aircraft equipped with an Inmarsat satellite connection (which includes the vast majority of commercial airliners).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10824544/Inmarsat-offers-to-track-aircraft-for-free-after-Malaysia-Airlines-disaster.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10824544/Inmarsat-offers-to-track-aircraft-for-free-after-Malaysia-Airlines-disaster.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Inmarsat offers to track aircraft for free after Malaysia Airlines disaster |date=12 May 2014|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=4 April 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Inmarsat also changed the time period for handshakes with its terminals from one hour to 15 minutes.<ref name=JN-Inmarsat>{{cite journal|last1=Ashton|first1=Chris|last2=Bruce|first2=Alan Shuster|last3=Colledge|first3=Gary|last4=Dickinson|first4=Mark|title=The Search for MH370|journal=The Journal of Navigation|volume=68|pages=1–22|date=14 September 2014|doi=10.1017/S037346331400068X|doi-access=free | issn=0373-4633 }}</ref>{{Rp|2}}
==== Transponders ====
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[[File:Towed pinger locator.svg|thumb|right|Detection of the acoustic signal from the ULBs must be made below the [[thermocline]] and within a maximum range, under nominal conditions, of {{convert|2000-3000|m|abbr=on}}. With a ULB battery life of 30–40 days, searching for the important flight recorders is very difficult without precise coordinates of the location at which the aircraft entered the water.|alt=Diagram of location of ship, thermocline, towed pinger locater at end of tow cable, and blackbox pinger.]]
The intensive and urgent search for the flight recorders in early April 2014, due to the 30-day battery life of the [[underwater locator beacon]]s (ULBs) (or "pingers") attached to them, drew attention to their inherent limitations.{{efn|Regulations required ULBs to transmit a minimum of 30 days. The ULBs on the flight recorders on Flight 370 had a minimum 30-day battery life after immersion. The ULB manufacturer predicted the maximum battery life was 40 days after immersion.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|11}}}}<ref name="Rethink planes">{{cite web|last=Stupples|first=David|title=MH370 should make us rethink how we monitor planes|url=http://phys.org/news/2014-04-mh370-rethink-planes.html|website=Phys.org|access-date=20 January 2015|date=9 April 2014|archive-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122080644/http://phys.org/news/2014-04-mh370-rethink-planes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The maximum distance from the ULBs at which the signal can be detected is normally {{convert|2000-3000|m|abbr=on}}, or {{convert|4500|m|ft|abbr=on}} under favourable conditions.<ref name=ATSB />{{Rp|11}} Even if the flight recorders are located, the cockpit voice recorder memory has the capacity to store only two hours of data, continuously recording over the oldest data. This storage capacity complies with regulations, which take account of the fact that it is usually only the data recordings from the last section of a flight that are needed to determine the cause of an accident. However, the events that led to Flight 370 diverting from its course, before disappearing, took place more than two hours before the flight ended<!-- mentioned earlier in the article...between 08:19 and 09:15, based on satellite communications -->.<ref name="BBC FR limitations">{{cite news|last=de Castella|first=Tom|title=Malaysia plane: Why black boxes can't always provide the answers|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26721975|access-date=22 January 2015|publisher=BBC News|date=25 March 2014|archive-date=22 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222042751/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26721975|url-status=live}}</ref> Given these shortcomings, and the importance of the data stored on flight recorders, Flight 370 has brought to attention new technologies that enable [[Flight recorder#After Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|data streaming to the ground]].<ref name="SMH remote blackboxes">{{cite news|last=Allard|first=Tom|title=MH370: Expert demands better black box technology|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/mh370-expert-demands-better-black-box-technology-20140428-zr0vn.html|access-date=21 January 2015|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 April 2014|archive-date=3 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703031312/http://www.smh.com.au/world/mh370-expert-demands-better-black-box-technology-20140428-zr0vn.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Phys.org blackbox streaming">{{cite web|last=Yu|first=Yijun|title=If we'd used the cloud, we might know where MH370 is now|url=http://phys.org/news/2014-03-cloud-mh370.html#nRlv|website=Phys.org|access-date=21 January 2015|date=19 March 2014|archive-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122071128/http://phys.org/news/2014-03-cloud-mh370.html#nRlv|url-status=live}}</ref>
A call to increase the battery life of ULBs was made following the unsuccessful initial search in 2009 for the flight recorders on [[Air France Flight 447]], which were not located until 2011. A formal recommendation that the ULB design be upgraded to offer a longer battery life, or to make the recorders ejectable, had been included in the final report of the board of inquiry into the loss of [[South African Airways Flight 295]] over the Indian Ocean in 1987, but it was not until 2014 that the [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]] made such a recommendation, with implementation required by 2018.<ref name="SMH remote blackboxes" /> The [[European Aviation Safety Agency]] (EASA) issued new regulations that require the transmitting time of ULBs fitted to aircraft flight recorders to be increased from 30 to 90 days, to be implemented by 1 January 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/news/easa-certifies-first-long-range-underwater-locator-device-designed-and|title=EASA certifies first Long Range Underwater Locator Device designed and manufactured in Europe|date=4 April 2017|publisher=European Aviation Safety Agency|access-date=9 February 2019|archive-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232241/https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/news/easa-certifies-first-long-range-underwater-locator-device-designed-and|url-status=live}}</ref> The agency has also proposed that a new underwater locator beacon with a greater range of transmission should be fitted to aircraft that fly over oceans.<ref name="DW tracking" /> In June 2015, Dukane, a manufacturer of underwater locator beacons, began selling beacons with a 90-day battery life.<ref name="HEICO press release"/>
In March 2016, the ICAO adopted several amendments to the [[Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation|Chicago Convention]] in order to address issues raised by the disappearance of Flight 370. These affected aircraft manufactured after 2020, requiring cockpit voice recorders to record at least 25 hours of data, to ensure that all phases of a flight are recorded.<ref name="phys.org: ICAO 2016 amendments"/><ref name="ASN: ICAO 2016 amendments"/> Aircraft designs approved after 2020 must incorporate a means of recovering the flight recorders, or the information contained on them, before the recorders sink below the water. This provision is performance-based so that it can be accomplished by different techniques, such as streaming flight recorder data from a stricken aircraft, or using flight recorders that eject from the aircraft and float on the surface of the water.<ref name="ASN: ICAO 2016 amendments"/> The new regulations do not require modifications to be made to existing aircraft.<ref name="phys.org: ICAO 2016 amendments"/>
==== Safety recommendations ====
In January 2015, the U.S. [[National Transportation Safety Board]] cited Flight 370 and [[Air France Flight 447]] when it issued eight safety recommendations{{efn|A-15-1 to A-15-8}} related to locating aircraft wreckage in remote or underwater locations, and repeated recommendations for a crash-protected cockpit image recorder and tamper-resistant flight recorders and transponders.<ref name="NTSB safety recommendations letter">{{cite web|last=Huerta|first=Michael P.|title=Safety Recommendation: A – 15 – 1 through – 8|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/A-15-001-008.pdf|website=NTSB|access-date=13 February 2015|date=22 January 2015|archive-date=13 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213230150/http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/recletters/A-15-001-008.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NTSB safety recommendations press release"/>
== In popular culture ==
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been described as "one of the biggest mysteries in modern aviation history".<ref>The disappearance of flight MH370:
* {{cite news|title=Malaysia Airlines MH370: One year on, still no trace of plane that disappeared with 239 people onboard|url=http://australiaplus.com/international/2015-03-08/malaysia-airlines-mh370-one-year-on-still-no-trace-of-plane-that-disappeared-with-239-people-onboard/1422759|access-date=21 April 2016|work=Australia Plus|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=8 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415142156/http://australiaplus.com/international/2015-03-08/malaysia-airlines-mh370-one-year-on-still-no-trace-of-plane-that-disappeared-with-239-people-onboard/1422759|archive-date=15 April 2016|quote=Addressing Parliament on Thursday, [Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott] said the disappearance of the passenger jet was 'one of the great mysteries of our time.'}}
* {{cite web|title=Can Malaysia Airlines Survive Another Tragedy?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/18/mh17-mh370-plane-disaster-malaysia-airlines_n_5598334.html|website=Huffington Post|date=18 July 2014|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=10 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210072842/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/18/mh17-mh370-plane-disaster-malaysia-airlines_n_5598334.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|title=Transcripts|url=http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1410/07/ath.02.html|website=CNN|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224125446/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1410/07/ath.02.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|title=Malaysia Airlines disappearance joins greatest mysteries of all time|url=http://pix11.com/2014/03/17/malaysia-airlines-disappearance-joins-greatest-mysteries-of-all-time/|website=PIX 11|date=17 March 2014|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224104554/https://www.pix11.com/2014/03/17/malaysia-airlines-disappearance-joins-greatest-mysteries-of-all-time/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|title=The most read stories of 2014 on KOMONews.com|url=http://www.komonews.com/news/local/The-most-popular-stories-of-2014-287041471.html|website=KOMO News|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923212548/http://www.komonews.com/news/local/The-most-popular-stories-of-2014-287041471.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|title=World Headlines|url=https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/RSS/RSSWorld/TabId/970/ArtMID/14185/ArticleID/14292/The-ongoing-mystery-of-Malaysia-Airlines-Flight-370.aspx|website=OSV Newsweekly|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913185113/https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/RSS/RSSWorld/TabId/970/ArtMID/14185/ArticleID/14292/The-ongoing-mystery-of-Malaysia-Airlines-Flight-370.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/world/mh370-19th-century-shipwrecks-trnd/index.html|title=Flight MH370 is still missing, but the search has revealed two ships that vanished 140 years ago|first=David|last=Williams|website=edition.cnn.com|date=4 May 2018|access-date=4 May 2018|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819234455/https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/world/mh370-19th-century-shipwrecks-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Several documentaries have been produced about the flight. The [[Smithsonian Channel]] aired a one-hour documentary on 6 April 2014, titled ''Malaysia 370: The Plane That Vanished'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Malaysia 370: The Plane That Vanished|url=http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/3406766/malaysia-370-the-plane-that-vanished|website=Smithsonian Channel|access-date=18 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728122658/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/3406766/malaysia-370-the-plane-that-vanished|archive-date=28 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Morabito|first=Andrea|title=Smithsonian Channel will air documentary on missing jet|url=https://nypost.com/2014/04/03/smithsonian-channel-will-air-documentary-on-missing-jet/|access-date=18 June 2014|work=New York Post|date=3 April 2014|archive-date=9 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709025732/http://nypost.com/2014/04/03/smithsonian-channel-will-air-documentary-on-missing-jet/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Discovery Channel]] broadcast a one-hour documentary about Flight 370 on 16 April 2014, titled ''Flight 370: The Missing Links''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Flight 370: The Missing Links|url=http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/shows/flight-370-the-missing-links/|website=Discovery Channel (Asia)|publisher=Discovery Networks International|access-date=18 June 2014|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816035153/http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/shows/flight-370-the-missing-links/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kemp|first=Stuart|title=Discovery Networks International Orders Special on Malaysia Flight 370|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/discovery-networks-international-orders-special-692946|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=18 June 2014|date=2 April 2014|archive-date=20 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720043528/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/discovery-networks-international-orders-special-692946|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 17 June 2014, an episode of the television documentary series ''[[Horizon (UKBritish TV series)|Horizon]]'', titled "Where Is Flight MH370?" was broadcast on [[BBC Two]]. The programme, narrated by [[Amanda Drew]], documents how the aircraft disappeared, what experts believe to have happened to it, and how the search has unfolded. It also examines new technologies, such as flight recorder streaming and [[automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast]] (ADS-B), which may help prevent similar disappearances in the future. The programme concludes by noting that ''Ocean Shield'' had spent two months searching {{convert|850|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} of ocean, but that it had searched far to the north of the Inmarsat "hotspot" on the final arc, at approximately 28 degrees south, where the aircraft was most likely to have crashed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Where is Flight MH370?|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047czkj|website=BBC Two|publisher=BBC|access-date=12 June 2014|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209210654/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b047czkj|url-status=live}}</ref> On 8 October 2014, a modified version of the ''Horizon'' programme was broadcast in the U.S. by [[PBS]] as an episode of ''[[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA]]'', titled "Why Planes Vanish", with a different narrator.<!-- NOTE: While no source could be found explicitly stating it was a modified version of the Horizon program, the credits of NOVA episode (ref) include "For BBC Where is Flight MH370?" after which point the credits are almost identical to the ''Horizon episode (not available online except uploaded in violation of copyright, which cannot be a reference per WP's MOS). Watching the programs, it is obvious they are identical visually (same footage, same interviews) but the narrator is different and the narrator's script is slightly different. --><ref>{{cite web|title=Why Planes Vanish|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/why-planes-vanish.html|website=NOVA|publisher=WGBH|access-date=10 October 2014|quote=FOR BBC Where is Flight MH370?|archive-date=12 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012200446/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/why-planes-vanish.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=NOVA – Why Planes Vanish|url=http://video.pbs.org/video/2365334815/|website=pbs.org|publisher=PBS|access-date=10 October 2014|archive-date=11 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011111807/http://video.pbs.org/video/2365334815/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2014/10/08/why-planes-vanish-nova-documentary-explores-what-happened-to-missing-malaysia-boeing-777/|title=Why Planes Vanish: NOVA Documentary Explores What Happened to Missing Malaysia Boeing-777|first=John|last=Goglia|date=8 October 2014|website=Forbes|access-date=11 October 2014|archive-date=11 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011021107/http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2014/10/08/why-planes-vanish-nova-documentary-explores-what-happened-to-missing-malaysia-boeing-777/?|url-status=live}}</ref>
The aviation disaster documentary television series ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]]'' (also known as ''Air Crash Investigation'' and ''Air Emergency'') produced an episode on the disaster, titled "[[List of Mayday episodes#Season 14 (2015)|What Happened to Malaysian 370?]]".<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub8C4WAxsNI |title=What Happened to Malaysian 370? - Malaysia Airlines 370 |date=2016-03-24 |last=[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]] |first=Season 14, episode 11 |access-date=2024-06-11 |via=YouTube}}</ref> The episode aired in the UK on 8 March 2015, the first anniversary of Flight 370's disappearance.<ref>{{cite web|title=Air Crash Investigation|url=httphttps://www.natgeotv.com/uk/shows/natgeo/air-crash-investigation/about|website=National Geographic|access-date=13 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213212719/http://natgeotv.com/uk/air-crash-investigation/about|archive-date=13 February 2015}}</ref> In August 2018, the television series ''Drain the Oceans'', which airs on the [[National Geographic (American TV channel)|National Geographic channel]], highlighted the disaster, the methods used in the search, and the potential discoveries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/07/airdate-drain-the-oceans.html|title=Airdate: Drain the Oceans|date=4 July 2018|work=TV Tonight|access-date=21 August 2018|language=en-AU|archive-date=22 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822045929/https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/07/airdate-drain-the-oceans.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Panoply Media|Panoply]] made a podcast story loosely based on the disappearance of MH370, called "Passenger List", featuring the voice of. [[Kelly Marie Tran]] asplayed the lead character.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hess |first=Amanda |title=The Best New Social Thriller Is a Podcast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/arts/the-best-new-social-thriller-is-a-podcast.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=13 September 2018 |access-date=18 September 2018 |archive-date=16 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416223404/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/arts/the-best-new-social-thriller-is-a-podcast.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Jeff Rake]], creator of the [[NBC]] show ''[[Manifest (TV series)|Manifest]]'', said that after he had pitched his idea for the show without any success, the MH370 disappearance led to the TV network's sudden interest.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=22 July 2018 |title=Was Manifest Inspired by Malaysian Flight 370? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXYo-dXmOY |access-date=18 October 2018 |time=0:03 |location=San Diego, CA |publisher=Syfy |quote=Seven years later, Malaysian Airlines happened, and suddenly my crazy idea felt a little more real... |archive-date=26 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426132756/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWXYo-dXmOY |url-status=live }}</ref>
The first work of fiction about the incident was ''MH370: A Novella'', by New Zealand author Scott Maka.<ref>{{cite web |last=Teeman |first=Tim |date=14 June 2014 |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |title=The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial Book |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-surprisingly-good-flight-370-novel-author-scott-maka-defends-his-controversial-book |access-date=6 June 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803180216/https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-surprisingly-good-flight-370-novel-author-scott-maka-defends-his-controversial-book |url-status=live }}</ref>
The podcast ''[[Stuff You Should Know]]'' released a two-part episode discussing the case, titled "The Disappearance of Flight MH370", on 7 and 9 January 2020.<ref name="The disappearance of flight MH370">{{cite web|title=The disappearance of flight MH370 part I|url=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/episode/the-disappearance-of-flight-mh370-part-55210957/|website=iheart radio|date=7 January 2020}} & {{cite web|title=The disappearance of flight MH370 part II|url=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/episode/the-disappearance-of-flight-mh370-part-55349505/|website=iheart radio|date=9 January 2020}}</ref> ''Black Box Down'', a podcast detailing aviation accidents, also had an episode covering the incident released on 18 June 2020.<ref name="Missing Malaysian Flight">{{cite web|title=Missing Malaysian Flight|url=https://roosterteeth.com/watch/black-box-down-2020-6-18|website=roosterteeth|date=18 June 2020}}</ref>
In 2022, a three-part documentary series, titled ''MH370: The Lost Flight'', was released.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/mh370-the-lost-flight |title=MH370: The Lost Flight | Documentary | SBS On Demand |publisher=Sbs.com.au |date= |accessdate=25 May 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524111516/https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/mh370-the-lost-flight |url-status=live }}</ref>
The first work of fiction about the incident was ''MH370: A Novella'', by New Zealand author Scott Maka.<ref>{{cite web |last=Teeman |first=Tim |date=14 June 2014 |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |title=The Surprisingly Good Flight 370 Novel: Author Scott Maka Defends His Controversial Book |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-surprisingly-good-flight-370-novel-author-scott-maka-defends-his-controversial-book}}</ref>
InOn the ninth anniversary of the flight's 2022disappearance, 8 March 2023, a three-part documentary seriesdocuseries, titled ''[[MH370: The LostPlane That FlightDisappeared]]'', waspremiered on released[[Netflix]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbsnetflix.com.au/ondemandtudum/programarticles/mh370-theplane-lostthat-flight disappeared-release-date-news|title='MH370: The LostPlane FlightThat |Disappeared' DocumentaryIs |a SBSThree-Part OnQuest Demandfor Answers|publisher=Sbs.com.au Netflix|dateaccessdate=16 February 2023|accessdatearchive-date=2515 MayFebruary 20222023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215205511/https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/mh370-plane-that-disappeared-release-date-news|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2023, American comedian [[Jocelyn Chia]] was investigated by Malaysian police for breaching Malaysian laws relating to incitement and offensive online content, after making a joke about the flight at [[Comedy Cellar]] in New York City. [[Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani]], chief of the Malaysian police, said an application would be filed to [[Interpol]] to find Chia's "full identity" and "latest location". A video of her stand-up performance was removed from [[TikTok]] for violating the platform's hate speech guidelines. The Singaporean ambassador to Malaysia stated that Chia (who grew up in Singapore) did not speak for Singaporeans. [[Vivian Balakrishnan]], Singaporean Foreign Minister, called Chia's joke "horrendous statements". Chia stood by the joke, stating that it was being "taken out of context" and had been performed over 100 times without complaints before.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-13 |title=MH370 joke: Malaysia asks Interpol to track down comedian |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65894721 |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823082910/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65894721 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On the ninth anniversary of the flight's disappearance, 8 March 2023, a three-part docuseries, ''[[MH370: The Plane That Disappeared]]'' premiered on [[Netflix]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/mh370-plane-that-disappeared-release-date-news|title='MH370: The Plane That Disappeared' Is a Three-Part Quest for Answers|publisher=Netflix|accessdate=16 February 2023}}</ref>
Comedian Jocelyn Chia was subject to investigations by Malaysian police for breaching Malaysian laws relating to incitement and offensive online content, after making a joke about the flight. [[Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani]], chief of the Malaysian police, has put in an application to Interpol to find Chia's "full identity" and "latest location". Her video has been taken off of [[TikTok]] due to hate speech. The Singaporean ambassador to Malaysia has apologised for the comments. [[Vivian Balakrishnan]], Singaporean Foreign Minister, called Chia's joke "horrendous statements". Chia claimed that the joke had been "taken out of context."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65894721|title= MH370 joke: Malaysia asks Interpol to track down comedian |publisher=BBC|access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>
== See also ==
Line 487 ⟶ 498:
E.g.:
* [[Air France Flight 447]]
-->
{{Portal|Malaysia|Aviation}}-->
{{Portal|Aviation|Malaysia|China}}
* [[List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft]]
* [[:Category:21st-century aviation accidents and incidents|List of aviation accidents and incidents in the 21st century]]
Line 495 ⟶ 506:
* [[List of unrecovered flight recorders]]
* [[List of unsolved deaths]]
* [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17]]
== Explanatory notes ==
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<ref name="IATA tracking press release">{{cite web|title=Industry Addressing Aircraft Tracking Options|url=http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/pages/2014-06-03-1.aspx|website=[[International Air Transport Association|IATA]]|access-date=25 November 2014|date=3 June 2014|archive-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321005948/http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2014-06-03-1.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="HEICO press release">{{cite press release |url=http://www.radiantpowercorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dukane-Seacom-Creates-First-Certified-90-Day-Underwater-Locator-Beacon.pdf |title=Dukane Seacom Creates First Certified 90 Day Underwater Locator Beacon; Extended Triple Life will Facilitate Aircraft Recovery Efforts |work=[[HEICO|HEICO News]] |date=23 June 2015 |access-date=19 August 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819073849/http://www.radiantpowercorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dukane-Seacom-Creates-First-Certified-90-Day-Underwater-Locator-Beacon.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="NTSB safety recommendations press release">{{cite web|title=NTSB Calls for Better Ways to Find Aircraft Accident Sites and Retrieve Critical Flight Data|url=https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/PR20150122.aspx|website=[[National Transportation Safety Board|NTSB]]|access-date=13 February 2015|date=22 January 2015|archive-date=13 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213232518/http://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/PR20150122.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=20140308malaysiaairlines>{{cite press release| title=MH370 Passenger Manifest| url=http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/malaysia-airlines/mas/PDF/MH370/8th%20Mar-Malaysia%20Airlines%20Flight%20MH%20370%20Passenger%20Manifest_Nationality.pdf| publisher=[[Malaysia Airlines]]| date=8 March 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308152105/http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/content/dam/mas/master/en/pdf/Malaysia%20Airlines%20Flight%20MH%20370%20Passenger%20Manifest.pdf| archive-date=8 March 2014| url-status=dead}}</ref>
Line 516 ⟶ 528:
<!-- statements by Malaysia Airlines here -->
<ref name="MAS press statements 8–17 March">{{cite web|title=MH370 Flight Incident (Press statements 8–17 March) |url=http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/ksd-maintenance/DarkSites.html |publisher=[[Malaysia Airlines]] |access-date=22 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218104844/http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/ksd-maintenance/DarkSites.html |archive-date=18 December 2014 |date=March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<!-- statements by the Malaysian Government and its agencies here -->
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|title = FBI Finishes Probe into Malaysia Airlines Captain's Flight Simulator
|url = https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/no-clues-to-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane-in-captains-flight-simulator/
|work = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]
|date = 2 April 2014
|access-date = 12 November 2019
Line 541 ⟶ 553:
<ref name="BBC_2014-03-11_a">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Budisatrijo
|first1 first1 = Alice
|last2 last2 = Westcott
|first2 first2 = Richard
|title title = Malaysia Airlines MH370: Stolen passports 'no terror link'
|url url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26525281
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 11 March 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
|archive-date = 4 June 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140604003403/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26525281
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<!-- UNUSED REF <ref name="BBC_2014-03-15">{{cite news
| last1 = Gardner
| first1 = Frank
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| date = 15 March 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
}}</ref> -->
<ref name="BBC_2014-03-16">{{cite news
|last last = Childs
|first first = Nick
|title title = Missing Malaysia plane: MH370 and the military gaps
|url url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26603830
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 16 March 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
|archive-date = 21 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140521005212/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26603830
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
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<ref name="BBC_2014-03-25_b">{{cite news
|last last = Hatton
|first first = Celia
|title title = Malaysia Airlines MH370: Relatives in Beijing scuffles
|url url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26728045
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 25 March 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
|archive-date = 8 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140508170105/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26728045
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_2014-03-28_b">{{cite news
|title title = Flight MH370: 'Objects spotted' in new search area
|url url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26786549
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 28 March 2014
| access-date = 8 May 2014
|archive-date = 27 April 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140427061254/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26786549
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_2014-03-29">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Moore
|first1 first1 = Andy
|last2 last2 = Donnison
|first2 first2 = Jon
|title title = Flight MH370: Chinese and Australian ships draw blank
|url url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26797866
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 29 March 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
|archive-date = 27 April 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140427063159/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26797866
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_2014-03-31_b">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Donnison
|first1 first1 = Jon
|last2 last2 = Westcott
|first2 first2 = Richard
|title title = MH370: New account of cockpit last words
|url url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26825184
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 31 March 2014
| access-date = 8 May 2014
|archive-date = 31 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140531111007/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26825184
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<!-- UNUSED REF <ref name="BBC_2014-04-02">{{cite news
| title = Missing plane MH370: Malaysia mystery 'may not be solved'
| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26847402
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| date = 2 April 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
}}</ref> -->
<ref name="BBC_2014-04-06">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Childs
|first1 first1 = Nick
|last2 last2 = Westcott
|first2 first2 = Richard
|title title = Malaysia flight MH370: Search ships to verify signals
|url url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26912064
|work work = BBC News
|date date = 6 April 2014
| access-date = 9 May 2014
|archive-date = 31 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140531110944/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26912064
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="Guardian-safe">{{cite news
|title title = Malaysia Airlines: experts surprised at disappearance of 'very safe' Boeing 777
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/malaysia-airlines-experts-surprised-at-disappearance-of-very-safe-boeing-777
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 8 March 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 4 June 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140604200247/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/malaysia-airlines-experts-surprised-at-disappearance-of-very-safe-boeing-777
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140314guardian>{{cite news
|last last = Branigan
|first first = Tania
|title title = Malaysia flight MH370 hunt sees suspicion and cooperation
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/malaysia-flight-mh370-hunt-sees-suspicion-and-cooperation-china-us
|location location = Beijing
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 14 March 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 12 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512050223/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/malaysia-flight-mh370-hunt-sees-suspicion-and-cooperation-china-us
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140324theguardian>{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Holpuch
|first1 first1 = Amanda
|last2 last2 = Weaver
|first2 first2 = Matthew
|title title = MH370 families attack Malaysian government over loss of plane
|type type = News blog
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/mh370-chinese-plane-spots-white-objects-live-updates
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 24 March 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
|archive-date = 9 March 2021
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210309061943/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/mh370-chinese-plane-spots-white-objects-live-updates
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-12">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Milman
|first1 first1 = Oliver
|title title = Flight MH370: former Australian defence chief to co-ordinate search
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/flight-mh370-angus-houston-international-search-efforts
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 30 March 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 9 April 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140409143932/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/flight-mh370-angus-houston-international-search-efforts
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="Guardian Transcript">{{cite news
|title title = MH370: cockpit transcript in full
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2014/apr/01/mh370-cockpit-transcript-full
|last last = Rogers
|first first = Abby
|website website = theguardian.com
|date date = 1 April 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
|archive-date = 16 May 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140516223636/http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2014/apr/01/mh370-cockpit-transcript-full
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-39">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Weaver
|first1 first1 = Matthew
|last2 last2 = McCarthy
|first2 first2 = Tom
|title title = MH370: Australia takes lead in Indian Ocean as search area expands
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/17/mh370-crew-of-missing-plane-investigated-for-more-than-a-week-live-updates
|date date = 17 March 2014
| type = News blog
|work work = The Guardian
|location location = London, New York
| access-date = 30 March 2014
|archive-date = 27 March 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140327202659/http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2014/mar/17/mh370-crew-of-missing-plane-investigated-for-more-than-a-week-live-updates
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-42">{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Dehghan
|first1 first1 = Saeed Kamali
|title title = Iranians travelling on flight MH370 on forged passports 'not linked to terror'
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/passengers-malaysian-plane-mh370-iranian-forged-passports
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 11 March 2014
| access-date = 30 March 2014
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 30 March 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140330044134/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/passengers-malaysian-plane-mh370-iranian-forged-passports
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140314theguardian>{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Hodal
|first1 first1 = Kate
|title title = Flight MH370: a week of false leads and confusion in hunt for missing plane
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/flight-mh370-false-leads-confusion-hunt-missing-plane
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 14 March 2014
| access-date = 25 March 2014
| location = Songkhla
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 24 March 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140324115957/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/14/flight-mh370-false-leads-confusion-hunt-missing-plane
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140317theguardian>{{cite news
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/mar/17/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-co-pilot-all-right-good-night-video
|title title = Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 co-pilot's last message was 'all right, good night' – video
|work work = The Guardian
|date date = 17 March 2014
| access-date = 31 March 2014
| agency = Reuters
|archive-date = 31 March 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140331195720/http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/mar/17/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-co-pilot-all-right-good-night-video
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=Branigan30-3-14>{{cite news
|last1 last1 = Branigan
|first1 first1 = Tania
|title title = Flight MH370: Chinese relatives demand apology from Malaysia
|url url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/flight-mh370-chinese-relatives-apology-malaysia-missing-plane
|work work = The Guardian
| access-date = 6 April 2014
| date = 30 March 2014
| location = Beijing
| url-access = registration
|archive-date = 6 April 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140406083722/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/30/flight-mh370-chinese-relatives-apology-malaysia-missing-plane
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="SMH_2014-03-10">{{cite news
| last = Murdoch
| first = Lindsay
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| date = 10 March 2014
| access-date = 7 May 2014
}}</ref>
<ref name="SMH_2014-03-14">{{cite news
|title title = Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 – a week of confusion
|url url = http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370--a-week-of-confusion-20140314-hviqs.html
|newspaper newspaper = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
|date date = 14 March 2014
| access-date = 7 May 2014
|archive-date = 6 October 2023
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231006034502/https://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370--a-week-of-confusion-20140314-hviqs.html
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="SMH_2014-04-03">{{cite news
|last last = Murdoch
|first first = Lindsay
|title title = Flight MH370: Police investigate whether food on missing plane was poisoned
|url url = http://www.smh.com.au/world/flight-mh370-police-investigate-whether-food-on-missing-plane-was-poisoned-20140403-zqq33.html
|newspaper newspaper = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
|date date = 3 April 2014
| access-date = 3 April 2014
|archive-date = 13 March 2024
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240313024120/https://www.smh.com.au/world/police-investigate-possible-poisoning-of-food-on-missing-plane-20140403-zqq33.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
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| date = 8 March 2014
| access-date = 3 May 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201111234825/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/07/malaysia-airlines-beijing-flight-missing/6187779/
| archive-date = 11 November 2020 | url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name="SOFREP_2014-03-22">{{cite web
|last last = Spoonts
|first first = Sean
|title title = "Alright, Goodnight" – Does Malaysia Want To Know What Happened To Flight MH-370?
|url url = http://sofrep.com/34084/alright-goodnight-malaysia-want-know-happened-flight-mh-370/
| website = SOFREP.COM (Special Operations Forces Report-Special Ops News & Intel)
|publisher publisher = Sean Spoonts
|date date = 22 March 2014
| access-date = 10 May 2014
|archive-date = 30 March 2014
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140330015710/http://sofrep.com/34084/alright-goodnight-malaysia-want-know-happened-flight-mh-370/
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140320npr>{{cite web
|last last = Kuhn
|first first = Anthony
|title title = For Flight 370 Families, Every Day Is 'Torment' : Parallels
|url url = https://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/03/20/291973274/for-flight-370-families-every-day-is-torment
|publisher publisher = NPR
|date date = 20 March 2014
| access-date = 11 May 2014
|archive-date = 10 May 2015
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150510005804/http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/03/20/291973274/for-flight-370-families-every-day-is-torment
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
<ref name=20140315nytblog>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/03/15/india-continues-search-for-mh370-as-malaysia-ends-hunt-in-south-china-sea/ |title=India Continues Search for MH370 as Malaysia Ends Hunt in South China Sea |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=15 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910131547/http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/03/15/india-continues-search-for-mh370-as-malaysia-ends-hunt-in-south-china-sea/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=20140311theaviationist>{{cite web|last=Cenciotti|first=David|title=What we know and what we don't about the mysterious Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappearance|url=http://theaviationist.com/2014/03/11/mh370-known-unknown-facts/|website=The Aviationist|access-date=3 April 2014|date=11 March 2014|archive-date=7 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307215717/https://theaviationist.com/2014/03/11/mh370-known-unknown-facts/|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-66">{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314|title=Exclusive: Radar data suggests missing Malaysia plane deliberately flown way off course – sources|last1=Koswanage|first1=Niluksi|last2=Govindasamy|first2=Siva|location=Kuala Lumpur|date=14 March 2014|publisher=Reuters|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323102148/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314|archive-date=23 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
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<ref name="AutoVQ-29">{{cite book |last= Pither|first= Tony|title= The Boeing 707 720 and C-135|year= 1998|publisher= [[Air-Britain|Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd]]|location=England | isbn=978-0-85130-236-2}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-30">{{cite web |title=Boeing 777-200 – Fleet |url=http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/hq/en/mh-experience/our-fleet/boeing-777-200.html |publisher=Malaysia Airlines |access-date=12 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017102412/http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/hq/en/mh-experience/our-fleet/boeing-777-200.html |archive-date=17 October 2013 |language=English |url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Airfleets">{{cite web|url=http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b777-28420.htm|website=Airfleets|title=Malaysia Airlines 9M-MRO (Boeing 777 – MSN 28420)|access-date=7 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-30">{{cite web |url= http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/hq/en/mh-experience/our-fleet/boeing-777-200.html |title= Boeing 777-200 – Fleet |publisher= Malaysia Airlines |access-date= 12 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=Flight396801>{{cite news|title= MAS 777 underwent maintenance in Feb|first= Mavis|last= Toh|location= Singapore|website=[[FlightGlobal]]|date= 9 March 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015|url= http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/mas-777-underwent-maintenance-in-feb-396801/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140309212334/http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/mas-777-underwent-maintenance-in-feb-396801/|archive-date= 9 March 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name=20140308straitstimes>{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/missing-mas-plane/story/missing-mas-flight-captain-piloting-mh370-penang-boy-20140308|title=Missing MAS flight: Captain piloting MH370 a Penang boy|date=8 March 2014|website=[[The Straits Times]]|access-date=9 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=20140309in>{{cite news|last=Koswanage|first=Niluksi|title=Pilot of missing Malaysian flight an aviation tech geek|url=https://in.reuters.com/article/malaysia-crash-pilot-idINDEEA2804J20140309|access-date=10 March 2014|publisher=Reuters|location=Kuala Lumpur|date=9 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311202726/https://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/09/malaysia-crash-pilot-idINDEEA2804J20140309|archive-date=11 March 2014|url-status=livedead}}</ref>
<ref name=20140308nst>{{cite web|url=http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-co-pilot-family-awaits-for-latest-updates-1.503079 |title=MISSING MH370: Co-pilot family awaits for latest updates – Latest |website=New Straits Times |date=8 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604195716/http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-co-pilot-family-awaits-for-latest-updates-1.503079|archive-date=4 June 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name="cnn-firstoff">{{cite news|last=Watkins|first=Tom|title=First officer on missing jet was transitioning to 777-200s|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-first-officer/|access-date=10 March 2014|publisher=CNN|date=10 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-38">{{cite news |url=http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/03/17/new-phase-of-search-starts-on-both-corridors/ |title=New phase of search starts on both corridors |work=Free Malaysia Today |access-date=30 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321193844/http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/03/17/new-phase-of-search-starts-on-both-corridors/ |archive-date=21 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="ICAO investigation team">{{cite web|url=http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/04/malaysia-reorganizes-flight-370-investigation-appoints-independent-investigator/#sthash.U2VCAmnR.dpuf|title=Malaysia Reorganizes Flight 370 Investigation, Appoints Independent Investigator|website=Frequent Business Traveler| first=Paul |last=Riegler |date=6 April 2014|access-date=6 April 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name="cnn14">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-passengers/index.html|title=Plane bore painters, pilgrims, others from around the world|date=9 March 2014|publisher=CNN |author1=Catherine E. Shoichet |author2=Ray Sanchez |name-list-style=amp |access-date=8 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=Interpol>{{cite web |url=http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-038 |title=INTERPOL confirms at least two stolen passports used by passengers on missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370 were registered in its databases |work=[[Interpol]] |access-date=9 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309152634/http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News/2014/N2014-038 |archive-date=9 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=20140309nytimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html|title=Passport Theft Adds to Mystery of Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet|author1=Keith Bradsher|author2=Eric Schmitt|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 March 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=20140310ibtimes>{{cite news|last=Mezzofiore|first=Gianluca|title=Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Iranian Middleman Asked Thai Agent to Book Tickets on Stolen Passports|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-iranian-middleman-asked-thai-agent-book-two-stolen-1439631|access-date=11 March 2014|newspaper=International Business Times|date=10 March 2014|location=UK}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-40">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/10/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html |last1= Ahmed| first1=Saeed |last2=Shoichet| first2=Catherine E.| title='There are no answers': Days later, no sign of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 |publisher=CNN |date=11 March 2014| access-date=11 March 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoVQ-41">{{cite web|url=http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-man-with-stolen-passport-on-jet-is-asylum-seeker-1.507657 |title=MISSING MH370: Man with stolen passport on jet is asylum seeker – Latest |website=New Straits Times |access-date=30 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313065137/http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-man-with-stolen-passport-on-jet-is-asylum-seeker-1.507657|archive-date=13 March 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name=20140322minsider>{{cite web |url=http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/not-just-mangosteens-on-board-mh370-also-carried-lithium-ion-batteries-says |title=Not just mangosteens on board, MH370 also carried lithium-ion batteries, says daily |newspaper=[[The Malaysian Insider]] |date=22 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905194013/http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/not-just-mangosteens-on-board-mh370-also-carried-lithium-ion-batteries-says |archive-date=5 September 2015 }}</ref>
<!-- UNUSED REF <ref name=20140311channelnewsasia>{{cite web |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/specialreports/mh370/news/mh370-passengers-cleared/1056364.html |title=MH370 passengers "cleared" in four probe areas: Malaysian police |work=[[Channel NewsAsia]] |date=11 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906012324/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/specialreports/mh370/news/mh370-passengers-cleared/1056364.html |archive-date=6 September 2015 }}</ref> -->
<ref name="AutoVQ-50">{{cite web|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/MH370-Further-confusion-over-timing-of-last-words/tabid/417/articleID/336342/Default.aspx|title=MH370: Further confusion over timing of last words|date=18 March 2014 |first=Ian |last=Mader |work=[[Newshub|3 News]] |publisher=[[MediaWorks New Zealand]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409021143/http://www.3news.co.nz/MH370-Further-confusion-over-timing-of-last-words/tabid/417/articleID/336342/Default.aspx|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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<ref name=ATSB>{{cite web|title=MH 370 – Definition of Underwater Search Areas|url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5243942/ae-2014-054_mh370_-_definition_of_underwater_search_areas_18aug2014.pdf|publisher=[[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]]|date=26 June 2014|access-date=12 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827002931/http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5243942/ae-2014-054_mh370_-_definition_of_underwater_search_areas_18aug2014.pdf|archive-date=27 August 2014|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |title=The Search for MH370: Reports |url=http://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/updates/reports.aspx |website=Australian Transport Safety Bureau |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213015654/http://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370-pages/updates/reports.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=Reuters-26June>{{cite news|last=Feast|first=Lincoln|title=Malaysia jet passengers likely suffocated, Australia says|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airlines-australia-idUSKBN0F10FE20140627|publisher=Reuters|location=Sydney|access-date=29 June 2014|date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628055149/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/27/us-malaysia-airlines-australia-idUSKBN0F10FE20140627|archive-date=28 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150309093347/http://mh370.mot.gov.my/download/FactualInformation.pdf Factual Information: Safety Investigation for MH370] – Interim report released by the Malaysian Ministry of Transport on 8 March 2015 (586 pages).
* [https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5243942/ae-2014-054_mh370_-_definition_of_underwater_search_areas_18aug2014.pdf MH370 – Definition of Underwater Search Areas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918020649/https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5243942/ae-2014-054_mh370_-_definition_of_underwater_search_areas_18aug2014.pdf |date=18 September 2019 }} (2014) – Report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, released on 26 June 2014, and the most comprehensive report on Flight 370 publicly released at that time. The report focuses on defining the search area for the fifth phase, but in doing so provides a comprehensive overview/examination of satellite data, the failed searches, and possible "end-of-flight scenarios".
* [https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5733650/AE-2014-054_MH370-Definition%20of%20Underwater%20Search%20Areas_3Dec2015.pdf MH370 – Definition of Underwater Search Areas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029154649/http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5733650/AE-2014-054_MH370-Definition%20of%20Underwater%20Search%20Areas_3Dec2015.pdf |date=29 October 2019 }} (2015) – Report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, released on 3 December 2015, covering the [[Bayesian method]]search theory|Bayesian analysis]] made by Australia's [[Defence Science and Technology Group]] and other developments since mid-2014 in defining the search area.
* [https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5771773/ae-2014-054_debris-update_2nov2016.pdf MH370 – Search and debris examination update] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923142831/https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/5771773/ae-2014-054_debris-update_2nov2016.pdf |date=23 September 2019 }} (2016) – Report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, released on 2 November 2016, comprising further analysis of satellite data, additional End of Flight simulations, analysis of flight debris (wing flap), and enhanced debris drift modelling.
* [https://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/2016/mh370-first-principles-review-and-csiro-reports/ MH370 First Principles Review and CSIRO reports] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021121025/https://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/2016/mh370-first-principles-review-and-csiro-reports/ |date=21 October 2018 }} – Report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, released on 20 December 2016, documenting the proceedings and outcomes of the ''First Principles Review'' meeting held in Canberra between 2–4 November 2016. The review identified a previously unsearched area of {{convert|25,000|sqkm|abbr=on}} as having the highest probability of containing the aircraft wreckage.
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== External links ==
{{Sister project links | wikt=no | commonsc=Category:Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 | b=no | n= | q= Malaysia Airlines MH370 | s=no | v=no | voy=no | species=no | d=y| mw=no}}
* {{official website|http://www.mh370.gov.my/index.php/en/}} – maintained by the Malaysian government
* [http://www.jacc.gov.au/ Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC)]
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{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 2014}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia}}
{{Portal bar|Aviation|Malaysia|China}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:2014 in Malaysia]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 777]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents with an unknown cause]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Australia–China relations]]
[[Category:Australia–Malaysia relations]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2014]]
[[Category:2014 controversies]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Malaysia]]