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Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
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Kuala Lumpur
Andaman Sea
Gulf of Thailand
Indian Ocean
INDONESIA
Andaman Islands
Nicobar Islands
CAMBODIA
THAILAND
MYANMAR
MALAYSIA
100 miles
100 km
VIETNAM
Maps
Tracking
Emergency
Bay of Bengal
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March 8
International Airport
Last radio contact
Radio contact
Flight MH370 signs off from Malaysian airspace at 1:19 am with a casual “all right, good night,” from a person now believed to be the co-pilot.
1.19 am
March 8
International Airport Plane departs for Beijing
Kota Bharu
Last radar contact Subang Air Traffic Control
Plane vanishes
The plane loses all contact over the Gulf of Thailand around 40 minutes after takeoff.
1.21 am
March 8
The search begins
Vietnamese rescue planes spot large oil slicks off Tho Chu Island but later analysis determines they are not related to flight MH370. Thai and U.S. navy aircraft and vessels begin conducting searches in the Strait of Malacca.
Tho Chu Island Approximate area where debris and oil slick were sighted
Strait of Malacca
Ho Chi Minh City
March 9
Kota Bharu
Initial search area
Malaysian authorities outline an initial search area which covers large swathes of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea as well as an area of Peninsular Malaysia.
Phuket
Radar information is reported
It is reported that an aircraft, possibly Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, was plotted on military radar at 2:15 a.m., about 200 miles northwest of Penang, around an hour after it lost contact with civilian air traffic controllers.
Approx. area where military radar detected unidentified jet days earlier
Ho Chi Minh City
Penang
March 11
Phuket
Banda Aceh
Penang
Vung Tau
Ca Mau
The search area expands
The search area extends more towards the East to cover more of the Gulf of Thailand and coast of Vietnam.
March 11
Penang
Phuket
GIVAL
VAMPI
IGREX
New radar information
Military radar data suggests Flight MH370 was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, sources tell Reuters. It is believed the plane was following a route West between navigational waypoints when it was last plotted on radar off Malaysia's northwest coast.
Navigational waypoints
March 14
GIVAL
VAMPI
IGREX
The search area shifts west
A new search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is opened in the Bay of Bengal, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane.
March 14
Bay of Bengal
Andaman and Nicobar
Indian aircraft comb Andaman and Nicobar, made up of more than 500 mostly uninhabited islands, for signs of the missing jetliner that evidence suggests was last headed towards the heavily forested archipelago. Nothing is found.
March 14
Bay of Bengal
Satellite data released
A week after the plane disappeared, Prime Minister Najib Razak confirms its last transmission of satellite data came nearly seven hours after it vanished but the new data gave no precise location, and the plane's altered course could have taken it anywhere from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean.
Last known position at 8.11 am based on satellite data could be anywhere along the red lines
Satellite 35,800 km above sea level
CHINA
AUSTRALIA
KAZAKHSTAN
INDIA
500 miles
500 km
Pacific Ocean
Arabian Sea
Kuala Lumpur
Indian Ocean
March 15
Needle in a hay stack
Based on the possible last known positions based on radar data (red arcs) Reuters calculations estimate the plane could have flown for another 59 minutes, leaving a possible area where the plane could have travelled of 38 million square kilometres (shaded areas).
Needle in a haystack
Based on the possible last known position (red arcs) Reuters calculations estimate the plane could have flown for another 59 minutes, leaving a possible area where the plane could have travelled of around 38 million square kilometres (shaded areas).
Possible debris discovered
Australian search aircraft are investigating two objects spotted by satellite that could be debris from Flight MH370.
Possible routes based on NTSB analysis
Possible debris
March 20
Confirmation
Malaysian Prime Minister states that based on new analysis, Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents
Investigation Branch (AAIB) have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor,
and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.
Possible routes based on NTSB analysis
March 24
Perth
Objects spotted by satellite and aircraft
Previous search areas
The search area narrows
Investigators focus on an area off the coast of Perth, Australia. The search area narrows and moves North as more details emerge and some ships detect underwater pings, possibly from the plane’s black boxes.
March 18 - April 11
Perth
AUSTRALIA
The search moves underwater
Some detected pings are confirmed as being consistent with those produced by a black box. Towed Pinger Locators and other underwater search equipment are deployed to search under the water.
Perth
AUSTRALIA
250 miles
250 km
Subsea search area
Indian Ocean
Satellite handshake calculation No. 7 Possible position of the plane at 8:19 a.m. (GMT+8) on March 8 based on satellite data
Pings detected by a towed pinger locator with Australia's Ocean Shield vessel
Signal detected by Chinese ship on April 5
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Aircraft are in regular contact with the ground, sending updates through a number of antennas to satellites and ground stations on flight plans, weather reports and forecasts, air traffic services as well as two-way messaging.
In-flight communication
Transponder Connects to two antenna which transmit a signal
Aircraft have transponders to identify them on air traffic control radar to other aircraft. The device sends information to the ground such as the plane’s identification code, altitude, directional heading and speed.
Transponder system
Transponder disabled
Two minutes after signing off from Malaysian air traffic control, the aircraft’s transponder was turned off in a move experts say could reveal a careful sequence.
Captain
First officer
The transponder can be disabled off by turning a rotary switch.
Radar systems
The reason the plane could not be tracked in more detail is because the transponder had been deactivated. The initial discovery of the plane heading West over the Strait of Malacca came from the Malaysian airforce’s primary radar system, which returns limited data.
Secondary Surveillance Radar
An interrogation signal is sent to the aircraft and received by its transponder. Data is then relayed back to the station.
Primary Surveillance Radar
Radio or microwaves are transmitted from the radar station. When an aircraft flies into range, the electromagnetic waves are reflected (backscatter) from the surface of the aircraft.
Data returned
Identification Altitude Bearing Distance/range Emergency
Data returned
Identification Altitude Bearing Distance/range Emergency
ACARS
Investigators believe someone also switched off the ACARS system. The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) transmits messages such as flight plans and weather reports between aircraft and ground stations.
VHF antenna
VHF antenna
SATCOM lo gain antenna
SATCOM hi gain antenna
VHF antenna
Central management unit (in avionics bay)
Cockpit Display Unit
Cutting the datalink
Disabling the system would not have been easy. Whoever did so may have had to climb through a trap door in full view of cabin crew.
Avionics bay
Circuit-breakers used to disable the system are in a bay reached through a hatch in the floor close to a galley used to prepare meals.
March 8
1.07 - 1.37 am
How ACARS communicates with the ground
Via SATCOM links to satellites then ground stations
Via VHF or HF links to VHF and remote ground stations
Data link service providers transmit messages between the jet and ground stations.
VHF antenna
VHF antenna
SATCOM lo gain antenna
SATCOM hi gain antenna
VHF antenna
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Emergency situation
In the event of an accident, the focus shifts to three important pieces of equipment. Two recorders which capture vital information and an emergency transponder to alert search parties.
These devices are usually stored in the rear fuselage
Flight Data Recorder - Black box
If the plane is found, the Flight Data Recorder, also known as the black box, will help investigators find out what happened during the flight. Data is fed to the black box via the Data Acquisition Unit.
Data link
Black boxes are stored in the rear fuselage
Interface and Control Circuit Board
Underwater Locator Beacon
Power supply
Collecting the data
A number of physical parameters are recorded including engine power and position of flight control surfaces such as flaps and rudder. A stream of other data including coordinates, speed and altitude are also recorded.
Engine power
Landing gear position
Wing flap position
Aileron position
Rudder position
Acquisition Unit Formats data coming from sensors, onboard computers and other instruments
The number of parameters recorded varies from a few dozen to several thousand depending on the age and type of aircraft
Cockpit Voice Recorder - Black box
Also known as the black box, the voice recorder collects and stores the acoustic data recorded from the cockpit including crew conversations and ambient sounds such as engines, actuators or control switch toggles.
Microphones and monitor unit in cockpit
Black boxes are stored in the rear fuselage
Data link to voice recorder
Interface and Control Circuit Board
Underwater Locator Beacon
Power supply
Crash Survivable Memory Unit
These units house and protect the memory boards connected to the Flight Data and Cockpit Voice Recorders, allowing recovery from wreckage in the event of an accident.
Steel armor
Insulation
Thermal block
Memory board Stores the flight data collected with the recorder
Both the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder have a CSMU
Interface and Control Circuit Board
Underwater Locator Beacon
Power supply
Emergency Locator Transponder (ELT)
The plane is also fitted with an ELT which automatically transmits a digitally encoded signal upon impact in the event of a crash. It remains unknown as to why flight MH370’s transmitter has not been activated or recieved.
Connects to an antenna which transmits a distress signal
Signal is picked up by a satellite and sent to a ground based terminal to initiate search
Antenna
ELT
The search
Finding the missing aircraft in remote seas requires repeated searches in a methodical pattern. The two searches shown are typically conducted by both air and sea.
Creeping line Used when the search area is large and the location of the target is not known.
Expanding square Used when the target is known to be in a relatively small area.
Defining a wreckage area
Reconstructing the ocean circulation to estimate a probable crash zone.
Marking the target area Air-dropped marker buoys gather information about water movement.
Modeling the drift Buoys send real-time data to satellites so searchers can recreate water movements.
Probable crash zone Area where aircraft is most likely to be found, based on drift modeling calculations.
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Pings
The data and voice recorders’ Underwater Locator Beacons emit a ping using a very unique frequency which helps search teams locate the device.
ULB
Activated by water immersion. Emits a 37.5 kHz (37,500 Hertz) ping every second
Pressure
Cycle
Time
Sound wave
What is frequency? Sound is produced when pressure waves cause vibration within a medium, such as air or water. Frequency is the number of vibrations, or cycles, per second (Hertz).
Sounds of the sea
The frequency used is not typically found in background ocean noise, helping search teams identify the ping easily.
Pygmy sperm whale Killer whale Sperm whale Striped dolphin Bottle-nose dolphin Minke whale Sei whale Blue whale Fin whale Humpback whale
Fishing boat Supertanker (340m) Container ship
0
100
200 kHz
Whales and dolphins
Shipping traffic
Jack up rig, drilling Airgun seismic survey Depth sounder sonar
Oil and gas exploration
37.5 kHz (37,500 Hertz) ULB frequency
Locating the pings
When a more focused search zone is identified, a towed pinger locator is lowered into the water and towed behind a ship.
Any signal is transmitted up the tow cable and presented audibly
TPL-25 Max depth: 6,100 m Weight: 31.8 kg Speed: 3 to 5 knots
The TPL covers multiple track lines until the beacon/black box position is approximated via triangulation
Size
Visual confirmation
Once a location is confirmed, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are deployed to capture images of the recovery area.
Bluefin 21 Max. depth rating: 4,500 m Endurance: 25 hours Speed: Up to 4.5 knots
Remus 6000 Max depth rating: 6,000 m Endurance: 16 hours Speed: Up to 4.5 knots
Size
Visual confirmation
Side scan sonars capture detailed images of the ocean floor and recovery area.
Side scanning Measures the strength of return echo of objects that protrude from the sea floor.
Shadow zone
Strong return
Acoustic shadow The shape of objects can be mapped by measuring their acoustic shadow
Recovery
When visual confirmation has been obtained and analysed, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) will be deployed to collect materials, including the black boxes.
Remora 6000 Max. depth rating: 6,000 m Weight: 1,900 kg Fitted with light, sonar, video, a fibre-optic system, and claw-like devices to grip objects
Size
Sources: Reuters; Boeing; Honeywell International; Australia National Search and Rescue Council; MetOcean Data Systems; European Space Agency; Federal Aviation Administration; Honeywell International; Aviation Publishing Group; Malaysian government; Australian Maritime Safety Authority; U.S. National Transportation Safety Board; Malaysia Airlines, Ministry of Defense; India; Vietnam Civil Aviation Authority; Dept. of Cilvil Aviation Malaysia; FlightAware Graphic by Simon Scarr, Christine Chan, Wen Foo, Gustavo Cabrera, Matthew Weber, Chris Inton