Welcome to the MH370 Wiki
This is a collaborative project of airliners.net members.
We try to share our knowledge on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370, and reduce redundant requests for information. Please focus on aircraft and flight related information, not speculation on passenger and crew motives or backgrounds.
This Wiki was begun by FlyingTurtle, and just send me a message on airliners.net if you have any questions.
Summaries
...are here.
Please also check http://avherald.com/h?article=4710c69b&opt=0 regularly for updates.
Please contribute to the crowdmap showing latest incident reports: mh370search.crowdmap.com
Press statements
- RMAF correction and retraction on MH370 tracked flying past Pulau Perak in Straits of Malacca press statements from MH, Malaysian authorities etc.
Confirmed info
- FlightRadar24 playback of MH370 flight path (raw data)
- Last received transponder data (via F-WMKC1):
| Time (GMT) | Lat, Lng | Alt | Bearing | Speed |
| 17:21:03 | 6.97000,103.630 | 35000 | 040 | 471 |
Speculative info
- US Officials have 'indication' that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean (ABC News).
- USS Kidd being repositioned from South China Sea search area to Indian Ocean search area previously covered by US Navy aircraft, now going through Malacca Strait (Guardian)
- "It will take another 24 hours to move the ship into position, a senior Pentagon official told ABC News."
- Assuming top speed of 30 knots and 24 hours sailing, potential crash site could be over 700 nautical miles, 800 miles or 1300 km from Kidd's current position. That would put it in the northern end of the western area search box in the Andaman Sea. (personal calculations)
- White House press secretary Jay Carney confirms that "new Indian Ocean search area may be opened" (Reuters ).
- Approximately 5 hours total flight time / would be about 2,200nm range
- U.S. "aviation investigators" & "national security officials" possibly involved in the investigation - mentioned in article
Possible wreckage
- Possible debris found on Tomnod:
- Discussion of possible submerged debris (777 comparison (animated gif)) [map 4894]
- Discussion of an object (ship?) [map 6060]
ACARS and SATCOM
- Based on automatic engine data sent via ACARS to Rolls Royce , "U.S. investigators" believe the aircraft flew for hours beyond the last confirmed radar contact location. (Wall Street Journal ). However, the Malaysian Transport Minister says Boeing and RR have not received any engine-related ACARS messages after contact was lost (New Straits Times) , and The Guardian says both Boeing and RR declined to comment on the claim (Guardian).
- Engine reports are sent every 30 minutes
- Source close to investigation: "Satellites picked up electronic ping from Malaysian flight MH370 after it lost contact with ground control (Reuters ).
- It is not specified what this 'ping' is- 406Mhz ELT? Or another description of RR engine data (ACARS via SATCOM)
Radar and Route
- RMAF radar shows possible air turn back towards KL but altitude, heading and airspeed not published
- Chinese military radar reported plane showing steep descent after transponder turned off, heading change from 020 to 330
- RMAF chief says military radar detected unidentified civilian aircraft 200 km NW of Penang, heading NW to Andaman Sea, at 2:15 am. Now checking with civilian ATC data, contact initially categorized as civilian aircraft. Time, distance and heading are different from the earlier, retracted Pulau Perak claim reported by Berita Harian. Note that Pulau Perak is located NW of Penang. (New Straits Times)(The Star)
- Reports surfaced that the plane was flown between waypoints on a route pointing to the Andamans. This means the crew, for whatever reason, may have intentionally chosen a route.
- Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314
- Waypoints/possible route, by Singapore Today's twitter account: http://twitter.com/sgify/status/444421777280614400/photo/1
Eyewitnesses
- Locals near Kota Bharu, Kelantan report noises and lights from a low-flying plane (1000 metres?) flying along the coast, around 2 am
- Locals near Marang, Terengganu report loud jet engine noise from north of Pulau Kapas, around 1:20 am (New Straits Times)
- Eyewitness report from the "Songa Mercur" oil platform, off Vung Tau
Debunked info
Chinese Satellite pictures
China's State Administration of Science found three large objects near N6.7 E105.63 using satellite imagery obtained on Sunday, but only released on Wednesday. (avherald) (Gmaps)
- These pictures were released without authorization; an MMEA aircraft was deployed and found nothing related to flight MH370. (Yahoo News)
- China embassy in KL also states pictures were not meant for public release and do not show MH370 debris (New Straits Times)
- After searching again (since the sat image discovery), Vietnam has said nothing has been found. (CNN )
- Area has been searched before by Vietnamese assets but will be searched again. Malaysian aircraft are also heading to the area. (Guardian)
- "Li Jiaxiang, chief of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told reporters Thursday that the authorities could not confirm that the three objects of varying sizes detected by Chinese satellites belong to the missing aircraft." (New Straits Times)
Flight over the peninsula, radar return from a point near Pulau Perak
MH370 on RMAF radar at FL290 at 2.40am local time, heading west near Pulau Perak in Malacca Strait, reported by Berita Harian - retraction issued by RMAF chief, see press conference section (The Star Malaysia).
- Despite the retraction, as of the morning press conference of 3/12, RMAF Chief Daud stating an unidentified radar target did traverse Malaysia and disappear in the Malacca Strait with RMAF seeking assistance from US FAA and NTSB to further analyze the record. (CNN)
Life raft found near Port Dickson
Life raft pulled from the sea by fishermen near Port Dickson, facing Straits of Malacca, around 12pm local time March 11. Is this from a ship or aircraft?
- MMEA say it's not from aircraft (New Straits Times)
Radio contact with the MH370 crew
- 777 crew contacting MH370, hearing a mumbling response
Passenger mobile phones still ringing
- Actually a GSM network artifact for phones on international roaming. An explanation for this is given here, for example.
Various debris fields
Debris fields and oil slicks off Tho Chu (SW) and Vung Tau (SE) off Vietnam coast
- Confirmed as marine debris and ship bunker oil
Warning: Fuselage cracks near satcom antenna
- Airworthiness Directive (AD) for Boeing 777, warning of a fuselage failure near the satcom antenna
- Did not apply to 9M-MRO per Boeing statement (Reuters )