An investigation into flight MH370 has delivered its findings, with no major red flags raised about the crew or missing plane. One probable defect was identified, however: a flat battery on the underwater locator beacon.
Image: Reuters
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The first comprehensive report into flight MH370, which vanished exactly a year ago, found no major concerns among the crew or the aircraft's mechanical integrity.
An international team of investigators probed the captain and co-pilot's personal, psychological, and financial profiles, while also conducting background checks on the 10 cabin crew.
"There were no behavioral signs of social isolation, change in habits or interest, self-neglect, drug or alcohol abuse" among those tested, the 584-page report said. Set up as part of International Civil Aviation Organization requirements, the investigative team was obliged to submit its report within one year of the crash.
As for Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's physical and mental health, the report noted: "There were no significant changes in his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict or family stresses."
Beacon's battery out of date
Investigators did discover that the battery for an underwater locator beacon attached to the Flight Data Recorder had likely expired more than a year before the plane vanished on March 8, 2014. According to maintenance records, the battery was scheduled for change in December 2012, although the investigators noted that it might have continued to function beyond the prescribed date. The recorder itself, however, was in good working order, as was the locator beacon of the cockpit voice recorder.
These beacons, which can potentially increase the chances of a rescue team noticing if they come close to the wreckage, are supposed to have sufficient battery life to remain active for 30 days after an accident.
Air safety investigation only, data still in short supply
The investigation was focused on air-safety issues and did not probe the 227 passengers or the possibility of a hijack. Expectations for the report were always somewhat reserved, considering the relative lack of data and the high levels of scrutiny already afforded to the missing airliner's disappearance. Investigators stressed that "new information may become available" which alters or affects some of their current findings in an ongoing probe.
"The investigation team expects that further factual information will be available from the wreckage and flight recorders if the aircraft is found," the report noted. A year-long, Australian-led search mission in a vast area of the Southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is thought to have crashed, has yet to find any sign of the jet.
Earlier on Sunday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the country "remains committed to the search, and hopes that MH370 will be found." Australia's Tony Abbott, prime minister for the lead country in the search operation, said that he understood that "a nagging doubt in the minds of billions of people" would persist until the plane was found.
"It can't go on forever, but as long as there are reasonable leads, the search will go on," Abbott said. Efforts to scour the sea bed in a massive catchment area of 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles) are currently around 40 percent complete, authorities have said that they are hoping for a breakthrough before May, when the weather in the region worsens.
msh/rc (AFP, AP)
The mystery of Flight MH370
It's been a year since the Malaysia Airlines jet vanished under mysterious circumstances, drawing focus to the issue of global aviation safety. DW takes a look at key moments in the hunt for the airplane.
Image: cc-by/ATSB/Photo by Chris Beerens/RAN
Takeoff
On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 bound for Beijing takes off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m., with 239 people on board. However, 26 minutes after departure, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which transmits key information on the plane's mechanical condition, is switched off.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Last words
As the Boeing 777 passes from Malaysian to Vietnamese air traffic control a few minutes later, someone in the plane's cockpit says "Good night Malaysian three seven zero." The airline believes it is co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid speaking. The aircraft is flying in good weather conditions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Off the radar
The plane drops off civilian air traffic control screens as its transponder, which relays information on the plane's location and altitude, is shut down at around 1:31 a.m. As military radar plot the passenger jet at 2:15 a.m., it is located at a point south of the island of Phuket in the Strait of Malacca, hundreds of miles off course.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Seven hours later
The aircraft's last communication with satellites seven hours later place it somewhere in one of two corridors: a northern corridor stretching from northern Thailand to the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, or a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. The last signal is received at 8:11 a.m., suggesting that the plane may have flown on for hours.
Image: NASA/dpa
The search begins
Shortly after the disappearance, Malaysia and Vietnam mount a joint search and rescue mission. The search area is quickly expanded to 100 nautical miles to cover part of the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and Vietnam. It also emerges that two passengers had been using stolen EU passports, fueling fears of a terrorist attack. Police later find that the men were illegal Iranian immigrants.
Image: reuters
A sea of debris?
By March 12, the search area for the aircraft encompasses both sides of peninsular Malaysia, over an area of nearly 27,000 square nautical miles (more than 90,000 square kilometers), with a total of 12 countries participating in the operation. A Chinese satellite discovers three large objects floating in the South China Sea that could be debris belonging to the missing airliner.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
'Deliberate action'
Two days later, Malaysian PM Najib Razak (seen here right) confirms the plane turned back from its planned flight path and adds the movements "are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane." Authorities launch a criminal investigation, refocusing on the crew and the identity and background of the passengers on board. The homes of both the captain and the co-pilot are searched.
Image: Reuters
Search enters new phase
Eleven days after the incident, the number of countries involved in the search for the plane increases from 14 to 26, with investigators focusing on the two large corridors the plane may have flown. The search area now covers 2.24 million square nautical miles. French investigators join in to lend expertise from the Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.
Image: Reuters
Looking for a motive
Officials reveal a new timeline suggesting the plane's final voice transmission may have occurred before the communications systems were disabled. Authorities are looking into hijacking, sabotage, or pilot suicide as potential reasons for the disappearance, but background checks of people aboard have yet to point to anyone with a known political or criminal motive to crash or hijack the plane.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Painful wait
Conflicting theories emerge seeking to explain the incident. But without any identified wreckage, it is hard to establish facts. This prolongs the painful wait for the relatives and friends of those who have gone missing. There were people from 14 different countries on board, with the majority of passengers hailing from China (153) and Malaysia (38).
Image: Reuters
A breakthrough?
On March 24, Malaysian PM Najib Razak announces that new satellite data suggests Flight MH370 crashed in the southern Indian Ocean with all 239 people aboard presumed dead. The statement unleashes a storm of sorrow and anger among the relatives of the missing. Angry family members - who have complained about a lack of reliable information - demonstrate in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing.
Image: Reuters
Frustration
But anticipation repeatedly turns into frustration as objects spotted from planes turn out to be garbage. It's a time-wasting distraction for air and sea crews searching for debris. Sometimes the object traced in the water is a snarled fishing line, a buoy or something that might once have been the lid to an ice box.
Image: Reuters
An unsolved mystery
On April 3, nearly a month after the flight's disappearance, authorities remain baffled as to how and why it happened. Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar warns that unless the black box is found, the mystery may never be solved. Premier Najib Razak (R) says the search won't stop until answers are found, as his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott calls it "the most difficult in human history."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Pings detected
On April 5, a Chinese vessel reports hearing a "pulse signal" in the Indian Ocean. Two days later, an Australian ship detects two distinct, long-lasting sounds consistent with the pings from aircraft black boxes. The international team subsequently scours roughly 850 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the southern Indian Ocean for weeks, but fails to find any evidence of a wreckage.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Australia shifts search further south
In October, Australia shifts the search area further south to where the UK-based satellite company Immarsat calculated the plane probably went down based on brief hourly connections the plane made to one of its satellites. The area, west of Perth, Australia, along a narrow arc in the southern Indian Ocean is identified as the most likely resting place of the jet. But for months nothing is found.
Image: atsb.gov.au
An accident?
In late January 2015, Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation officially declared the flight was an accident, and that all people on board were presumed dead. The announcement was in line with global aviation rules that allow families of the passengers to seek compensation. Malaysian officials said they had not ruled out foul play and that the recovery of the missing plane remained a priority.
Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
A 'convenient excuse'
However, some families of the passengers aboard Flight MH370 refuse to accept Malaysia's conclusion that the plane's disappearance was an accident. Shortly after, Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on the aircraft, tells DW this is a "convenient excuse," arguing that no evidence has been found to support the authorities' claim.
Image: privat
New regulations
In its efforts to improve global flight safety following the disappearance of MH370, the International Civil Aviation Organization recently proposed a new measure that will require commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes. The guideline is the first stage of a proposal called the Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System that aims to ensure planes can be tracked quickly.
Image: Getty Images
Time for mourning
Chinese families of passengers aboard the flight continue to protest the handling of the search efforts by the Malaysian authorities. They hold prayers and demonstrations on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.
Image: Reuters/Kyung-Hoon
A difficult search
The search teams looking for the missing airliner have so far met many challenges. Some of them are associated with the search area. The remoteness and the size of the area mean that every aspect of the operation must be planned and undertaken meticulously. The search for MH370 is already the most expensive of its kind ever undertaken.