145-539: The Joint Agency Coordination Centre ( JACC ) is an Australian government agency which was established on 30 March 2014 to coordinate search and recovery operations for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 , which disappeared on 8 March 2014 and was soon thereafter determined to have ended in the Southern Indian Ocean, within Australia's concurrent aeronautical and maritime search and rescue regions. The JACC
290-421: A bathymetric survey of the seafloor in a new search area southwest of Australia. Fugro deployed their vessel MV Fugro Equator , which began bathymetric survey operations on 18 June. The Zhu Kezhen ended survey operations on 20 September and began its return passage to China. The bathymetric survey charted around 208,000 square kilometres (80,000 sq mi) of seafloor through 17 December, when it
435-478: A trial in absentia in the Netherlands, two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist were found guilty of murdering all 298 people on board flight MH17. The Dutch court also ruled that Russia was in control of the separatist forces fighting in eastern Ukraine at the time. MH17 was Malaysia Airlines ' second aircraft loss during 2014, after the disappearance of Flight 370 four months prior on 8 March. It
580-550: A "fascinating find but it's not what we're looking for". In December 2015, an anomalous sonar contact was made of a possible man-made object and the Havila Harmony was sent to investigate. On 2 January 2016, its AUV captured high-resolution sonar images, which confirmed the contact was a shipwreck. Experts at the Western Australian Museum advised that the ship is likely an iron or steel vessel from
725-403: A 1.106-second interval". These were said to be consistent with the flight recorder ULB. but the frequency of the detections was well outside the manufacturer's specification of 37.5 +/- 1. The later signals were at a frequency of 27 kHz, which raised doubts that they were from a black box. On 10 April, a signal recorded by one of the sonobuoys deployed with a hydrophone at 300 metres depth
870-600: A Buk launcher in Snizhne , in Donetsk Oblast , 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of the crash site. The reporter also saw seven separatist tanks near the town. Associated Press journalists reported that the Buk M-1 was operated by a man "with unfamiliar fatigues and a distinctive Russian accent" escorted by two civilian vehicles. The battle around Savur-Mohyla has been suggested as the possible context in which
1015-477: A Chinese website showed three floating objects measuring up to 24 × 22 metres (79 × 72 ft) at 6°42′N 105°38′E / 6.7°N 105.63°E / 6.7; 105.63 ( Three floating objects, 9 March 2014 ) , but a search of the area did not find the objects; Vietnamese officials said the area had been "searched thoroughly". By the end of 9 March, 40 aircraft and more than two dozen vessels from several nations were involved in
1160-514: A Kongsberg HUGIN 4500 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which carried the same instruments as the towfish deployed by the other vessels. Unlike the towfish, the AUVs were self-propelled and could manoeuvre themselves to maintain a constant altitude above the seafloor. When launched, the torpedo-shaped AUV dived to the proper altitude, then followed a pre-programmed search pattern for up to 24 hours, collecting sonar data for up to 24 hours; when
1305-487: A TPL-25 towed pinger locator , together with HMS Echo —which carried a "similar device", began searching for pings along a 240-kilometre (150 mi) seabed line believed to be the Flight 370 impact area. Operators considered it a shot in the dark, when comparing the vast search area with the fact that TPL-25 could only search up to 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi) per day. The Chinese vessel Haixun 01 made
1450-457: A ceremony broadcast live on radio and television. On 9 October, a spokesman for the Dutch national prosecutor's office stated that one victim had been found with an oxygen mask around his neck; a forensic investigation of the mask for fingerprints, saliva and DNA did not produce any results and it is therefore not known how or when the mask got around the neck of the victim. By 5 December 2014,
1595-419: A missile. Investigators believed that the disintegration of the forward section of the fuselage started between the left-side cockpit windows and the forward, left-exit door. The cockpit section and the business class section of the aircraft began tearing into a number of pieces before the aircraft descended rapidly toward the ground. During that period of time, the left engine intake ring had also fallen off
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#17327806937371740-399: A new commercial operator for the search effort had been selected, the search would move into a new phase "that could take twelve months". Equipment envisaged to be used would include towed side-scan sonar. During a tripartite meeting with officials from Australia, Malaysia, and China on 5 May, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss announced that a "detailed oceanographic mapping of
1885-538: A possible ULB detection at 25°58′30″S 101°27′40″E / 25.975°S 101.461°E / -25.975; 101.461 using a handheld hydrophone ; the following day, Haixun 01 made another possible ULB detection about 3 km (1.9 mi) further west. HMS Echo and a submarine were later tasked to the location of the Haixun 01's detections, but unable to make any detections. On 6 April, JACC announced that Ocean Shield had also picked up
2030-470: A previously uncharted 19th century cargo ship 4,000 metres underwater, more than 1,000 km off Australia's west coast. Fugro Supporter was diverted to the area to deploy an unmanned submarine to scan the seabed. Imaging of the site clearly showed an anchor and other manmade objects. It was announced that the related imagery would be provided to expert marine archaeologists for potential identification. Peter Foley, director of search operations, called it
2175-651: A private company; it ended in June 2018 without success. Ships and aircraft from Malaysia , China , India , Japan , Australia , New Zealand , South Korea , Vietnam , the United Kingdom , and the United States were involved in the search of the southern Indian Ocean . Satellite imagery was also made available by Tomnod to the general public so they could help with the search through crowdsourcing efforts. Ocean Infinity has requested approval from
2320-546: A proper investigation of the crash was initiated in accordance with international standards. In January 2015, Houston was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia for his military service and for his "continued commitment to serve the nation in leadership roles, particularly the national responses to the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disasters." As of March 2015, Judith Zielke
2465-434: A public statement stating that "routine, automated signals were registered" on its network; analysis of these "keep-alive message[s]" that continued to be sent after air traffic control first lost contact could help pinpoint the aircraft's location. At a press conference on 15 March, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that satellite communications from Flight 370 continued for several hours after contact with it
2610-475: A quality assurance review and independent expert review were performed by experts in the United States. At all stages, the data was analysed for quality, coverage, and contacts (areas of interest). Contacts were classified into three levels: Through 20 December 2016, 605 Category 3, 39 Category 2, and two Category 1 contacts were identified. The two Category 1 contacts were identified as a shipwreck and
2755-675: A representative of the ATSB. Data from Fugro vessels was transmitted by satellite to a team of Fugro sonar specialists and geophysicists in Perth then transmitted to the ATSB. Data from the ProSAS sonar used by the GO Phoenix and Dong Hai Jiu 101 was analysed onboard and transmitted to the ATSB during port calls in Perth. In both cases, data was further reviewed by ATSB staff in Canberra and both
2900-470: A rock field. The shipwreck was later identified as a merchant ship West Ridge that was lost in 1883. MV Fugro Discovery , MV Fugro Equator , and MV GO Phoenix were equipped with towed underwater vehicles (also known as "towfish"), which carry synthetic aperture sonar, side scan sonar, and multi-beam echo sounders. The towfish were towed behind the vessel on cables up to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in length. The length of
3045-457: A satellite indicated that the aircraft continued to fly for several hours and was last located along one of two corridors—arcing northwest and southwest from Malaysia. The northern corridor was soon discounted and the focus of the search shifted to the Southern Indian Ocean, west of Australia and within Australia's concurrent aeronautical and maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) regions that extend to 75°E longitude. On 17 March, Australia agreed to lead
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#17327806937373190-468: A satellite. Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea assigned military and civilian ships and aircraft to the search. China published images from satellite Gaofen 1 on 22 March that showed large debris about 120 km (75 mi) south west of the previous sighting. The same day, HMAS Success became the first naval vessel to reach
3335-610: A search and rescue mission in the region's waters. Within two days, the countries had already dispatched more than 34 aircraft and 40 ships to the area. On 11 March, the China Meteorological Administration activated the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters , a 15-member organization whose purpose is to "provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters",
3480-598: A search in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand was promptly initiated near the aircraft's last voice contact with air traffic control and final contact with secondary radar (the type of radar used by air traffic control). A week after the disappearance, Malaysia announced that military radar determined that the aircraft had traveled west across the Malay Peninsula after being lost by air traffic control. They also announced that communications with
3625-510: A signal, about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) from Haixun 01 . It was announced the next day that the TPL-25 pinger locator towed by Ocean Shield had picked up a signal twice on 6 April. The first was on the morning of 6 April, at approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) depth, and lasted two hours and 20 minutes. The second signal reception took place at approximately 300 metres (980 ft) depth and lasted 13 minutes. During
3770-641: A total of 13,239 flight hours, including 7,989 in Boeing 777s. Captain Choo had a total of 12,385 flight hours, including 7,303 in Boeing 777s. First Officer Ahmad had a total of 3,190 flight hours, including 227 in Boeing 777s. First Officer Muhamad Firdaus had a total of 4,058 flight hours, including 296 in Boeing 777s. The armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine led some airlines to avoid eastern Ukrainian airspace in early March 2014 due to safety concerns. In
3915-608: A train on the evening of 21 July, en route to Kharkiv to be flown to the Netherlands for identification. On the same day, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Malaysian government had reached a tentative agreement to retrieve the remains of the Malaysians who died in the crash, following any necessary forensic work. It was reported on 21 July that with 282 bodies and 87 body fragments found, there were still 16 bodies missing. An agreement had been reached that
4060-426: Is also the deadliest aircraft shoot-down incident to date. Flight 17, which was also marketed as KLM Flight 4103 ( KL4103 ) through a codeshare agreement , was operated with a Boeing 777-2H6ER , serial number 28411, registration 9M-MRD. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines and carrying 280 seats (33 business and 247 economy ), the aircraft had recorded more than 76,300 hours in 11,430 cycles before
4205-491: Is an agency within Australia's Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development , headed by Judith Zielke. It does not perform any search, recovery, or investigation activities, but coordinates the search effort and serves as a primary point of contact for information about the search for media and families of Flight 370 passengers. On 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia to Beijing , China with 239 persons aboard;
4350-575: Is renowned for its strong winds , inhospitable climate, hostile seas, and deep ocean floors. On 18 March, the search of the area began with a single Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aeroplane. On 19 March, the search capacity was ramped up to three aircraft and three merchant ships; the revised search area of 305,000 square kilometres (118,000 sq mi) was about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) south-west of Perth. Search efforts intensified on 20 March, after large pieces of possible debris had been photographed in this area four days earlier by
4495-502: Is substantially higher than previous measurements of the seafloor in this area made by satellites and a few passing ships which had their sonar turned on. The Chinese survey vessel Zhu Kezhen departed Fremantle on 21 May to begin the bathymetric survey. On 10 June, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) signed a contract with the Dutch deep sea survey company Fugro to conduct
Joint Agency Coordination Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
4640-727: Is the Chief Coordinator of the JACC. Zielke is also the executive director of the JACC's parent division, the Surface Transport Policy division, within the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. The JACC does not perform any search, recovery, or investigation activities, but provides a single point of contact for affected parties, including relatives of the missing passengers and crew, and communication between agencies and organisations involved in
4785-859: The 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, including Joep Lange , a former president of the International AIDS Society , which organised the conference. Many initial reports had erroneously indicated that around 100 delegates to the conference were aboard, but this was later revised to six. Also on board were Dutch Senator Willem Witteveen , Australian author Liam Davison , and Malaysian actress Shuba Jay . The flight crew were captains Wan Amran Wan Hussin (49) and Eugene Choo Jin Leong (44), and first officers Ahmad Hakimi Hanapi (29) and Muhamad Firdaus Abdul Rahim (26). Captain Wan had
4930-596: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), with an area of 600,000 km (230,000 sq mi) between Australia and the Kerguelen Islands lying more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) southwest of Perth , to be searched by ships and aircraft of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. This remote area, which Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott described as "as close to nowhere as it's possible to be",
5075-548: The Donetsk People's Republic claimed possession of such a system in a since-deleted tweet . Such air defence systems cannot reliably identify and avoid civilian aircraft. The Ukrainian authorities declared in the media that this system was not operational. According to the subsequent statement of the Security Service of Ukraine , three Buk missile systems were located on militia-controlled territory at
5220-480: The Haixun 01 signals had been recorded at its southern edge. Ocean Shield two more signals on 8 April. The first was acquired at 16:27 AWST and held for 5 minutes, 32 seconds and the second was acquired at 22:17 AWST and held for around seven minutes. Experts had determined that the earlier signals captured by Ocean Shield were "very stable, distinct, and clear ... at 33.331 kHz and ... consistently pulsed at
5365-654: The South China Sea (near the boundary with the Gulf of Thailand ). At 01:07 MYT, the aircraft was at flight level 350—approximately 35,000 feet (11,000 m) above sea level—when the final message using the ACARS protocol was sent from the aircraft. At 1:19 MYT, Lumpur area air traffic control (ATC) initiated a hand-off to Ho Chi Minh area ATC. The Captain responded "Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero," (originally reported to have been "all right, good night"), after which no further communications were made with
5510-527: The United Nations Security Council set up an international tribunal to prosecute those deemed responsible for the downing of the aircraft. The Malaysian resolution received the support of 11 of the 15 members in the council, with three abstentions. The resolution was vetoed by Russia. The Russian government proposed an alternative draft resolution, which would not have set up a tribunal. Two parallel investigations were led by
5655-427: The airspace in the adjacent area over Russia below 32,000 feet (9,800 m) and below 53,000 feet (16,000 m). Long-distance flights typically travel at altitudes of 33,000 to 44,000 feet, so the second restriction would effectively close that airspace to civilian overflights, but the second restriction was not noted by the automated systems of Malaysian Airlines and the route was not changed. The reason given for
5800-476: The 60,000 km (23,000 sq mi) priority search area had been searched and, excluding significant delays, the search of the priority search area was expected to be mostly complete by the end of May. The countries agreed that if no trace of the aircraft is found in the priority search area, the underwater search would be extended to an additional 60,000 km (23,000 sq mi) of adjacent seafloor. In early May, Fugro Supporter withdrew from
5945-455: The ATSB announced the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections was complete and the area could be discounted as the final location of Flight 370. The announcement followed a statement by U.S. Navy's Deputy Director of Ocean Engineering that all four pings were no longer believed to have come from the aircraft's flight recorders. Truss informed parliament that, beginning in August, after
Joint Agency Coordination Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
6090-569: The ATSB to perform the bathymetric survey and underwater search. The JACC also works with Malaysia and China, which have both sent representatives to work at the JACC offices. The JACC is the primary source of information from Australian government concerning the search. Since September 2014, the JACC has issued weekly updates—"Operational Search Updates"—highlighting the week's key developments, search progress, ship movements, and weather. The updates also mention and link to newly released images, interviews, videos, media statements, and reports concerning
6235-631: The Australian government: the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Department of Defence , and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade . The search activities also involved analysis of the flight's satellite communications by Inmarsat , the AAIB (UK), the NTSB (US), and other organisations. After the initial search efforts through May,
6380-648: The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development for costs related to the JACC. At the time of its establishment, retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston —former head of Australia's military (2005–2011)—was appointed to head the JACC by Prime Minister Abbott. After the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 , in July 2014, Houston left the agency when he was appointed as Australia's special envoy in Ukraine to recover and repatriate bodies of Australian victims, assist relatives of Australian victims, and ensure that
6525-521: The Dutch, one into the technical cause of the crash, and a separate criminal inquiry. The technical report was released on 13 October 2015, and the criminal investigation reported some of their findings in September 2016. According to the Convention on International Civil Aviation , the country in which an aviation incident occurs is responsible for the investigation, but that country may delegate
6670-620: The Dutch-led forensic team had identified the bodies of 292 out of 298 victims of the crash. In February and April 2015, new remains were found on the site, after which only two victims, both Dutch citizens, had not been identified. About 90 minutes after the incident, Ukraine closed all routes in Eastern Ukrainian airspace, at all altitudes. The incident dramatically heightened fears about airliner shoot-downs, leading to some airlines announcing that they would avoid flying over
6815-556: The JACC on 30 March 2014 to coordinate the search within Australian waters; the JACC became operational the following day, assuming from AMSA the coordination of the search effort and communications with the media, foreign governments, and between Australian government agencies. Initially based in Perth , Western Australia, the JACC offices were relocated in May 2014 to Canberra , although they can be quickly relocated to Perth if necessary. After
6960-484: The JACC serves as a liaison with the passengers' families to provide visas , counselling , accommodation assistance, and interpretation services. Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 led to a multinational search effort in Southeast Asia and the southern Indian Ocean that became the most expensive search in aviation history. Despite delays,
7105-682: The KUL-AMS route for the services instead. Following the shootdown, shares in Malaysia Airlines dropped by nearly 16%. On 23 July 2014, two Ukrainian military jets were hit by missiles at the altitude of 17,000 feet (5,200 m) close to the area of the MH17 crash. According to the Ukrainian Security Council , preliminary information indicated that the missiles came from Russia. In July 2015, Malaysia proposed that
7250-488: The MV ; Fugro Equator left the search area after the search of the entire 120,000 km (46,000 sq mi) underwater search area was completed. The same day, a joint communiqué is issued by the JACC announcing that the search for Flight 370 was suspended. The suspension of the search is in accord with a July 2016 agreement between Australia, Malaysia, and China that the search would be suspended, not ended, upon
7395-427: The Malaysian government to resume the search, with an expected date of commencement from November 2024. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was a scheduled flight in the early morning hours of 8 March 2014 from Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia to Beijing , China—one of two daily flights operated by Malaysia Airlines from its hub at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Beijing Capital International Airport . Flight 370
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#17327806937377540-549: The Netherlands on 23 July, moved there with Dutch air force C-130 and Australian C-17 transport aircraft, which landed at Eindhoven Airport just before 16:00 local time. The day after, another 74 bodies arrived. The examination and identification of the bodies was conducted at the Netherlands Army medical regiment training facility in Hilversum and was coordinated by a Dutch forensic team. On 1 August, it
7685-617: The Netherlands would co-ordinate the identification effort. A train carrying the bodies arrived at the Malyshev Factory , Kharkiv on 22 July. Dutch authorities stated that they found 200 bodies on the train when it arrived at Kharkhiv, leaving almost 100 unaccounted for. In late July, the UK Metropolitan Police sent specialist officers to Ukraine to assist with the recovery, identification and repatriation of bodies. The first remains were flown to Eindhoven in
7830-591: The Towed Pinger Locator. The seafloor sonar search was suspended on 2 May for the ADV ; Ocean Shield to return to port to replenish supplies and personnel. Within two hours of its first deployment after returning to the search area on 13 May, Bluefin-21 developed a communications problem and was recovered. Spare parts from the UK were required and the ADV Ocean Shield returned to port to collect
7975-495: The U.S. to share if its Pine Gap satellite ground station or Jindalee (JORN) radar site might have data to help locate the missing aircraft. In the wake of the 15 March press conference, the focus of the search shifted to the southern part of the Indian Ocean , west of Australia. In the first two weeks of April, aircraft and ships deployed equipment to listen for signals from the underwater locator beacons attached to
8120-599: The Ukrainian army. On 6 June 2014 The International New York Times reported that surface-to-air missiles had been seized from military bases. On 11 June, the newspaper Argumenty nedeli [ ru ; de ] reported that a Buk-M1 missile launcher had been present in an area under the separatists' control. On 29 June the Russian news agencies reported that insurgents had obtained a Buk missile system after having taken control of Ukrainian military unit A-1402; and
8265-596: The accusations were false. In response to additional questions by the Dutch Safety Board, the Ukrainian authorities reported that a "provisional investigation" had revealed that the airplane had been shot down while flying at an altitude of 6,250 m. Ukrainian authorities also thought that the Su-25 could have been shot down with a Pantsir missile system from Russian territory, though they thought this less likely. On 17 July, an Associated Press journalist saw
8410-424: The agency has worked primarily with Australian government agencies, Malaysia, and China to plan and carry out the bathymetric survey and underwater search. The JACC works closely with the ATSB, which is the agency responsible for defining the search area and carrying out the tenders for the underwater search and, if possible pieces of Flight 370 are located, the recovery effort. Geoscience Australia works closely with
8555-490: The aircraft before the crash, though investigators never ruled out the possibility that some were still conscious when the aircraft hit the ground. Some occupants might have suffered serious injuries that contributed to their deaths before the crash. The aircraft fell rapidly and continued disintegrating before hitting the ground. Investigators were able to determine how the aircraft disintegrated and crashed. The aircraft began disintegrating immediately after being struck by
8700-447: The aircraft did not respond. When MH17 did not respond to several calls, Dnipro Control contacted RND Control again to check if they could see the aircraft on their radar. RND Control confirmed that the airliner had disappeared. The Dutch Safety Board reported that both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) stopped recording at 16:20:03 local time (13:20:03 UTC). The last FDR data indicates that
8845-564: The aircraft had been shot down from Russian territory. On 16 July, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported that at about 13:00 local time "terrorists" used MANPADs against a Su-25 jet which was performing a flight mission in the ATO zone . According to the report, the airplane received minor damage and was forced to make a landing. Later, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported on
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#17327806937378990-522: The aircraft had remained aloft for four hours after its transponder went offline; Malaysia denied the report. The Wall Street Journal later amended its report and stated simply that the belief of continued flight was "based on analysis of signals sent by the Boeing 777's satellite-communication link... the link operated in a kind of standby mode and sought to establish contact with a satellite or satellites. These transmissions did not include data." The following day, satellite operator Inmarsat released
9135-519: The aircraft involved in the surface search were "operating at close to the limit of sensible and safe operation". Abbott explained that it was "highly unlikely" that any surface wreckage would be found and, therefore, the aerial searches had been suspended. The surface search in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean lasted 52 days, during 41 of which Australia coordinated the search. Over 4,500,000 km (1,700,000 sq mi) of ocean surface
9280-414: The aircraft wreckage suggest that the plane might have been upside down when the rear and middle sections disintegrated, and the middle portion probably crashed inverted while travelling rearward. Investigators could not specify the exact time when each major section of the plane hit the ground. However, they estimated that the middle portion of the aircraft had impacted the ground within 1-1.5 minutes after
9425-649: The aircraft". On 9 March, the Chief General of the Royal Malaysian Air Force announced that Malaysia was analysing military radar recordings and that there was a "possibility" that Flight 370 had turned around and travelled over the Andaman Sea . The search radius was increased from the original 20 nmi (37 km; 23 mi) from its last known position, south of Thổ Chu Island , to 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi), and
9570-423: The aircraft's " black boxes ". Four unconfirmed signals were detected between 6 and 8 April near the time the beacons' batteries were likely to have been exhausted. A robotic submarine searched the seabed near the detected pings until 28 May, with no debris found. On 17 March, Australia agreed to lead the search in the southern locus from Sumatra to the southern Indian Ocean. The search would be coordinated by
9715-579: The aircraft's disappearance, two reports about the engine status using the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) protocol had been automatically sent to engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce 's monitoring centre in the United Kingdom. On 12 March, it was reported that military radar indicated the aircraft turned west away from the intended flight path and continued flying for 70 minutes before disappearing from Malaysian radar near Pulau Perak . It
9860-532: The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER , was lost when it was about 50 kilometres (31 mi; 27 nmi) from the Ukraine–Russia border , and wreckage from the aircraft landed near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast , Ukraine, 40 km (25 mi; 22 nmi) from the border. The shoot-down occurred during the war in Donbas over territory controlled by Russian separatist forces . The responsibility for investigation
10005-474: The aircraft, which were the middle and rear sections, landed near southwest of the village of Hrabove , north of Torez (now also known as Chystiakove). The wreckage had spread over a 50-square-kilometre (19 sq mi) area in Donetsk Oblast , eastern Ukraine. The fireball on impact is believed to have been captured on video. Photographs from the site of the crash show scattered pieces of broken fuselage and engine parts, bodies, and passports. Some of
10150-436: The airline had determined the nationalities of all 298 passengers and crew. The crew were all Malaysian, while over two-thirds (68%) of the passengers were Dutch. Most of the other passengers were Malaysians and Australians; the remainder were citizens of seven other countries. At least twenty family groups were on the aircraft, and eighty passengers were under the age of 18. Among the passengers were delegates en route to
10295-632: The airspace to civil aviation completely. Like other countries, Ukraine receives overflight fees for commercial aircraft that fly over its territory and this may have contributed to the continued availability of civilian flight paths through the conflict zone. However, the Netherlands, where the main investigation was conducted, did not hold Ukraine accountable for not closing its airspace due to lack of evidence that it should have done so. On Thursday, 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 departed from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Gate G3 at 12:13 CEST (10:13 UTC ), thirteen minutes later than
10440-435: The area as planned, at 15:53 local time (12:53 UTC), Dnipropetrovsk Air Control ( Dnipro Control ) asked MH17 if they could climb to FL 350 as planned, and also to maintain separation from another flight, Singapore Airlines Flight 351 (SQ351), also at FL 330. The crew asked to remain at FL 330 and the air traffic controller approved this request, moving the other flight to FL 350. At 16:00 local time (13:00 UTC),
10585-652: The area being examined then extended to the Strait of Malacca along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula , with waters both to the east of Malaysia in the Gulf of Thailand, and in the Strait of Malacca along Malaysia's west coast, being searched. Numerous sightings of possible debris were made, but no debris from Flight 370 was discovered. Offshore oil slicks near Vietnam on 9 and 10 March later tested negative for aviation fuel . Satellite images taken on 9 March and posted on
10730-456: The area, with HMS Echo starting immediately to search for the aircraft's underwater locator beacons (ULBs) fitted to the "black box" flight recorders , whose batteries were expected to expire around 7 April. On 4 April, the search area was shifted further north. The surface search ended on April 28. In a press conference, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott noted that any debris would likely have become waterlogged and sunk and that
10875-694: The area, and the vast amounts of marine debris littering the oceans. On 28 March, revised estimates of the radar track and the aircraft's remaining fuel led to a move of the search 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) north-east of the previous area, to a new search area of 319,000 square kilometres (123,000 sq mi), roughly 1,850 kilometres (1,150 mi) west of Perth . This search area had more hospitable weather conditions. On 30 March, four large orange objects found by search aircraft, described by media as "the so far most promising lead", turned out to be fishing equipment. On 2 April, Royal Navy survey vessel HMS Echo and submarine HMS Tireless arrived in
11020-501: The austral winter months. In January 2016, a towfish pulled by the Fugro Discovery collided with an underwater mud volcano despite its use of forward-looking obstacle avoidance sonar. The towfish was later recovered by the Havila Harmony and transferred to Fugro Discovery to continue the search. Another towfish was lost on 21 March 2016. On 13 May 2015, it was announced that Fugro Equator had discovered wreckage of
11165-413: The beginning of the in-flight breakup. The disintegration of the plane had caused the seats, pieces of interior wall and floor, overhead compartments, and other interior structures of the aircraft to fall out. Some bodies, personal belongings, and other light objects had also fallen out of the plane. As the result of the mid-air disintegration, the debris of the plane landed in six different areas. In
11310-413: The cable was varied to keep the towfish at an altitude of 100–150 metres (330–490 ft) above the seafloor. The data collected by the instruments was relayed in real-time along the tow cable to the vessel, where it was processed and analysed to see if any debris associated with Flight 370 was present on the seafloor. The MV Fugro Supporter and MV Havila Harmony were equipped with
11455-403: The completion of the search of the 120,000 km (46,000 sq mi) search area if it yields no evidence of Flight 370 and there is an "absence of credible new evidence leading to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft." Examination of possible end-of-flight scenarios indicate the aircraft may be located relatively close to the seventh BTO arc. On account of this,
11600-525: The conflict zones. Shortly after the incident, it was announced that Malaysia Airlines would retire flight number MH17 and change the Amsterdam–Kuala Lumpur route to flight number MH19 beginning on 25 July 2014, with the outbound flight MH16 unchanged. In association with the retirement of the Boeing 777 aircraft type from Malaysia Airlines' fleet, Malaysia Airlines ended its service to Amsterdam on 25 January 2016, opting to codeshare with KLM on
11745-463: The crash site threatening the safety of crash investigators and recovery specialists, and that all international investigators and humanitarian forces conducting searches would leave the country leaving behind a small communications and liaison team. On 22 August, the bodies of 20 Malaysians (of 43 killed in the incident) arrived in Malaysia. The government announced a National Day of Mourning, with
11890-406: The crash. The aircraft was in an airworthy condition at departure. The Boeing 777, which entered commercial service on 7 June 1995, has one of the best safety records among commercial aircraft. In June 2014, there were about 1,212 aircraft in service, with 340 more on order. The incident is the deadliest airliner shoot-down incident to date. All 283 passengers and 15 crew died. By 19 July,
12035-418: The crew asked for a deviation of 20 nautical miles [nmi] (37 km; 23 mi) to the left (north) off course, on airway L980, due to weather conditions. This request was also approved by Dnipro Control ATC . The crew then asked if they could climb to FL 340, which was rejected as this flight level was not available, so MH17 remained at FL 330. At 16:19 local time (13:19 UTC), Dnipro Control noticed that
12180-500: The day of the crash, fired from a field in a rebel-controlled area, and that the launch system returned to Russia afterwards. The findings by the DSB and JIT were consistent with earlier claims by American and German intelligence sources and claims by the Ukrainian government. On the basis of the JIT's conclusions, the governments of the Netherlands and Australia held Russia responsible for
12325-442: The dead and the careless handling of their bodies, but later stated they had been handled with more care than originally reported. Other media complained that credit and debit cards were being looted, and there were accusations that evidence at the crash site had been destroyed. The Guardian noted that tales of looting seemed to be exaggerated, but the chaos at the crash site risked the accidental destruction of evidence which,
12470-588: The deployment of the Buk installation and began pursuing legal remedies in May 2018. The Russian government denied involvement in the shooting down of the aircraft, and its account of how the aircraft was shot down has varied over time. Coverage in Russian media has also differed from that in other countries, which initially characterised it as separatist forces shooting down a "Ukrainian Air Force An-26 transport plane" before switching to blaming Ukrainian forces for shooting down MH17. On 17 November 2022, following
12615-501: The end of their recordings, but two sound peaks are heard in the last 20 milliseconds of the CVR recording. At 16:20:03 local time (13:20:03 UTC), a Buk ground-to-air missile , which had been launched from an area southeast of the aircraft, detonated outside the airplane, just above and to the left of the cockpit. The blast and fragments of the missile severely damaged the cockpit and instantly killed three crew members in it. Evidence on
12760-401: The engine and fell in the same place as where some of these pieces fell. As the aircraft was falling, the instability and aerodynamic loads of the aircraft stressed its fuselage, resulting in further disintegration. Shortly before crashing into the ground, the rear section of the fuselage, just behind where the two wings were attached to the fuselage, was separated from the middle portion of
12905-400: The establishment of the JACC, a search of the ocean surface by aircraft continued until 28 April. An acoustic underwater search for underwater locator beacons attached to the aircraft's flight recorders ended 14 April, followed by a sonar survey of the seafloor near an area where acoustic detections were made. The sonar survey finished on 28 May and found nil debris from the aircraft. After
13050-437: The first time the charitable and humanitarian redeployment of the assorted corporate, national space agency , and international satellite assets under its aegis had been used to search for an airliner. Another 11 countries joined the search efforts by 17 March after more assistance was requested by Malaysia. At the peak of the search effort and before the search was moved to the south Indian Ocean, 26 countries were involved in
13195-582: The flight turned back west". A U.S. radar expert analysing the radar data reported that they did indeed indicate that the aircraft had headed west across the Malay Peninsula. The New York Times reported that the aircraft experienced significant changes in altitude. On 13 March, The Wall Street Journal , citing sources in the US government, asserted that Rolls-Royce had received an aircraft health report every thirty minutes for five hours, implying that
13340-553: The flight was 3.6 nmi (6.7 km; 4.1 mi) north of the centreline of its approved airway and instructed MH17 to return to the track. At 16:19 local time (13:19 UTC), Dnipro Control contacted Russian ATC in Rostov-on-Don ( RND Control ) by telephone and requested clearance to transfer the flight to Russian airspace . After obtaining permission, Dnipro Control attempted to contact MH17 for handing them off to RND Control at 16:20 local time (13:20 UTC), but
13485-512: The fuselage. At the same time, the two wing tips had fallen off from the wings of the aircraft. The tail section, which was just behind the aft exit doors, was also separated from the rear section. The pair of horizontal stabilizers and the vertical stabilizer were also separated from the tail section prior to impacting the ground. The middle portion, including the two wings and two engines, eventually crashed into farmland and its large volume of jet fuel exploded upon impact. The positions of
13630-606: The initial search efforts through May, active searching ceased as plans and preparations were made for a new phase, called the "underwater search," which would be preceded by a bathymetric survey. Plans for the new phase were announced in late June and the underwater search commenced in October 2014. The JACC is a division of the Australian government 's Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development . The Australian government has budgeted A$ 2 million over two years to
13775-415: The investigation report, the position where the plane was struck by a missile is identified as the "last FDR point" because it is where the flight data recorder stopped recording. A few parts of the business class and cockpit sections landed on farm land far north of the last FDR point. The business class section and the left engine intake ring landed in the large residential area of Petropavlivka, northeast of
13920-399: The last FDR point. The cockpit and the forward cargo section, including the nose landing gear, landed on farm land far southeast of the last FDR point and southwest of the village of Rozsypne. The tail and the rear fuselage sections landed farther east of the last FDR point, while the middle portion of the aircraft landed at 48°8′17″N 38°38′20″E, just northeast of them. Most of the debris of
14065-403: The left engine intake ring and left wing tip suggests that the left wing and left engine had also been hit by shrapnel from the missile. An explosive decompression occurred, tearing the forward section of the aircraft into pieces, causing the middle and rear sections to tear into three sections and depressurizing the cabin. The explosive decompression could have incapacitated most occupants of
14210-499: The limits of the military radar's coverage. The focus of the search shifted to the Andaman Sea and the Malaysian government requested help from India to search in the area. The Malaysian government mobilised its civil aviation department, air force, navy, and Maritime Enforcement Agency ; and requested international assistance under Five Power Defence Arrangements provisions and from neighbouring states. Various nations mounted
14355-487: The marine exploration firm Phoenix International , who will supply experts and equipment. Phoenix recovered black boxes from several recent undersea aircraft wrecks: Air France Flight 447 , Yemenia Flight 626 , Adam Air Flight 574 , and Tuninter Flight 1153 . Phoenix planned to use the SLH ProSAS-60 towed synthetic aperture side scan sonar system (rated to 6,000 m depth) to produce a high-resolution image of
14500-416: The maximum operating depth of Bluefin. Scanning subsequently resumed and after covering 42 square miles in its first four dives, the submersible was reprogrammed to allow it to dive 604 feet lower than its operational limit of 14,800 feet, when the risk of damage was assessed as "acceptable". Bluefin-21 required 16 missions to complete its search of the 314 square kilometre area around the detections made by
14645-555: The missile that brought down MH17 was fired, as separatists deployed increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry in this battle, and had brought down several Ukrainian jets in July. In April, the International Civil Aviation Organization had warned governments that there was a risk to commercial passenger flights over south-eastern Ukraine. The American Federal Aviation Administration issued restrictions on flights over Crimea , to
14790-469: The mission was complete, the AUV surfaced and was recovered by the vessel, where the data was downloaded and the batteries were swapped for the next mission. The AUVs were used to scan areas which could not be effectively searched by the towfish on the other three vessels. Because of the difficulty in operating the AUV during the austral winter months due to sea conditions, the AUV operations were suspended during
14935-488: The months prior to 17 July, reports circulated in the media on the presence of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, in the hands of the rebels that were fighting the Ukrainian government in eastern Ukraine. On 26 May, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that a surface-to-air missile system that was being used by the rebels, near Donetsk airport, had been destroyed by a helicopter of
15080-467: The notice was "armed conflict in Ukraine". Russian authorities told the Dutch Safety Board the notice had been published "to create agreement with the adjoining Ukrainian airspace", but provided no clarification for the higher restriction. The airspace above Donetsk was managed by Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities imposed restrictions for flights under 32,000 feet (9,800 m), but did not consider closing
15225-486: The ocean floor. On 6 August, Australia, Malaysia, and China jointly announced that Fugro had been awarded a contract to conduct this latest phase of the search. The underwater search began on 6 October with the vessel GO Phoenix , which departed Jakarta on 24 September and calibrated its instruments before arriving in the search zone on 5 October. Based on further analysis of Flight 370's satellite communications, detailed in an ATSB report published 8 October,
15370-694: The organisation of undersea searches, acquired during the search for the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 . The United Kingdom provided technical assistance and specialist capabilities from the Ministry of Defence , the UK Hydrographic Office , Department for Transport and the Met Office . The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission analysed information from its network of infrasound detection stations, but failed to find any sounds made by Flight 370. On 11 March, New Scientist reported that, prior to
15515-449: The paper contended, journalists were contributing to. On 20 July, Ukrainian emergency workers, observed by armed pro-Russian separatists, began loading the remains of the passengers of MH17 into refrigerated railway wagons for transport and identification. On 21 July, pro-Russian rebels allowed Dutch investigators to examine the bodies. By this time, 272 bodies had been recovered, according to Ukrainian officials. Remains left Torez on
15660-472: The parts. After Bluefin-21 was repaired, the seafloor sonar survey resumed on 22 May. The seafloor sonar survey was completed on 28 May. After 30 deployments of the Bluefin-21 to depths of 3,000–5,000 m (9,800–16,400 ft), which scanned 860 km (330 sq mi) of seabed, no objects associated with Flight 370 were found. The following day, after analysis of data from the last mission,
15805-488: The pilots. The crew was expected to contact air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City as the aircraft passed into Vietnamese airspace just north of the point where the final verbal communication was made. Less than two minutes later, at 01:21, the aircraft disappeared from the radar screens of both Malaysian and Vietnamese ATC, which use secondary radar to track aircraft. No distress call was made. Flight 370
15950-407: The plane was at the position of 48.12715 N 38.52630538 E located west of the urban-type settlement Rozsypne (Розсипне), near Hrabove , heading east-southeast (ESE, 115°) at an altitude of 32,998 feet above sea level with a ground speed of 494 knots (915 km/h; 568 mph) and an indicated airspeed of 293 knots. The flight recorders show no sign of warning or unusual occurrence prior to
16095-470: The priority search area for the underwater search was shifted south from the area identified in June. On 18 October, Fugro Discovery departed Perth to join the search. The two vessels were joined by Fugro Equator and Fugro Supporter in January ;2015. On 16 April 2015, a tripartite meeting between Malaysian, Australian and Chinese officials was held. Over 60 percent of
16240-417: The scheduled departure time, and took off at 12:31 local time (10:31 UTC). It was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 06:10 MYT on Friday, 18 July (22:10 UTC, 17 July). According to the original flight plan, MH17 was to fly over Ukraine at flight level 330 (33,000 feet or 10,060 metres) and then change to FL 350 around the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk . When it reached
16385-652: The search and released by agencies involved in search activities. The agency's website maintains press releases, transcripts of press conferences, communiqués of the tripartite meetings (between Australia, China, and Malaysia), and photos, videos, maps, and reports published by several agencies that are related to the search. The JACC serves as a single point of contact for the relatives of Flight 370 passengers. The agency's weekly search updates are provided in both English and Mandarin Chinese (the majority of Flight 370's passengers were Chinese). In addition to search information,
16530-401: The search area" would be conducted to "be able to undertake [the next phase of the] search effectively and safely". It was necessary both for planning the next phase of the search and because equipment used for the next phase would need to operate close to the seafloor (about 100 m or 300 ft). The bathymetric survey was made at a resolution of 100 metres (330 ft) per pixel, which
16675-455: The search area. On 26 March, images from French satellites indicated 122 floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean. Thai satellite images published on 27 March showed about 300 floating objects about 200 km (120 mi) from the French satellites' target area. The abundant finds, none confirmed to be from the flight, brought the realisation of the prior lack of surveillance over
16820-427: The search area. The search was expected to begin in August and after the bathymetric survey was complete, but it was delayed until October with only part of the survey completed. Malaysia announced in July that they had contracted with state-run oil company Petronas to supply a team to participate in the search. Petronas, in turn, has contracted the vessel GO Phoenix —owned by Australian company GO Marine Group—and
16965-404: The search in the southern locus from Sumatra to the southern Indian Ocean; the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Australia's search and rescue agency, initially coordinated the search within Australia's SAR region, correlating information with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and officials in Malaysia. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the creation of
17110-584: The search itself, Sri Lanka gave permission for search aircraft to use its airspace . Malaysia deployed military fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and ships. A co-ordination centre at the National Disaster Control Centre (NDCC) in Pulau Meranti , Cyberjaya , was established. On 16 March, three staff members of the French government agency BEA flew to Kuala Lumpur to share with Malaysian authorities their experience in
17255-446: The search of the priority search area was to be completed around May 2015. On 29 July 2015, a piece of marine debris , later confirmed to be a flaperon from Flight 370, was found on Réunion Island . On 20 December 2016, it was announced that an unsearched area of around 25,000 square kilometres (9,700 sq mi), and approximately centred on location 34°S 93°E / 34°S 93°E / -34; 93 ,
17400-406: The search, contributing in aggregate nearly 60 ships and 50 aircraft. In addition to the countries already named, these parties included Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. While not participating in
17545-469: The search. The Royal Malaysian Air Force confirmed on 10 March that Flight 370 made a "turn back". The following day, China activated the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters to aggregate satellite data to aid the search. On 12 March, Malaysian officials announced that an unidentified aircraft, possibly Flight 370, was last located by military radar at 2:15 in the Andaman Sea, 320 kilometres (200 mi) northwest of Penang Island and near
17690-415: The search. The JACC also provides information to the public about the latest developments in the search and recovery operation. The JACC is responsible for coordinating the search efforts for Flight 370 within Australian waters. At the time of the agency's creation, the search effort involved China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States as well as several agencies of
17835-576: The second Su-25 that was attacked on the same day at about 19:00 local time near the Ukrainian-Russian border in the area of Amvrosiivka . According to the details reported by Ukraine's RNBO spokesperson Andriy Lysenko, the Ukrainian Su-25 was shot down by an R-27T medium range air-to-air missile fired by a MiG-29 jet from Russian territory while the Su-25 was at an altitude of 8,250 m. The Russian Defence Ministry said that
17980-410: The second episode, two distinct pinger returns were audible. Both episodes of recorded signals, which took place at roughly the same position though several kilometres apart, were considered to be consistent with signals expected from an aircraft's flight recorder ULB. The signals received by Ocean Shield were recorded at the north of a newly calculated impact area, which was announced on 7 April, while
18125-493: The site, but after some days of searching the international team had "found remains of only a few victims" and concluded that "the recovery effort undertaken by local authorities immediately after the crash was more thorough than initially thought." On 6 August, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the recovery operation would be temporarily halted due to an upsurge in fighting around
18270-505: The south of MH17's route, and advised airlines flying over some other parts of Ukraine to "exercise extreme caution". This warning did not include the MH17 crash region. 37 airlines continued overflying eastern Ukraine and about 900 flights crossed the Donetsk region in the seven days before the Boeing 777 was shot down. Russian air traffic controllers issued a notice effective 17 July at 00:00 with two conflicting altitude restrictions in
18415-402: The southern Indian Ocean. Many of the countries on a possible northerly flight route—China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and India—denied the aircraft could have entered their country's airspace, because military radar would have detected it. Inmarsat had provided an initial analysis of the signals from Flight 370, which produced the two loci, on 11 March. Malaysian authorities appealed to
18560-556: The time that Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down. On the night following the downing of MH17, two Buk launcher vehicles, one of which carried three missiles, (out of a normal complement of four), was observed moving into Russia. Several aircraft from the Ukrainian Air Force were shot down in the months and days preceding the MH17 incident . On 14 June 2014, a Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 military transport
18705-448: The turn of the 19th century. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Post-Minsk II conflict Attacks on civilians Related Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 ( MH17/MAS17 ) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a Buk 9M38 surface-to-air missile on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine . All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Contact with
18850-509: The underwater search and offloaded its AUV in Fremantle. Sea conditions during the austral winter are too rough to safely launch and recover the AUV and therefore, AUV operations will be suspended during the winter months. However, the AUV will be kept ready to assist the search at short notice. On 20 June, GO Phoenix left the search area to begin passage to Singapore, where it will be demobilized from search activities. On 17 January 2017,
18995-405: The underwater search began at the seventh BTO arc and has progressed outwards. Towed underwater vehicles equipped with synthetic aperture sonar , side-scan sonar , and multi-beam echo sounders are towed close to the seafloor to create a three-dimensional picture of the seafloor topography. The sonar data was analysed on board the search vessels at the time of acquisition by sonar analysts and
19140-432: The wreckage fell close to houses. Dozens of bodies fell into crop fields, and some fell into houses. Three other commercial aircraft were in the vicinity when the Malaysian airliner was shot down: Air India Flight 113 (AI113), a Boeing 787 en route from Delhi to Birmingham , EVA Air Flight 88 (BR88), a Boeing 777 en route from Paris to Taipei , and the closest aircraft, Singapore Airlines Flight 351 (SQ351),
19285-516: Was 33 kilometres (21 mi) away, a Boeing 777 en route from Copenhagen to Singapore . A Ukraine Foreign Ministry representative said that the bodies found at the crash site would be taken to Kharkiv for identification, 270 kilometres (170 mi) to the north. By the day after the crash, 181 of the 298 bodies had been found. Some were observed being placed in body bags and loaded onto trucks. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte initially complained about looting of personal belongings from
19430-650: Was also reported that it had been tracked flying at a lower altitude across Malaysia to the Malacca Strait, approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) from its last contact with civilian radar. The next day, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief denied the report. A few hours later, however, the Vietnamese transport minister claimed that Malaysia had been informed on 8 March by Vietnamese air traffic control personnel, that they had "noticed
19575-470: Was announced that a search and recovery mission, including about 80 forensic police specialists from the Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia, and led by Colonel Cornelis Kuijs of the Royal Marechaussee , would use drones , sniffer dogs , divers and satellite mapping to search for missing body parts at the crash site. Australian officials had believed that as many as 80 bodies were still at
19720-551: Was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT), which in 2016 reported that the aircraft had been downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine . The JIT found that the Buk originated from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Federation and had been transported from Russia on
19865-475: Was expected to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 local time (same time zone as Malaysia; 22:30 UTC, 7 March). At 7:24, Malaysia Airlines issued a media statement that Flight 370 was missing after contact was lost with Malaysian ATC at 2:40. The time of the last contact with ATC was later corrected to 1:19; Malaysia Airlines was notified at 2:40. The watch supervisor at Kuala Lumpur Area Control Centre —which
20010-459: Was found unlikely to have originated from Flight 370. On 14 April, due to the likelihood of the ULBs' acoustic pulses having ceased because their batteries would have run down, the Towed Pinger Locator search gave way to a seabed search using side-scan sonar installed in a Bluefin-21 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. The first day's search was aborted because the sea bed was considerably deeper than
20155-485: Was lost over the South China Sea and that the last signal—received at 08:11 Malaysian time—might have originated from as far north as Kazakhstan . Najib explained that the signals could not be more precisely located than to one of two possible loci : a northern locus stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand , or a southern locus stretching from Indonesia to
20300-553: Was scheduled to depart at 00:35 local time (MYT; UTC+08:00 ) and arrive at 06:30 local time (CST; UTC+08:00). At 00:41 MYT, Flight 370 took off with 239 occupants aboard—two pilots, ten cabin crew, and 227 passengers (152 of whom were Chinese citizens). Flight 370 was cleared by air traffic control to proceed on a direct path to waypoint IGARI ( 6°56′12″N 103°35′6″E / 6.93667°N 103.58500°E / 6.93667; 103.58500 ( Waypoint IGARI ) ), located between Malaysia and Vietnam over
20445-407: Was searched. In the Southern Indian Ocean, 29 aircraft from seven countries conducted 334 search flights; 14 ships from several countries were also involved. On 4 April, the search was refocused to three more northerly areas from 1,060 to 2,100 kilometres (660 to 1,300 mi) west of Learmonth , spanning over 217,000 square kilometres (84,000 sq mi). ADV Ocean Shield , fitted with
20590-460: Was shot down on approach to Luhansk International Airport , with loss of nine crew members and forty troops. On 14 July 2014, a Ukrainian Air Force An-26 transport aircraft flying at 6,500 m (21,300 ft) was shot down. The militia reportedly claimed via social media that a Buk missile launcher, which they had previously seized and made operational, had been used to bring down the aircraft. American officials later said evidence suggested
20735-428: Was suspended for Fugro Equator to be mobilised in the underwater search. On 26 June, plans for the next phase of the search were formally announced; the search zone for the new phase is shifted to a new region of up to 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) near Broken Ridge in the southern Indian Ocean based on a report released the same day by the ATSB, which detailed the methodology for determining
20880-519: Was the air traffic control centre that was last in contact with Flight 370—activated the Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) at 05:30, over four hours after communication was lost with Flight 370. When Malaysia Airlines issued a media statement two hours later, they claimed that they were "working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate
21025-463: Was the most likely impact location for flight MH370. The search was suspended on 17 January 2017. In October 2017, the final drift study believed the most likely impact location to be at around 35°36′S 92°48′E / 35.6°S 92.8°E / -35.6; 92.8 ( CSIRO crash area ) . The search based on these coordinates was resumed in January 2018 by Ocean Infinity ,
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