MH370 report: Mixed messages ate up time before official search initiated
Ben Brumfield and Holly Yan, CNN
Updated
11:24 AM EDT, Fri May 2, 2014
Story highlights
Reassuring messages from airline were "unhelpful," aviation correspondent says
While the plane was missing, time ticked away
Report shows a 4-hour gap from when the plane left radar to when the official search began
The plane probably had enough fuel to last through that gap and for another 2½ hours
(CNN) —
Confusion, misleading information and then long periods of nothing marked the first hours of what’s now known as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
It took air traffic controllers more than four hours after the last conversation with the cockpit to activate rescuers to look for the missing plane, which left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Some delays in communication with an airliner over the ocean are normal, says CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest.
But time was of the essence, and eventually, a lot was lost.
The plane probably ran out of fuel about 7½ hours into the flight, a Malaysia Airlines official has said. That means MH370 might have been flying during that four-hour gap.
If so, it seems the Boeing jet only had 2½ hours of fuel left when rescuers first began searching for it.
The report itself is scant. Just five pages in length, it contains only a small fraction of the content of similar preliminary reports from past air disasters.
But combined with the air traffic transcript also released to the public, it gives a picture how the first hours progressed after MH 370 signed off.
Controllers told the airliner to check in with their counterparts in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. “Good night, Malaysian Three Seven Zero,” someone in the cockpit answered.
That check-in never happened, but something else did. The plane dropped off radar, and the clock ticked.
“Control of the aircraft had left Malaysia to Vietnam. Even so, for 17 minutes, neither Kuala Lumpur nor Ho Chi Minh noticed nor acted,” Quest said.s
Then at 1:38 a.m., Ho Chi Minhcontacted Kuala Lumpur to let the controllers know that it had not heard a word from the plane. “Verbal contact was not established,” the transcript said.
The two control centers began a conversation about communications attempts with Flight 370 and previous radar blips along its path.
They spoke every few minutes.
Reassuring messages may have cost precious time
Then two messages came from Malaysia Airlines that may have taken more precious time.
At 2:03 a.m. came the first seemingly reassuring message from the airline. The plane was in Cambodian airspace, the airlinetold Kuala Lumpur air traffic control.
The Malaysians passed the message on to Vietnamese controllers. They then tried to confirm Malaysia Airlines’ news with Cambodian air traffic controllers.
The airline later confirmed its reassuring message. It had been able to “exchange signals with the flight,” which was in Cambodian airspace, the transcript read.
But an hour after Flight 370 signed off, Vietnamese air controllers poked holes in Malaysia Airlines’ message. The flight had not been scheduled to fly over Cambodia, and officials there had no information on the plane – nor contact with it.
Photos: The search for MH370
Two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, a relative of one of the passengers burns incense in Beijing on March 8, 2016. Flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, as it flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. There were 239 people on board.
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Visual China Group/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
On July 29, police carry a piece of debris on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. A week later, authorities confirmed that the debris was from the missing flight.
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Lucas Marie/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Staff members with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau examine a piece of aircraft debris at their laboratory in Canberra, Australia, on July 20. The flap was found in June by residents on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, and officials had said it was highly likely to have come from Flight 370. Experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane, confirmed that the part was indeed from the missing aircraft.
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ATSB/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
In late February, American tourist Blaine Gibson found a piece of plane debris off Mozambique, a discovery that renewed hope of solving the mystery of the missing flight. The piece measured 35 inches by 22 inches. A U.S. official said it was likely the wreckage came from a Boeing 777, which MH370 was.
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Blaine Gibson
Photos: The search for MH370
Relatives of the flight's passengers console each other outside the Malaysia Airlines office in Subang, Malaysia, on February 12, 2015. Protesters had demanded that the airline withdraw the statement that all 239 people aboard the plane were dead.
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MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A police officer watches a couple cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on June 11, 2014. The couple's son was on the plane.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27, 2014. Data from communications between satellites and the missing flight was released the day before, more than two months after relatives of passengers said they requested it be made public.
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on April 14, 2014.
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Peter D. Blair/U.S. Navy/UPI/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on April 13, 2014.
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Greg Wood/Pool/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
The HMS Echo, a vessel with the British Roya; Navy, moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean on April 12, 2014.
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British Ministry of Defence
Photos: The search for MH370
A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9, 2014.
A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on April 8, 2014.
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STRinger/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris in the southern Indian Ocean on April 7, 2014.
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Lt. Ryan Davis/Australian Defense Force/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 7, 2014.
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Kelly Hunt/Australian Defense Force/UPI/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on April 4, 2014.
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Nick Perry/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
On March 30, 2014, a woman in Kuala Lumpur prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370.
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Rahman Roslan/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on March 28, 2014, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions.
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Ng Han Guan/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on March 27, 2014.
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Michael Martina/Pool/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27, 2014.
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Michael Martina/Pool/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27, 2014.
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Aaron Favila/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight on March 24, 2014. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived."
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014.
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GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 22, 2014.
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Rufus Cox/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, 2014, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It was a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes were looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia.
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China's State Admiration of Science
Photos: The search for MH370
Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on March 20, 2014, showed debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could have been from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search.
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Digital Globe/AMSA/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight.
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DigitalGlobe/AMSA via Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 19, 2014.
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AZHAR RAHIM/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
On March 18, 2014, a relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations in the Indian Ocean on March 16, 2014.
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U.S. Navy/Eric A. Pastor/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on March 13, 2014. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, search efforts expanded west into the Indian Ocean.
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XINHUA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13, 2014.
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LUONG THAI LINH/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian air force members look for debris near Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2014.
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Rahman Roslan/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on March 11, 2014.
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HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported on March 8, 2014. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10, 2014.
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EPA/TIENPHONG.VN
Photos: The search for MH370
A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews on March 9, 2014, before returning to search for the missing plane in the Gulf of Thailand.
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Chris D. Boardman/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9, 2014.
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Lai Seng Sin/AP
Photos: The search for MH370
Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9, 2014.
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Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: The search for MH370
The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea on March 9, 2014.
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Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014.
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MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
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MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8, 2014.
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MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for MH370
Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Sepang on March 8, 2014. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said.
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Lai Seng Sin/AP
Malaysian air traffic controllers kept in communication with the airline, which gave them yet another seemingly reassuring message at 2:35 a.m.
The airliner was “in normal condition based on signal download,” which placed it off the coast of Vietnam.
The flight probably appeared to be on track to its destination of Beijing.
“We have two very unhelpful contributions from Malaysia Airlines – one suggesting the plane is in Cambodia, the other saying everything’s normal. Neither’s true,” Quest said.
Information ‘not reliable for aircraft positioning’
If precious time had been lost by the trickle before, now it began to gush away.
Nearly an hour later, Malaysia Airlines qualified its previous information. Its new message: “The flight tracker information was based on flight projection and not reliable for aircraft positioning,” the transcript read.
It was 3:30 a.m., but two more hours would pass before air traffic controllers notified rescuers.
In the meantime, controllers in Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City queried each other and the airline. Kuala Lumpur air traffic control contacted counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing.
Then at 5:20 a.m., a Malaysian official pronounced, based on what was known, “MH370 never left Malaysian airspace.”
Ten minutes later, Malaysian air traffic controllers alerted a rescue coordination center.
On Friday, the airline elaborated on the report, saying the “exchange of signals” it had referred to was actually the data from the automated flight tracking system, which didn’t reflect changes in the airline’s course. Airline officials concluded that Flight 370 was over Cambodia because a zoomed-in view of the flight tracking screen showed the text “Cambodia,” according to Friday’s statement.
But the airline also appeared to deflect criticism for its actions that night, saying in the Friday statement that it’s the job of air traffic controllers – not airlines – to keep track of planes in flight.
Where was the military?
The Malaysian Prime Minister has said the military tracked the plane as it headed back across Malaysia.
According to the report, a playback of a recording from military primary radar revealed that an aircraft that may have been Flight 370 had made a westerly turn, crossing Peninsular Malaysia. The search area was then extended to the Strait of Malacca.
But it’s unclear when that happened. The report makes no mention of the military’s role the night of the disappearance.
The report is anemic on details
Preliminary reports are by their nature brief and to the point, but they are usually much longer than Malaysia’s. Such reports and accompanying documents should be an audit of what happened and factually who did what, Quest said.
“I can certainly understand that the authorities had more pressing matters in finding the plane than writing a long report, when there will be plenty of other chances to do so,” Quest said, “but this report is the barest possible they could get away with.”
The equivalent preliminary report on Air France Flight 447 was 128 pages long. That report, produced by France’s aviation safety agency just one month after the plane went missing in 2009, offered specific details on communication between various air traffic control centers.
Flight 447 was found more than a year later in the Atlantic Ocean; all 228 people on board had died.
And a preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into the Qantas engine explosion in 2010 ran more than 40 pages, including diagrams and charts.
The Malaysian report was accompanied by a cargo manifest, seating plan, air traffic control transcripts and three maps.
The report released Thursday was the same one Malaysia submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization but had not been made public. Malaysian officials came under heavy criticism last week for submitting the report to the U.N. body but not making it available to relatives of passengers.
While authorities are not required to make a preliminary report public, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak acquiesced.
Reporters could not ask questions raised by the report since the document was released by e-mail and not at a news conference.
One safety recommendation
The report makes one safety recommendation: the need for real-time tracking.
Authorities noted that while commercial planes spend considerable time operating over remote areas, there is no requirement for real-time tracking of such aircraft.
“There have now been two occasions during the last five years when large commercial air transport aircraft have gone missing and their last position was not accurately known,” the Malaysian report states. “This uncertainty resulted in significant difficulty in locating the aircraft in a timely manner.”
CNN reported on this detail from the report last week.
The officials asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to examine the benefits of introducing a standard for real-time tracking of commercial planes.
It’s the same recommendation that was made after the Air France Flight 447 disaster in 2009. But nothing seems to have happened after that report.
