Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpurto Beijing that lost contact with air traffic control on 8 March 2014 at 01:20 MYT less than an hour after takeoff. At 07:24, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported the flight as missing. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations.
A multinational search and rescue effort, later reported as the largest in history, was initiated in the Gulf of Thailandand the South China Sea. Within a few days, this was extended to include the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea. On 15 March, based on military radar data and radio “pings” between the aircraft and an Inmarsatsatellite, investigators concluded that it had first headed west across the Malay Peninsula, then continued on a northern or southern track for approximately seven hours. The search in the South China Sea was abandoned. Three days later the Australian Maritime Safety Authority began searching the southern part of the Indian Ocean.
On 24 March, the Malaysian government confirmed two independently made analyses by the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and Inmarsat, and concluded “beyond any reasonable doubt”, that the aircraft had gone down in the southern part of the Indian Ocean with no survivors. This conclusion led to all earlier search areas being abandoned, and efforts being concentrated on the Australian-led area.
Since 22 March, marine debris has been recovered from the search area in the southern part of the Indian Ocean – but none found to be related to Flight 370 and although search vessel ADV Ocean Shield detected acoustic signals consistent with those emitted by underwater locator beacons (ULBs) mounted on flight recorders on 5 and 8 April, there has been no confirmation of a crash site.
An international team has been established to investigate the incident, following International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) protocols.
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