MH370 Report Reveals Battery Problem

Dragon Prince deep tow fish is recovered onto the back deck, as Fugro Discovery completes the first stage of the search for the missing Malaysia airlines flight MH370. Source: ATSB, photo by ABIS Chris Beerens, RAN. By Wendy Laursen 03-09-2015 06:20:14

Sunday marked one year since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, and the release of the first comprehensive report into the mystery by Malaysian authorities.

The analysis did not identify any causes for the disappearance of the plane and found nothing suspicious in the financial, medical or personal histories of pilots or crew.

The report did however reveal that the battery of the underwater locator beacon had expired more than a year before the plane vanished. It had not been replaced because the engineering department’s computer system had not been properly updated.

Even with an expired battery, the instrument should still have captured flight information, and the battery on the locator beacon of the cockpit voice recorder was working. So, together, the two instruments could provide vital information about cockpit conversations and flight data if recovered.

The plane vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, bound for Beijing. Investigators believe the plane was flown thousands of miles off course before eventually crashing somewhere off Australia.

The team of international experts investigating the disappearance confirmed that MH370 was spotted turning off its planned course by Malaysian civilian and military radars. Thai radars also spotted MH370. The plan’s transponder was switched off just before the aircraft made the turn.

The Search Continues

The fate of the 239 people on board remains unknown, but the underwater search for plane is continuing with over 43 percent of the 60,000 square kilometer priority search area now completed.

Assuming no significant delays with vessels, equipment or from the weather, the current underwater search area should be largely completed by the end of May.

Currently four vessels are involved in the underwater search. These vessels employ a range of equipment including side scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounders and video cameras to locate and identify debris in waters up to six kilometers deep.

The latest vessel to assist, Fugro Supporter, is using an AUV to search the mountainous areas that are less accessible by the towed sonar devices carried by the other vessels. The ships head back to shore every four weeks to resupply, a trip that takes up to six days each way.

Australia has already asked for expressions of interest from companies with equipment capable of retrieving wreckage from the seabed, which is an average of four kilometers (13,000 feet) deep. If found, the plane is expected to be in reasonable condition for salvage due to the relatively mild ocean movements at those depths.

If the plane isn’t found, the search zone could be expanded to include a 1.1-million-square-kilometer (425,000-square-mile) stretch of ocean. How long it would take to search this area, and how much it would cost, is unknown.

Committed to a Result

So far, Australia and Malaysia have contributed $60 million each to the current search effort.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday that his country remained committed to the search for plane. Australia has also reiterated its commitment.

“The disappearance of MH370 is without precedent, and so too is the search - by far the most complex and technically challenging in aviation history,” Najib said in a statement. “Together with our international partners, we have followed the little evidence that exists. Malaysia remains committed to the search, and hopeful that MH370 will be found.”

Malaysia declared the disappearance of the flight an accident in January, so that the airline could pay compensation to the victims’ relatives.

New Black Box Technology

Meanwhile, COMAC America has been testing a new comprehensive emergency information recorder and tracking system that it believes is an improvement on existing technology. A traditional black box emits distress signals for 30 days after sinking with the plane. It stores 30-minutes of cockpit voice conversation and two hours of flight data before the crash.

However, when the plane crashes and goes down at sea, the sonar signal emitted from the black box only transmits several kilometers, therefore requiring a rather definitive search area.

If the black box becomes covered in seabed sludge, distress signals are weak and hard to detect, making it difficult to locate the crash site in a timely manner for rescue.

COMAC’s system is able to capture information about the last few minutes of the plane before it crashes. With the system, the last few minutes of the plane's position, black box data, and video footage is captured through cloud technology to a satellite. The system is equipped with a parachute and inflation system to enable it to stay afloat at sea.