1.1 Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370
Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 (MH370) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing that lost contact with air traffic control on 8 March 2014 at
01:20 about an hour after takeoff. At 07:24, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported
the flight missing. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian
crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations. There has been no confirmation
of any flight debris and no crash site has been found (Wikipedia 2014).
Malaysia
Airlines released the names and nationalities of the 227 passengers and 12 crew
members, based on the flight manifest and later modified to include two Iranian
passengers travelling on stolen passports. 152 of the 227 passengers were
Chinese citizens, 38 passengers were Malaysian. The remaining passengers were
from 13 different countries. All 12 crew members
were Malaysian citizens, which the flight's captain was 53 year old Zaharie Ahmad Shah and
he joined MAS in 1981 and had 18,365 hours of flying experience. On the other
hand, the first officer was 27
year old Fariq Abdul Hamid, employed since 2007 with 2,763 flying hours and this
was Fariq's first flight as a fully qualified Boeing 777 first officer
(Wikipedia 2014).
1.2 MH370 Disappearance
The airline loses
contact with the plane after about an hour after takeoff and there is no
distress signal and weather is clear at the time. MH370 was flying in good
weather conditions and disappeared without any warning. Flight tracking website
flightaware.com shows plane flew northeast over Malaysia after takeoff and
climbed to altitude of 35,000 feet. The flight vanished from website's tracking
records a minute later while still climbing and Malaysia search ships see no
sign of wreckage in area where flights last made contact (Best 2014).
The news on the missing
MH370 has travel fast and within minutes the whole world has gotten to know
about it. Malaysia has been receiving help from numerous of counting in the
search of the missing MH370. Helps has been received in many forms. The search
has gotten widened after Malaysia's civil
aviation announces that the search area will double to cover a larger area of
the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and Vietnam. The area of search for the
missing aircraft expands to 27,000 nautical square miles covering the South
China Sea and Strait of Malacca, with a total of 12 countries participating in
the operation. There are a total of 42 ships and 39 aircraft currently involved
in the multinational search (Best 2014).
At the
peak, before the search was moved to the south Indian Ocean, 26 countries were
involved in the search, contributing a total of nearly 60 ships and 50
aircraft. In addition to the above, although Sri Lanka did not participating,
they have given the permission for the search aircraft to use its airspace (Best 2014).
2.0
Four Acceptability of the Claim
2.1 The Doppler Effect
Analysis
To the missing MH370 situation, Malaysian investigation has
set up an international working group, comprising agencies with expertise in
satellite communications and aircraft performance, which is the British
Satellite Company Inmarsat in order to take this work forward. As a result,
Inmarsat has used such technique as the Doppler Effect. Doppler Effect is a
technique which describes how a wave changes frequency relative to the movement
of an observer, in this MH370 case is the satellite (Chapree 2014). According
to the news, in recent days Inmarsat has developed a second innovative
technique which considers the velocity of the aircraft relative to the
satellite. Depending on this relative movement, the frequency received and
transmitted will differ from its normal value (Chapree 2014).
For example, when a vehicle with a siren passes, there is a
noticeable drop in the pitch of the sound of the siren will be observed as the
vehicle passes. An approaching source moves closer during period of the sound
wave so the effective wavelength is shortened, giving a higher pitch since the
velocity of the wave is unchanged (Chapree 2014). To this case, same goes to the satellite which Inmarsat has
been looking at day and night, that is where they are hearing sounds of the
wavelength. MH370 could be detected from here.
The senior vice president of Inmarsat has explained that
there is a change in frequency due to the movement of a satellite in its orbit
and what that then gave them was a predicted path for the northerly route and a
predicted path the southerly route. He continued that it is never done before
and his engineers came up with it as a unique contribution (Chapree 2014).
By analyzing this effect, Inmarsat was able to establish that
MH370 continued to fly for at least five hours after the aircraft left
Malaysian airspace, and that it had flown along one of two stated corridors. What
they discovered was there is a correlation with the southerly route and not
with the northern route after the final turn that MH370 has made, to this they
could be as close to certain as anybody could be in that situation that it went
south. The plane was also reportedly flying at a
cruising height above 30,000 feet.
2.2 Analyzing the
hourly pings
As
mentioned, Inmarsat’s role in the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370
began immediately after it went disappeared. Although the main Aircraft Communications
Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was switched off, one of Inmarsat’s
satellites continued to pick up a series of hourly pings from MH370, which
would normally be used to synchronize timing information (Anthony 2014). The
ping utility may be executed with various command line switches to enable
special operational modes. For example, options include specifying the area of the
search, automatic repeated operation for sending a specified count of searches
of MH370 and time stamping. To this Inmarsat is able to read of how many pings
has been made throughout the hours.
Inmarsat
then immediately began doing calculations based on a series of hourly pings as MH370
and one of the company's satellites tried to communicate with each other. Analyzing
those pings seems to have given Inmarsat a good idea of where the plane went
and along one of two routes, to the north and to the south (Anthony 2014). About
three hours after Flight MH370 went missing, Inmarsat began tracking the Boeing
777. Every hour, Inmarsat's satellites would try to communicate with MH370,
pinging it with a computerized questions. For several hours, Flight MH370 has
responded, notifying engineers on the ground with a handshake that the plane
was still powered up and ongoing. Using that series of pings, Inmarsat
engineers and other analysts were able to detect where MH370 could have been
located when it last communicated with the satellite (Anthony 2014). Hourly
pings sent by MH370 were received by Inmarsat's spacecraft and these leading
scientists to calculate its likely path.
The senior vice president of Inmarsat again has said that his
engineers have looked at the time between the handshakes and they realized
that the object was not stationary under a satellite but moving away from it.
By analyzing these pings, Inmarsat was able to detect that MH370 has been
flying for a few hours after it departs from Malaysia and that it had flown
along on the south. It was known that this type of analysis was never before
used in an investigation of this kind of situation and the Inmarsat believe
that they could be able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path (Anthony
2014).
2.3 The Burst Frequency Offset
The Inmarsat technique analyses the difference between the
frequency that the ground station expects to receive and that actually
measured. This difference is the actually result of the Doppler Effect and is
known as the Burst Frequency Offset. The Burst Frequency Offset changes
depending on the location of the aircraft on an arc of possible positions, its
direction of travel and its speed (Arthur 2014). For example, in order to establish confidence in its
theory, Inmarsat did not only sed the findings on MH370 but they has checked
its predictions using information obtained from six other B777 aircraft flying
on the same day in various directions.
Looking back to the day the plane went missing, while on the
ground at the Malaysia Airport and during the early stage of the flight, MH370
has transmitted several messages. At this stage the location of the aircraft
and the satellite were known and so it was possible to calculate system
characteristics for the aircraft, satellite and the ground station (Arthur 2014). During the flight the ground station logged the transmitted
and received pulse frequencies at each handshake. Knowing the system
characteristics and position of the satellite it was possible, considering
aircraft performance to determine where on each arc the calculated burst
frequency offset fit best (Arthur 2014).
The analysis showed poor correlation with the northern
corridor, but good correlation with the southern corridor and depending on the
ground speed of the aircraft it was then possible to estimate positions, at
which the last complete handshake took place (Arthur 2014). To this, it was not known to be the final position of the MH370.
On the other hand, there is evidence of a partial handshake
between MH370 and the ground station. At this time this transmission is not
understood and is subject to further ongoing work. No response was received
from MH370 when the ground earth station sent the next log on or log off
message. Therefore, there was a time that MH370 was no longer able to
communicate with the ground station and this is consistent with the maximum
endurance of MH370 (Arthur 2014). This analysis by Inmarsat has formed the basis for further
study to attempt to determine the final position of MH370. By
analyzing The Burst Frequency Offset,
Inmarsat was able to detect that MH370 has been flying for a few hours after it
departs and that it had flown along on the south.
2.4 The Usefulness of High-Technology
Several breakthroughs have concluded MH370’s wreckage is
finally located somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. As known throughout the
world, the military technology is being utilized in the search effort. Example
of the military technology is the satellites, the maritime patrol aircraft, the
naval ships and commercial vessels and the radar system. This military technology
used has so far been the best high technology equipped to lead the search
efforts, with huge expanses of ocean and land to search, along with treacherous
conditions in the southern Indian Ocean (Turnbull 2014).
The first high technology equipped used is the maritime
patrol aircraft. Since day one, navies from across Southeast Asia have deployed
maritime aircraft in order to find the MH370 and any possible survivors.
Malaysia and Vietnam both sent out search aircraft in the initial phases to
scour the Gulf of Thailand, where it was initially thought the aircraft went
down. Soon the United Satets Navy P-3 Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA),
full of advanced sensors and electronics joined the search (Turnbull 2014). The US Navy has been using one of its newest and most
advanced assets, the P-8 Poseidon, which only began flying operational missions
last year. The P-8 Poseidon is kitted out with infrared and night-vision
sensors, on board radar to detect ships and small vessels and advanced magnetic
anomaly detection (MAD) system which can detect submarines underwater (Turnbull 2014).
The second high tech equipped is the used of the naval ships
and commercial vessels. If the wreckage of MH370 is ever found it will be ships
rather than satellites and from the result, both naval and civilian ships have
already played a vital role in the search and that is set to continue in the
days and weeks ahead (Turnbull 2014).. For example, the US Navy has used at least two Arleigh
Burke-class destroyers in the search, a platform which utilizes highly advanced
underwater sensors for anti-submarine warfare. The ships are also equipped with
two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters which have enabled a wider search area to be
covered (Turnbull 2014).
Another high technology used is the radar system. Radar is
possibly the most secretive of all military assets used during the search for
MH370. When there were suggestions that MH370 could have flown to Central Asia,
speculation was widespread as to how MH370 could have flown through several
nations without triggering air defenses and being intercepted by the military
aircraft (Turnbull 2014).. The
stated radar system has given the best help in justifying the missing MH370.
Although the missing body could have not been found yet, but
these high technology tools have certainly help in the search of the missing
MH370.
2.5 Steps in
evaluating the acceptability of a claim
As the search for the
missing MH370 has been dragging, the officials are using advanced technology to
look for any sign of the plane. First step of all, technologies has been
playing the most important role in this searching mode. With the technology that
has been improving a lot for the past several years, situation like the missing
MH370 could be found using the technologies however it would take some time. The
analysis used in findings MH370 has helped the world to justify the missing
MH370. Although the announcement leads to the emotional scenes from the
passengers' grieving families but it has put an end to all kind of fears and
worries.
The second step is how
far and how good the Inmarsat's satellites is keeping contact with MH370.
Inmarsat has been trying to communicate with MH370 from time to time on hourly
basis, pinging it with a computerized such questions asking how the plane is
doing. For the first few hours, pinging has been answered but later on has been
found that MH370 has keeping it quiet without any further notice (Sandle 2014).
This has given wonder and worries to the Inmarsat team and having such,
analyzing and searching been done in order to find the outcome to such wonder.
The third step is, upon
following the extensive search the minister confirmed that this search will be
a continuous effort with the operation entering a new phase to the larger area
of the ocean floor. According to the leads obtained from the Inmarsat, MH370 is
likely to have crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean. To
this Malaysia with the collaboration of Inmarsat are
preparing for a new phase and the dedicated vessels from Australia, Malaysia
and China will continue the maritime operations on the ocean (Curtis 2014). These activities will include
analysis of all available data to refine the best search area and steps are
currently being taking on in order to conclude an arrangement that would identify
the responsibilities for all aspects of the search and the recovery task (Curtis 2014).
Other than that, a plan was also
discussed for a refocused subsurface search as part of the arrangements to the
change to a new phase in the search for MH370 and reconfirmed the ongoing military
technology. The analysis on the Doppler Effect Analysis and the
hourly pings could broaden the search even more (Sandle 2014). It is known
that the positive nature of the joint communications among countries will
continue to maintain this strong collaborative approach in the future and with
this Malaysia has been receiving many helps from all over the world (Sandle 2014).
Last but not least, upon the
development and outcome of the search operation, the families of the passengers
and crew and the general public will continue to be updated on. On the new phase, an expert satellite working group had been
working for eight weeks and they had reviewed and refined all existing
information to define the search zone along the arc in the southern Indian
Ocean.
Conclusion
The authorities have
concluded that MH370 has
ended in the southern area of the Indian Ocean. As a result from the findings
position of the satellite, the information was used to generate possible
positions from which the northern and southern corridors were established
(Curtis 2014). Given the location which was described as very remote and
nowhere near any possible landing sites, they believed that MH370 has
gone in the said area together with all crew members and passengers on board. This
conclusion was based on a set of data from the British Satellite Company Inmarsat which
was processed using a method as a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort. The new analysis described was convincing enough in
order to make the announcement that MH370 flew along the southern corridor and
that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean which is at the
west of Perth.
Despite the major
breakthrough, the story of MH370 is actually still far from over as the massive
search and rescue operation has now turned into a recovery operation with an
emphasis on MH370’s remains as well as its black box. Furthermore, the
investigators still need to find out why MH370 move away from its original
flight path and ended up in a remote area of the Indian Ocean.