The final safety investigation report into the March 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 released Monday by the Malaysian Ministry of Transport reaches no conclusions about the ultimate cause, but authorities determined that the changes to the flight path probably did not result from “anomalous systems issues” alone, suggesting at least some human intervention in the resulting diversion. “It should be recognized that there is a significant lack of evidence available to the team to determine with any certainty the reasons that the aircraft diverted from its filed flight plan route,” said the report. “However, the change in flight path likely resulted from manual inputs.”
The Boeing 777-200ER, carrying 12 crewmembers and 227 passengers, diverted from the filed flight plan some 40 minutes after takeoff. Soon after a routine handover from Malaysian air traffic control to Vietnamese ATC, the aircraft’s transponder stopped signaling for still unknown reasons, resulting in its disappearance from ATC radar displays. Nevertheless, civilian and military radars did capture the changes to the flight path after the flight passed waypoint AGARI, showing a slight right turn, an abrupt turn to the left over peninsular Malaysia, followed by a right turn south of Penang Island to the northwest and a subsequent turn toward the southern Indian Ocean.
Notwithstanding the report’s assertion that systems failure alone likely couldn’t have resulted in the changes in the flight path, it also could present no evidence that the captain or first officer suffered from any personal problems that might suggest an intentional act. Investigators found no financial stress or impending bankruptcy, any additional or new insurance purchases, and any behavioral changes. All radio-telephony communications conducted by the pilots with air traffic controllers conformed to routine procedures and showed no evidence of any stress or anxiety.
Meanwhile, records showed no maintenance lapses, except for an expired underwater locater beacon battery in the flight data recorder. “Although it cannot be conclusively ruled out that an aircraft or system malfunction was the cause, based on the limited evidence available, it is more likely that the loss of communications (VHF and HF communications, ACARS, satcom, and transponder) prior to the diversion is due to the systems being manually turned off or power interrupted to them or, additionally, in the case of VHF and HF, not used, whether with intent or otherwise,” said the report.
A four-year search of the southern Indian Ocean has failed to locate the main wreckage of the airplane, although pieces of debris—likely from MH370—have been found as far north as the eastern coast of Tanzania and as far south as the eastern coast of South Africa. Although recovery of cabin interior debris suggests the airplane likely broke apart, investigators have not collected enough evidence to determine whether it broke up in the air or upon impact with the ocean.
The report concluded that, without the benefit of examination of the aircraft wreckage and recorded flight data information, investigators could not identify any plausible aircraft or systems failure that would lead to the observed systems deactivation, diversion for the filed flight plan route, and subsequent flight path taken by the aircraft. However, it also said that the same lack of evidence meant investigators could not definitely eliminate the possibility of systems failure, nor could they exclude the possibility of some third-party intervention.