Communications:MH370 Notice To Crew (NOTOC)

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Communications - Messages

MH370: Notice to Crew (NOTOC)

1. Background

A Notice to Crew (NOTOC) was sent from Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to MH370 by ACARS at 1606:15 UTC on 07 March 2014 (0006:15 MYT, 08 March 2014). The message was addressed to the aircraft printer and to be printed out by the crew.

The NOTOC included details of 'special loads' - a fruit called Mangosteens, and a declaration:-

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT ANY DAMAGED OR LEAKING PACKAGES CONTAINING DANGEROUS GOODS HAVE BEEN LOADED ON THE AIRCRAFT AT THIS STATION

The NOTOC did not mention a consignment of lithium batteries because that was not classified as hazardous cargo.

2. ACARS NOTOC Message Transcript

The following is a transcript of the message from Malaysia Airlines to the crew on MH370, plus two related messages which indicate that the transmission was successful and acknowledged.

Note: On this website all ACARS message headers have the rows arranged for ease of reading. No data has been changed. The message can be understood by using Tooltips - place a mouse or cursor over any word which is faintly underlined to reveal information about the item.

Time 16:06:15	Trans 46818160	Direction Outgoing Uplink	AN 9M-MRO	FI MH0370	Medium	Machine MHKULKJACM001	Raw DTG 071606	SMI AGM	Application RELAY
Status Uplink Sent		Message Type AGM NOTOC Uplink B777 -- AGM NOTOC Uplink B777			Source/Destination QXSXMXS

QU QXSXMXS
.DPCCAMH 071606
AGM
AN 9M-MRO/FI MH0370/MA 989I
-
NOTOC MESSAGE
SPECIAL LOAD NOTOC

FLIGHT DATE EDNO
MH 0370 /08 08MAR14 01
FROM/TO AC/REG
KULPEK 9M-MRO

OTHER SPECIAL LOAD

TO POS PCS QTY/TI IMP
DESCRIPTION
PEK 41L 001 1128KG PER
MANGOSTEEN

PEK 41R 001 1152KG PER
MANGOSTEEN

PEK 43L 001 1148KG PER
MANGOSTEEN

PEK 44L 001 1138KG PER
MANGOSTEEN

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE
THAT ANY DAMAGED OR
LEAKING PACKAGES
CONTAINING DANGEROUS
GOODS HAVE BEEN LOADED
ON THE AIRCRAFT AT THIS
STATION.

END ACARS NOTOC

Time 16:06:15	Trans 46818160	Direction Incoming Downlink	AN 9M-MRO	FI MH0370	Medium	Machine MHKULKJACM001	Raw DTG 071606	SMI MAS	Application RELAY
Status Normal		Message Type MAS-L (link ack)			Source/Destination QXSXMXS

QU DPCCAMH
.QXSXMXS 071606
MAS
AN 9M-MRO/FI MH0370/MA 989L

Time 16:06:32	Trans 46818160	Direction Incoming Downlink	AN 9M-MRO	FI MH0370	Medium IOR2	Machine MHKULKJACM001	Raw DTG 071606	SMI MAS	Application RELAY
Status Normal		Message Type MAS-S (successful)			Source/Destination QXSXMXS

QU DPCCAMH
.QXSXMXS 071606
MAS
AN 9M-MRO/FI MH0370/MA 989S
DT QXT IOR2 071606 S15A

3. Location of Mangosteens

The NOTOC from MAS to the flight deck (cockpit) stated the special loads consisted of 'perishable goods', using the term PER. The total load (4,566 kg) was not indicated but the load at each location was detailed:-

1,128 kg at station 41L,
1,152 kg at station 41R,
1,148 kg at station 43L, and
1,138 kg at 44L respectively.

The temperature of each location can be set by the Flight Crew to ensure the fruit did not spoil during the flight.

4. More Information

Additional information can be sourced from several places in the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 , as follows:-

The Aircraft Communications Addressing & Reporting System Traffic Log has a snaphot of the original NOTOC and some explanation (on which this article is based).
The cargo carried on MH370 is detailed in Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Section 1.18.2
Additional ACARS communications related to the NOTOC message are included in the September 2018 version - linked here