MH370 Flight Plan
MH370 Flight Plan Decoded
The Flight Plan for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was filed (sent to the Air Traffic Control Centre) at 12:44 MYT on Friday, 7 March 2014.
A copy of the flight plan message is included in the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Section 2.2.3 Filed Flight Plan of MH370, followed by an explanation of the message code. This forms the basis for the description and explanation of the flight plan below.
1. Flight Plan as an Image
The flight plan message in the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Section 2.2.3 Filed Flight Plan of MH370 is an image, which is replicated below.
Figure 2.2A - Filed Flight Plan of MH370
Source: DCA Malaysia
2. Message Code and Meaning for MH370 Filed Flight Plan
An explanation of the codes used in the flight plan message was also provided by the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Section 2.2.3 Filed Flight Plan of MH370, as shown below.
1) Message Code of FPL of MH370 and Meaning
Message Code | Meaning |
| KLA297 070444 | |
| KL | KLIA message |
| A | Series |
| 297 | Sequence Number |
| 070444 | Date-time-group or the transmission time of the filed flight plan message at 070444UTC |
| FF WMKKZQZX WMKKZRZX | |
| FF | Priority Indicator for the message category |
| WMKKZQZX | 8-letter addressee for Lumpur “Area Control Centre” |
| WMKKZRZX | 8-letter addressee for Lumpur “Approach Radar Office” |
| 070441 WMKKYOYX | |
| 070441 | Message Filling Time (in UTC) |
| WMKKYOYX | 8-letter Message Originator for KLIA Aeronautical Information Office |
| Field Type 3 - Message type, number and reference data | |
| (FPL | Filed Flight Plan Message |
| WMKKYOYX | Message Originator Indicator i.e. KLIA Aeronautical Information Service Office. |
| Field Type 7- Aircraft Identification and SSR mode and code | |
| -MAS370 | Aircraft identification Malaysian 370 |
| -Field Type 8 - Flight rules and type of flight | |
| -I | Instrument Flight Rules |
| -S | Status: - Scheduled Air Transport |
| Field Type 9 - Number and type of aircraft and wake turbulence category | |
| -B772/H | Boeing 777-200/wake turbulence category/Heavy |
| Field Type 10 - Equipment and capabilities | |
| (a) Radio communication, navigation and approach aid equipment and capabilities | |
| -SDFGHIJ3J5M1RWXY/LB1D1 | |
| -S | Equipped with: Standard COM/NAV/approach aid equipment for the route is carried and serviceable. Standard equipment is considered to be VHF RTF, VOR and ILS. |
| D | DME |
| F | ADF |
| G | GNSS |
| H | HF RTF |
| I | Inertial Navigation |
| J3 | CPDLC FANS 1/A VDL Mode 4 |
| J5 | CPDLC FANS 1/A SATCOM (INMARSAT) |
| M1 | ATC RTF SATCOM (INMARSAT) |
| R | PBN approved |
| W | RVSM approved |
| X | MNPS approved |
| Y | VHF with 8.33 kHz. channel spacing capability/ |
| (b) Surveillance equipment and capabilities | |
| L | Transponder Mode S, including aircraft identification, pressure-altitude, extended squitter (ADS-B) and enhanced surveillance capability |
| B1 | ADS-B with dedicated 1090 MHz ADS-B “out” capability |
| D1 ADS-C with FANS 1/A capabilities | |
| Field Type 13 - Departure aerodrome and time | |
| -WMKK1635 | -Departure aerodrome KLIA estimated off-block time 1635 UTC |
| Field Type 15 – Route | |
-N0470F290 DCT PIBOS R208 IKUKO/M081F330 R208 IGARI M765 BITOD/N0480F330 L637 TSN/N0480F350 W1 BMT W12 PCA G221 BUNTA/N0480F370 A1 IKELA/N0480F370 P901 IDOSI/N0480F390 DCT CH DCT BEKOL/K0900S1160 A461 YIN/K0890S1130 A461 VYK | |
|
-airspeed 470 knots requested flight level 290 - the flight will proceed direct to waypoint PIBOS joining Airway R208 and to waypoint IKUKO, thence the airspeed will be Mach 0.81 flight level 330 on Airway R208 to waypoint IGARI joining Airway M765 thence to waypoint BITOD. Thence the airspeed will be 480 knots and flight level 330 on Airways L637 and proceed to TSN (Tansonnhat), thence the airspeed will be 480 knots and flight level 350. Thence on Airway W1 to BMT (Buon Ma Thout), thence Airway W12 to PCA (Phu Cat), thence on Airway G221 to waypoint BUNTA, thence airspeed will be 480 knots and flight level 370, thence proceed via Airway A1 to waypoint IKELA, thence airspeed will be 480 knots and flight level 370, thence via Airway P901 to waypoint ISODI, airspeed 480 knots and flight level 390. Thence track direct to CH (Cheung Chau), and direct to waypoint BEKOL. Thence the airspeed will be 900 kilometres per hour and level 11600 meters on Airway A461, thence to YIN (Yingde). Thence, the airspeed will be 890 kilometres per hour and level 11300 metres on Airway A461 to VYK (Dawangzhuang). |
| Field Type 16 - Destination aerodrome and total estimated elapsed time, destination alternate aerodrome(s) | |
| -ZBAA0534 ZBTJ ZBSJ | |
| -Destination aerodrome ZBAA - Beijing Capital International Airport and total estimated elapsed time 5 hours and 34 minutes Destination alternate aerodrome(s) |
| Field Type 18 – Other information | |
| PBN/A1B1C1D1L1O1S2 DOF/140307 REG/9MMRO EET/WSJC0032 VVTS0042 ZJSA0210 VHHK0233 ZGZU0304 ZHWH0356 ZBPE0450 SEL/QRC RMK/ACASII EQUIPPED) | |
| PBN | Performance Based Navigation/Indication of RNAV and or RNP capabilities. |
| RNAV Specifications | |
| A1 | RNAV 10 (RNP 10) |
| B1 | RNAV 5 all permitted sensors |
| C1 | RNAV 2 all permitted sensors |
| D1 | RNAV 1 all permitted sensors |
| RNP Specifications | |
| L1 | RNP 4 |
| O1 | Basic RNP 1 all permitted sensors |
| S2 | RNP APCH with BARCO-VNAV |
| DOF/140307 | Date of flight/2014 March 7th |
| REG/9MMRO | Aircraft registration 9MMRO |
| EET | FIR boundary designators and accumulated estimated elapsed times from take-off to such FIR boundaries. Singapore FIR 32 minutes Ho Chi Minh FIR 42 minutes Sanya FIR 2 hours 10 minutes Hong Kong FIR 2 hours 33 minutes Guangzhou FIR 3 hours 4 minutes Wuhan FIR 3 hours 56 minutes Beijing FIR 4 hours 50 minutes |
| SEL/QRC | Selective Calling code/QRC |
| RMK/ACAS II EQUIPPED | Equipped with ACAS II) |
Figure 2.2B - Message Code of Filed Flight Plan of MH370 and Meaning
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
2.2.3 Filed Flight Plan of MH370
3. Transcript of the Flight Plan
The following is a text version of the Filed Flight Plan which was transcribed from the image in Figure 2.2A
The explanatory information in Fig 2.2B (above) has been transformed into Tooltips which help to de-code the text version of the flight plan. Mouse over any faint underlined text to reveal the meaning.
KLA297 070444
FF WMKKZQZX WMKKZRZX
070441 WMKKYOYX
(FPL-MAS370-IS
-B772/H-SDFGHIJ3J5M1RWXY/LB1D1
-WMKK1635
-N0470F290 DCT PIBOS R208 IKUKO/M081F330 R208 IGARI M765
BITOD/N0480F330 L637 TSN/N0480F350 W1 BMT W12 PCA G221
BUNTA/N0480F370 A1 IKELA/N0480F370 P901 IDOSI/N0480F390 DCT CH
DCT BEKOL/K0900S1160 A461 YIN/K0890S1130 A461 VYK
-ZBAA0534 ZBTJ ZBSJ
-PBN/A1B1C1D1L1O1S2 DOF/140307 REG/9MMRO EET/WSJC0032 VVTS0042
ZJSA0210 VHHK0233 ZGZU0304 ZHWH0356 ZPE0450 SEL/QRC RMK/ACASII
EQUIPPED)
Source: Transcribed from Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Figure 2.2A - Filed Flight Plan of MH370
4. Flight Plan - Filed Time
Flight MH370 departed KLIA at 00:42 MYT. The Flight Plan should be 'filed' - sent to the Air Traffic Control Centre - twelve hours prior to the scheduled flight (in accordance with ICAO Annex 10, Volume II. For MH370 that would be 12:42 MYT on Friday, 7 March 2014).
From the extract below, we see that the Flight Plan was sent at 071244 MYT. This format includes the date and is written as DD:HH:MM, so it means 12:44 MYT on Friday, 7 March 2014 - within two minutes of the requirement.
| No. | Time | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 0444 UTC [1244 MYT] |
Filed Flight Plan (FPL) of scheduled flight of MH370 transmitted at 070444 UTC [071244 MYT], about 12 hours earlier over the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN). | As required under Annex 10, Volume II. |
| Flight planned on ATS/RNAV Routes R208 IGARI M765 BITOD L637 TSN… ZBAA. | Filed Flight Plan (Figure 2.2A) |
Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Table 2.2A - Chronology of ATC Events before the Disappearance of Flight MH370