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{{#seo:
|title_mode=replace
|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370
|keywords=Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines, Flight MH370, MH370, Boeing 777, 9M-MRO, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KLIA, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Beijing China, 8 March 2014, China Southern Airlines, History of the flight, Flight Crew, Captain Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah, Pilot-in-Command, Captain Shah, First Officer, Fariq Hamid, lost contact, timeline, IGARI, South China Sea, Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero, transponder, blip, position report, chaos, radar, KL ARCC, DETRESFA, passengers, passenger manifest, air turnback, Royal Malaysian Air Force, RMAF, military radar, Andaman Sea, cabin crew, Search for MH370, Satellite Communications, End of Flight
|description=Summary of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Saturday 8 March 2025 bound for Beijing. The aircraft never arrived.
}}
[[Category:SEO 2025]]
<h3 style="text-align:center;">Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370</h3>

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<h3>MH370 was a routine passenger flight between Malaysia and the People's Republic of China.</h3>
<p>The Boeing 777 departed [[KLIA|Kuala Lumpur International Airport]] (KLIA) at 12:41 AM (MYT) on {{Day 001}} and was expected to land at Beijing at 6:30 AM.</p>
<p>The same flight was also sold customers of China Southern Airlines as flight [[Codes and Abbreviations#CZ748|CZ748]].</p>
<p>Malaysia Airlines and China Southern Airlines were 'code share partners'.</p>
<br />
<h3>History of the Flight</h3>
<p>This page summarises key aspects of flight MH370, with links to more detail.</p>
<p>Official documents also provide a history of the flight. See extracts from:-</p>
<ol>
   <li>The [[The Operational Search for MH370/History of the flight|Operational Search for MH370]] (Australia).</li>
   <li>The [[Safety Investigation Report 2018:1 Factual Information/1.1|Safety Investigation Report]] (Malaysia), and</li>
   <li>See Also: [[Recommended Reading]] <i>Lost: Untold stories of Malaysia Airlines MH370</i> published by <i>The Straits Times</i></li>
</ol>
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<a href="/MH370 Flight Plan#FlightPath">
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span> {{RefID:WMC-IMG-021}}</p>
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<h3>Boeing 777 registered 9M-MRO</h3>
<p>The aircraft was a [[Malaysia Airlines/Aircraft Fleet/Boeing 777|Boeing 777]] operated by [[Malaysia Airlines]].</p>
<p>Boeing built the 777-200-ER aircraft in 2002 and, after it was received by Malaysia Airlines in May 2002, it was registered [[B777/9M-MRO|9M-MRO]].</p>
<p>Malaysia Airlines had a fleet of [[Malaysia Airlines/Aircraft Fleet/Boeing 777|Boeing 777]] aircraft.</p>
<p>Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 9M-MRO had been flown for over 53,000 hours with 7526 cycles - take-off and landings.</p>
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<a href="/B777/9M-MRO">
<img src="https://cache.mh370wiki.net/image/Commons/9M-MRO/WMC-IMG-017/256px-9M-MRO_Boeing_772_Malaysia_(7628570116).jpg" 
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     alt="Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 9M-MRO";
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:WMC-IMG-017}}</p>
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<h3>Flight Crew</h3>
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<h5>Pilot-in-Command</h5>
<p>Captain [[MH370 Crew/Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah|Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah]] was the Pilot-in-Command of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.</p>
<p>Captain Shah, age 53, had been with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) since 1981 and had flown 18000 hours on many different aircraft in the MAS Fleet. He had over 8600 hours on the Boeing 777.</p>
<p>Captain Shah was also a [[Pilot Training#TRI|Type Rating Instructor]] (TRI) and [[Pilot Training#TRE|Type Rating Examiner]] (TRE) for the Boeing 777.</p>
<p>On flight MH370 Captain Shah was supervising the First Officer, Fariq Hamid, who was not fully qualified.</p>
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<html><a href="/MH370 Crew/Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah">
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:ATWMY-019-2}}</p>
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<h5>First Officer</h5>
<p>The First Officer (co-pilot) was [[MH370 Crew/Fariq Bin Ab Hamid|Fariq Hamid]].</p>
<p>Fariq Hamid, age 27, joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007. He had over 2800 hours flying experience, mostly on [[Malaysia Airlines/Aircraft Fleet/Boeing 737|Boeing 737]] and [[Malaysia Airlines/Aircraft Fleet/Airbus A330|Airbus A330]] aircraft.</p>
<p>Fariq had only 39 hours experience on the Boeing 777. Flight MH370 was meant to be his last training flight before he was checked out on his next scheduled flight.</p>
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<html><a href="/MH370 Crew/Fariq Bin Ab Hamid">
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:MRPSG-018}}</p>
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<h3>'Lost Contact'</h3>
<p>At [[MH370News:2014/Day 001#MAS-MS1-001-ZH|7:30 AM]] on {{Day 001}} Malaysia Airlines announced that Air Traffic Controllers had lost contact with the aircraft.</p>
<p>The Timeline shows that the flight, between departure from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to a waypoint called [[Waypoints and MH370#IGARI|IGARI]] above the South China Sea, was normal.</p>
<ul class="ulNone" style="list-style:none;">
<li>At [[Timeline/KLIA-SCS/0107:56 MYT|0107:56 MYT]] Captain Shah confirmed that the aircraft was maintaining an altitude of 35,000 feet.</li>
<li>At [[Timeline/KLIA-SCS/0119:26 MYT|0119:26 MYT]] KLIA Air Traffic Control instructed MH370 to contact Ho Chi Minh ATC by VHF radio on the frequency 120.9 MHz.</li>
<li>At [[Timeline/KLIA-SCS/0119:30 MYT|0119:30 MYT]] Captain Shah replied, saying 'Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero' without repeating the instruction to confirm it was understood.</li>
</ul>
<p>From then nothing was 'normal'...</p>
<ul class="ulNone" style="list-style:none;">
<li>Neither Captain Shah nor First Officer Hamid contacted Vietnamese Air Traffic Control as instructed by the Malaysian air traffic controllers.</li>
<li>There was no distress signal.</li>
<li>A Transponder which would have provided data to civilian Secondary Radar did not respond, so the aircraft '[[Timeline/Response/ATC|blip]]' dropped off the air traffic controller's radar screens.</li>
<li>A Position Report should have been sent automatically at 1:37 AM but it was never received. The previous [[Communications:9M-MRO Position Report|Position Report]] was sent at [[Timeline/KLIA-SCS/0107:29 MYT|0107:29 MYT]] by a system called ACARS, via a satellite communications link between the aircraft and a satellite above the Indian Ocean, operated by [[INMARSAT|Inmarsat]].</li>
</ul>
<p>In summary, the Transponder, ACARS and SATCOM were either disabled by an on-board incident or deliberately switched off. And the VHF radios had also failed or were deliberately not used.</p>
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<p>MAS-F (<b>failed</b>)</p>

<p>QU DPCCAMH<br />
.QXSXMXS 071806<br />
MAS<br />
AN 9M-MRO/FI MH0370/MA 991F<br />
- UP INTERCEPT<br /><b>AIRCRAFT NOT LOGGED ON</b> 234<br />
QU QXSXMXS<br />
.DPCCAMH 071803<br />
AGM<br />
AN 9M-MRO/FI MH0370/MA 991I<br />
-<br />
========================<br />
MALAYSIA AIRLINES - ODC <br />
=========================<br />
URGET REQUEST<br />
<br />
PLS CONTACT</p>
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<p>[[Timeline/Response/MAS/0203:23 MYT|Extract from a failed ACARS message]]</p>
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<h3>Chaos </h3>
<p>When flight MH370 did not contact Ho Chi Minh Air Traffic Control and did not appear on their radar, Vietnamese air traffic controllers struggled to communicate effectively with the air traffic controllers in Malaysia.</p>
<ul class="ulNone" style="list-style:none;">
   <li>The aircraft was missing but KLIA ATC initially acted as though that was not their problem as the aircraft would have been in Vietnamese airspace, and</li>
   <li>A shift change at KLIA ATC meant a loss of continuity with air traffic controllers.</li>
   <li>Malaysia Airlines also provided misleading information from their aircraft tracking system.</li>
</ul>
<p>These issues were eventually resolved. Malaysia Airlines declared a [[Timeline/Response/MAS/0230 MYT|Code Red]] at about 3 am. The Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) was activated at [[Timeline/Response/KL ARCC/0530:00 MYT|5:30 AM]].</p>
<p>The KL ARCC issued a DETRESFA message at [[Timeline/Response/KL ARCC/0632 MYT|6:32 AM]].</p>
<ul class="ulNone" style="list-style:none;">
   <li>At [[Timeline/Response/KL ARCC/1030 MYT|10:30 AM]] Singapore despatched a [[Singapore|Hercules C-130 aircraft]] to a search area in the south China Sea.</li>
   <li>At [[Timeline/Response/KL ARCC/1130 MYT|11:30 AM]] Malaysia sent a [[Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency|Bombardier CL415]] to the search area.</li>
</ul>
<p>There was no sign of the aircraft. Meanwhile in Beijing, relatives and friends of passengers were waiting for news.</p>
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<a href="/Communications:KL ARCC DETRESFA Message">
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><b>DETRESFA Message</b> </p>
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<h3>Passengers</h3>
<p>The Boeing 777 was carrying [[MH370 Passengers|227 passengers]], including two infants..</p>
<p>The passengers were from [[China]] (153), [[Malaysia]] (38), [[Indonesia]] (7), [[Australia]] (6), [[India]] (5), the [[USA]] (3), [[Canada]] (2), [[Iran]] (2), [[New Zealand]] (2), [[Netherlands|Holland]] (1), [[Russia]] (1), and [[Chinese Taipei]] (Taiwan) (1).</p>
<p>Before releasing an official Passenger Manifest, Malaysia Airlines tried to contact next-of-kin. However, an unofficial passenger manifest was [[MH370 Passengers/Manifests/ZBAA|circulated in Beijing]].</p>
<p>The official [[MH370 Passengers/Manifests|Passenger Manifests]] list one passenger from [[Austria]] and another from [[Italy]] but those two people were not on the aircraft. Their passports had been stolen and had been obtained by the two Iranians, [[Passenger:MEHRDAD Pouria Nour Mohammad|Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad]] age 19 and [[Passenger:MOHAMMADREZA Delavar Seyed|Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza]] age 30.</p>
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<a href="/MH370 Passengers/Manifests/8 March 2014">
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<h3>Air Turnback </h3>
<p>At [[Timeline/Response/KL ARCC/2230 MYT|10:30 PM]] on {{Day 001}} the [[Royal Malaysian Air Force]] (RMAF) informed the KL ARCC of a possible Air Turn Back by MH370.</p>
<p>Military radar had tracked an aircraft crossing peninsular Malaysia from MH370's last known position to the Straits of Malacca then heading north west until radar contact was lost.</p>
<p>The search for MH370 extended to the area west of Malaysia and the Andaman Sea.</p>
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<a href="/Timeline/SCS-SoM" target="_blank">
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:WMC-IMG-023}}</p>
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<h3>Cabin Crew</h3>
<p>The ten [[MH370 Crew|Cabin Crew]] members on flight MH370, six males and four females, were all Malaysian, aged from 34 through to 55. </p>
<p>All cabin crew were experienced, all had multiple aircraft aircraft ratings, and all of their training was current.</p>
<p>Whatever happened on-board flight MH370, and despite all their maturity and training, the Cabin Crew were unable to change the outcome.</p>
<p>The image on the right was posted on Twitter with the title <i>Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Crew</i>.</p>
<p>The sad message <i>Please come back</i> has not been fulfilled.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:TSTSG-003}}</p>
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<h3>The Search for MH370</h3>
<p>The search for MH370 began as a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission east of Malaysia and was extended to areas west of Malaysia based on military radar observations.</p>
<p>On 15 March 2014 the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, announced that SAR operations east and west of Malaysia would be suspended. The search focus shifted to a Northern Corridor and a Southern Corridor, based on data provided by the satellite company Inmarsat.</p>
<p>Inmarsat updated their advice on 24th March, confirming MH370 flew south. The search in the southern Indian Ocean continued until 28 April 2014. No debris was recovered.</p>
<p>Some of the major headlines from this period are [[MH370 News Headline|here]]. See also the [[Timeline/Search|Search Timeline]].</p>
<p>The search for MH370 was truly International. The image to the right shows personnel (and aircraft) involved the search for MH370, at [[Department of Defence (Australia)/RAAF Base Pearce|RAAF Base Pearce]], Western Australia.</p>
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<html><img src="https://cache.mh370wiki.net/image/DoD/20140429raaf8227810_0073.jpg" 
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<p style="text-align: center; padding-left:-1vw;"><span class="suptxt">Source: </span>{{RefID:DODAU-IMG-053}}</p>
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<h3>Satellite Communications and End of Flight</h3>
<p>Malaysia Airlines contracted the British company [[INMARSAT]] to provide satellite communication services to their aircraft fleet.</p>
<p>After MH370 went missing, INMARSAT reviewed the data communication logs and realised that the SATCOM system on MH370 tried to log on at [[Timeline/ANDS-NIO/0225:27 MYT|0225:27 MYT]]. This was followed by other communications between the aircraft and the satellite ground station in Perth, Western Australia. The last 'handshake' occurred at [[Timeline/NIO-SIO/0819:29 MYT|0819:29 MYT]] - nearly two hours after the aircraft had been expected to arrrive in Beijing!</p>
<p>There was no meaningful data in these communications, and no position information. But metadata analysis by Inmarsat indicated that the aircraft could have been within one of two 'corridors' a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, or a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian ocean. This news was announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak on [[MH370News:2014/Day 008|{{Day 008}}]] and the search was extended to the Southern Indian Ocean.</p>
<p>In an update on [[MH370News:2014/Day 017|{{Day 017}}]] Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed that, according to the satellite data, "flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;">Example Flight Path (Inmarsat)</p>
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<h3>Theme</h3>
<p>This website is built using a platform called MediaWiki - the same platform is used by Wikipedia - but this website looks radically different.</p>
<p>The colour scheme has been inspired by the flight deck (cockpit) of the Boeing 777 which was lost on flight MH370.</p>
<div style="float: right; width: 40%; margin-left: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;">
<html><a href="/B777/9M-MRO/Flight Deck">
<img src="https://cache.mh370wiki.net/image/Commons/Boeing_777-2H6-ER,_Malaysia_Airlines_AN0561319.jpg" 
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<p style="text-align: center;"><b>[[B777/9M-MRO/Flight Deck|Click image to enlarge]]</b></p>
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<p>The viewing area of the page, where you are reading this, has been styled to resemble one of the LCD screens facing the pilots on the flight deck. Instead of the LCD black background, a paper-white background is used for easy reading. A bright white is used behind quoted content.</p>
<p>The exception is that pages for each passenger retains the black LCD-style with white text and orange used for links. Malaysia Airlines purchased their first Boeing 777 aircraft in 1996. In that decade the 'glass cockpit' with LCD screen was a revolutionary upgrade over instruments and dials. The goal here is to retain a sense of the past. Passenger photographs are tinted sepia. Overall, these pages appear subdued or solemn.</p>
<p>Colours used by navigation buttons in the Main Menu, and the sub-menus at the top of some sections, are based on the actual switches on the flight deck which are typically dark grey, and rotary knobs are cream.</p>
<p>The overall effect of this design may seem dark, less than modern; functional but not attractive. After reading this explanation you now know why...</p>
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