Safety Investigation Report 2018:1 Factual Information/1.9/1.9.4 ACARS/1
SAFETY INVESTIGATION REPORT MH370 (9M-MRO)
1) Aircraft Communications Addressing & Reporting System Traffic Log
ACARS traffic log messages sent/received to/from 9M-MRO between 1554:41 UTC, 07 March 2014 [2354:41 MYT, 07 March 2014] until 1815:25 UTC, 07 March 2014 [0215:25 MYT, 08 March 2014] is shown in Appendix 1.9A. Some key events are extracted and explained below.
At 1554:41 UTC, 07 March 2014, ACARS data link was fully established on SATCOM transmission and at 1556:08 UTC the flight information (FI) MH0370 and Aircraft Number (AN) 9M-MRO were keyed in by the crew as per Figure 1.9C (below).
Figure 1.9C - ACARS data link established SATCOM transmission
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Notice to Crew (NOTOC) was sent at 1606:15 UTC on 07 March 2014 [0006:15 MYT, 08 March 2014] direct to the aircraft printer and to be printed out by the crew.
NOTOC from the ground station to the cockpit stated the special loads of total 4,566 kg of mangosteens were carried on board. Details of the mangosteens were:
- 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.
(Refer to Section 1.18.2 for details of cargo carried).
Declaration of “there is no evidence that any damaged or leaking packages containing dangerous goods have been loaded on the aircraft at this station” was also written in the NOTOC message. Figure 1.9D (below) shows the snapshot of the ACARS NOTOC message.
Figure 1.9D - Snapshot of ACARS NOTOC message
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Aircraft final loadsheet was sent via ACARS at 1606:32 UTC, 07 March 2014 [0006:32 MYT, 08 March 2014] direct to the aircraft printer and to be printed out by the crew. Details of aircraft weight as stated in the final loadsheet are discussed in Section 1.6.5.
Figure 1.9E (below) shows the snapshot of the final loadsheet of this aircraft.
Figure 1.9E - Final Loadsheet
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Pilot acknowledgement and confirmation of the final loadsheet is shown in the ACARS snapshot in Figure 1.9F (below).
Figure 1.9F - Final Loadsheet Acknowledgement
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Data on aircraft APU is shown in Figure 1.9G (below). APU report generated by ACMS sent via ACARS at 1629:33 UTC stated the total APU cycles and hours were 15,699 cycles and 22,093 hours. APU hours for the previous flight was 4 hours.
Figure 1.9G - APU Report
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Engine take-off and climb reports transmitted via ACARS are explained in Section 1.6.4 para. 8). Engine parameter reports were transmitted to MAS and then to Rolls Royce for Engine Health Monitoring (EHM). Appendix 1.9A shows these data in coded form. The decoded data are shown in Appendix 1.6B.
The first (which was also the last) position report was transmitted via ACARS at 1707:29 UTC, 07 March 2014 [0107:29 MYT, 08 March 2014]. This was a collation of 6 reports generated at 5-minute intervals by the system at 1641:43 UTC, 1646:43 UTC, 1651:43 UTC, 1656:43 UTC, 1701:43 UTC and 1706:43 UTC, 07 March 2014. Parameters transmitted are as per Table 1.9A (below). The actual traffic log on the position report is reproduced in Figure 1.9H (below). Position reports were programmed to be transmitted every 30 minutes.
Note: Aircraft position information is also included in the EHM take-off and climb reports.
| Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) - UTC | 1641:43 | 1646:43 | 1651:43 | 1656:43 | 1701:43 | 1706:43 |
| Altitude (ALT) – Feet | 103 | 10,582 | 21,193 | 28,938 | 34,998 | 35,004 |
| Calibrated Airspeed (CAS) - Knots | 168.4 | 261.8 | 301.1 | 303.1 | 278.0 | 278.4 |
| MACH | 0.255 | 0.478 | 0.669 | 0.783 | 0.819 | 0.821 |
| Total Air Temperature (TAT) - °C | 31.1 | 23.4 | 11.6 | 2.6 | -13.4 | -13.1 |
| Static Air Temperature (SAT) - °C | 27.3 | 10.4 | -11.8 | -27.4 | -43.9 | -43.8 |
| Latitude (LAT) | 2.767 | 3.074 | 3.553 | 4.109 | 4.708 | 5.299 |
| Longitude (LONG) | 101.715 | 101.760 | 101.988 | 102.251 | 102.534 | 102.813 |
| Gross Weight (GWT) – lb | 492,520 | 489,200 | 486,240 | 483,840 | 481,880 | 480,600 |
| Total Remaining Fuel Weight (TOTFW) - kg | 49,200 | 47,800 | 46,500 | 45,400 | 44,500 | 43,800 |
| Wind Direction (WINDIR) | 140.3 | 107.6 | 91.8 | 58.4 | 69.6 | 70.0 |
| Wind Speed (WINDSP) | 1.25 | 9.38 | 19.50 | 10.63 | 17.38 | 17.13 |
| True Heading (THDG) | -33.5 | 27.3 | 27.8 | 26.0 | 26.8 | 26.7 |
| Note: Values in bold have been corrected using data from the original ACARS position report. | ||||||
Table 1.9A - ACARS Position Report
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
1.9 Communications
Figure 1.9H - Position Report
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
The first message sent to the aircraft cockpit printer from the MAS ODC was at 1803:23 UTC. The ACARS message requested the crew to contact the HCM ACC immediately. The incoming downlink message at 1803:24 UTC showed the message failed to reach the aircraft. Messages are auto transmitted every 2 minutes and the message was retransmitted until 1843:33 UTC but all messages failed to get a response. Automated downlink message by ACARS showed ‘failed’. Message sent to the aircraft cockpit printer and the Automated Downlink messages are shown in Figures 1.9I and 1.9J (below), respectively.
Figure 1.9I - Message from MH ODC
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018
Figure 1.9J - Automated Downlink Message
Source:
Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018