Factual Information 2015:1.1 History of the Flight/1.1.3/a
a) Malaysia Military Radar
The Military data provided more extensive details of what was termed as “Air Turn Back”.
At 1721:13 UTC (0121:13 MYT) the Military radar showed the radar return of MH370 turning right but almost immediately making a constant left turn to a South Westerly direction.
At 1730:35 UTC (0130:35 MYT) to 1735 UTC (0135 MYT) the radar return was on heading 231 magnetic (M), ground speed of 496 knots (kt.) and registered height of 35,700 ft.
At 1736 UTC (0136 MYT) to 1736:40 UTC (0136:40 MYT) heading was 237M, ground speed fluctuation between 494 and 525 kt. and height fluctuation between 31,100 and 33,000 ft.
At 1739:59 UTC (0139:59 MYT) heading was 244M, ground speed 529 kt. and height at 32,800 ft.
At 1752:35 UTC (0152:35 MYT) radar return was observed to be slightly south of Penang Island.
It was noted by the Investigation Team that the position and heading of the radar return from both Civilian and Military Radar, suggested that it was from the same target.
After the last radar return disappeared from KL ATCC Primary Radar at 1752:35 UTC (0152:35 MYT), the Military Radar continued to track this radar return as it headed towards Pulau Perak, a small island over the Straits of Malacca. The time registered over Pulau Perak was 1802:59 UTC (0202:59).
The tracking by the Military continued as the radar return was observed to be heading towards waypoint MEKAR, a waypoint on Airways N571 when it disappeared abruptly at 1822:12 UTC (0222:12 MYT),10 nautical miles (Nm) after waypoint MEKAR.