MH370 Timeline - Departure To Loss Of Contact/0042 MYT

00:42 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014

This page provides details for events related to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which occurred at or near the time of 00:42 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014.
Note: Malaysian Time (MYT) is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) plus 8 hours. Return to Timeline

Summary

On Saturday, 8 March 2014 Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 departed from Runway 32 Right, KL International Airport (KLIA) at 00:42 MYT.

The Boeing 777-200ER, registered as 9M-MRO carried a total of 239 persons on board (227 passengers and 12 crew). The aircraft was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

ACARS sent an OOOI B777 OFF Report at 00:41:43 MYT, triggered by a switch on the nose wheel asssembly at take-off. A position report was also generated at this time.

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Event Details

1. Saturday, March 08, 07:30 AM MYT +0800 Media Statement - MH370 Incident released at 7.24am

   Sepang, 8 March 2014: Malaysia Airlines confirms that flight MH370 has lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am, today (8 March 2014).

   Flight MH370, operated on the B777-200 aircraft, departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am on 8 March 2014. MH370 was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day. The flight was carrying a total number of 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members.

2. Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 1.1 HISTORY OF THE FLIGHT

   On 07 March 2014 at 1642 UTC [0042 MYT, 08 March 2014], Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 Beijing-bound international scheduled passenger flight departed from Runway 32 Right, KL International Airport (KLIA) with a total of 239 persons on board (227 passengers and 12 crew). The aircraft was a Boeing 777-200ER, registered as 9M-MRO.

3. Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 Appendix 1.9A

   
   

   Time 16:41:43	Trans 46818633	Direction Incoming Downlink	AN 9M-MRO	FI MH0370	Medium IOR2	Machine MHKULKJACM001	Raw DTG 071641	SMI M12	Application RELAY
   Status Normal		Message Type OOOI B777 OFF Report			Source/Destination QXSXMXS

   QU DPCCAMH
   .QXSXMXS 071641
   M12
   FI MH0370/AN 9M-MRO
   DT QXT IOR2 071641 M02A
   - OFF01MAS370 /--071641WMKKZBAA
   1641 492

   
   

   Note: Additional ACARS messages relating to the OOOI Off-the-ground event are included in the ACARS Traffic Log for MH370 (9M-MRO).

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Notes

Take-Off and Departure seem to be different, but obviously related, events:-

1. ACARS sent the OOOI B777 OFF Report at 16:41:43 UTC Friday, 7 March 2014 or 00:41:43 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014.
   
   • An OOOI Off-the-ground event is triggered by take-off with the nose gear squat switch extended.
     ACARS OOOI messages were sent over a satellite communications link via an Inmarsat IOR satellite. The B777 OFF Report was sent to multiple recipients, including Malaysia Airlines.
   • A position report was also generated at 00:41:43 MYT. This was the first of six position reports generated at five-minute intervals before being sent as a Position Report by ACARS at 01:07:29 MYT.
   • Malaysia Airlines stated the departure time as 12.41am by which they meant 00:41 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014, or 16:41 UTC Friday, 7 March 2014.
     The time quoted could have been rounded down from the B777 OFF Report at 00:41:43 MYT.
2. The Departure Message for MH370 has the official departure time at 1642 UTC 14-03-07 meaning Friday, 7 March 2014. That is 00:42 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014.
   As the Departure Message was not sent by ACARS, it is likely to be the same as the 'normal beginning-of-flight message' sent by the IFE SMS e-mail application after take-off, at 1642:04 UTC (00:42:04 MYT Saturday, 8 March 2014).

3. Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 2.5.1 Summary of Key Observations of the SATCOM Ground Station Logs

   After take-off, the In-Flight Entertainment System (IFE) Short Messaging System (SMS) e-mail application sent a normal beginning of flight message at 1642 (containing the correct Airborne Earth Station (AES ID), Flight ID “MAS370”, origin airport “WMKK”, and destination airport “ZBAA”), indicating that the IFE was receiving the valid Flight ID, origin airport and destination airport from Airplane Integrated Management System (AIMS) and the ICAO (AES) ID from the Satellite Data Unit (SDU) at this time.

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Documents and Related Articles

1. Departure Message of MH370

   Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 2.2.4 Departure Message of MH370

   
   

   MH370: Departure Message

   1. Background

   The Departure Message was sent from the Boeing 777 registered 9M-MRO when flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:42 MYT on Saturday, 8 March 2014.

   A copy of the message is included in the Safety Investigation Report Section 2.2.4 Departure Message of MH370, followed by an explanation of the message code, as replicated below.

   
   

   2. Departure Message as an Image

   

   Figure 2.2C - Departure Message of MH370

   Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 2.2.4 Departure Message of MH370

   
   

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   3. Departure Message Transcript

   The main body of the message has been transcribed below:-

   (DEP-MAS370/A2157 -WMKK1642-ZBAA-DOF/140307)

   The message is decoded below:-

   
   

   4. Message Codes and Meaning

   1) Message Code of Departure Message of MH370 and Meaning

   Message Code	Meaning
   (DEP	(Departure
   -MAS370/A2157	-Aircraft identification MH370/Secondary Surveillance Radar Code A2157
   -WMKK1642	-KLIA1642 (UTC)
   -ZBAA	-destination aerodrome: Beijing/Capital
   -DOF140307)	-Date of flight 2014March07)

   Figure 2.2D - Message Code of Departure Message of MH370 and Meaning

   Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 2.2.4 Departure Message of MH370

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Malaysian Time (MYT) is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) + 8 hours

Malaysia Airline Systems

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Boeing 777-200 Extended Range

Aircraft Registration Number for the Boeing 777 used for Flight MH370. More Info

Aircraft Communication and Reporting System

Out, Off, On, In

Boeing 777 aircraft

Coordinated Universal Time

satellite communication from the aircraft to the ground earth station

Aircraft Number

Flight ID

Flight ID MH370

Inmarsat geostationary satellite above the Indian Ocean

Unique hardware (machine) ID

Date and Time (UTC) in DD/HH/MM format

Date and Time (UTC) in DD/HH/MM format

Standard Message Identifier

An identifier for SITA, a service provider for ACARS messages.

An identifier for SITA, a service provider for ACARS messages.

Valid Flight ID: MH370

Aircraft Number (Registration) 9M-MRO

ACARS Off the ground event (for MAS370/MH370) - take-off with the nose gear squat switch extended.

On 7 March at 16:41 (UTC) From Kuala Lumpur International Airport (WMKK) to Beijing International Airport (ZBAA)

In Flight Entertainment system

Short Message Service, a text message

Airborne Earth Station

Identification

Flight Identifier, for example MH370

Malaysia Airline Systems flight MH370

Aircraft identification Malaysian 370

ICAO 4-letter location indicator for Kuala Lumpur International Airport

ICAO 4-letter location indicator for Beijing Capital International Airport (formerly Peking)

Airplane Information Management System

International Civil Aviation Organisation

Satellite Data Unit

The Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 was released by the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370 in July 2018. More Info

Departure

Aircraft identification MH370 and Secondary Surveillance Radar Code A2157

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 1642 (UTC)

Date of Flight 2014 March 7

SSR transponder code A2157 allocated to Flight MH370

Date of Flight 2014 March 07 (UTC)