MH370 report says plane in 'increasing
rate of descent' when it vanished
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[November 02, 2016]
By Jonathan Barrett and Colin Packham
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A report into missing
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 by the Australian safety investigator
leading the search supports its view that the aircraft descended rapidly
after running out of fuel with no human intervention, the agency said on
Wednesday.
Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala
Lumpur with 239 passengers and crew onboard in one of the world's
greatest aviation mysteries.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report released on
Wednesday said analysis of wing flap debris showed the aircraft was not
configured for a landing.
It also said satellite communications from the aircraft were consistent
with it being in a "high and increasing rate of descent" when it
vanished, colloquially known as a death dive.
The 28-page report contains new end-of-flight and drift simulations that
suggests experts believe the current search area is the most likely to
contain the crash site. It coincides with the start of a three-day
meeting of international experts to develop potential plans to continue
the search.
ATSB search director Peter Foley told media on Wednesday that analysis
of a wing flap had "enhanced certainty" at what had happened.
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"It was probably in a non-extended position which means the aircraft
wasn’t configured for a landing or a ditching," said Foley, referring to
the practice of extending wing flaps to allow an aircraft to travel
safely at slower speeds in preparation for a landing.
"You can draw your own conclusions as to whether that means someone was
in control or not."
The question of whether there was human intervention during the descent
is crucial because if the aircraft glided, the debris field could be
outside the 120,000 sq km (46,330 sq mile) search zone which has almost
been exhausted.
Authorities assume the plane had no "inputs" during its final descent,
meaning there was no pilot or no conscious pilot. They believe it was on
auto-pilot and spiraled when it ran out of fuel.
But the engineering group leading the search, Fugro, has previously
raised the prospect someone could have glided the aircraft to explain
why it hasn't been found.
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![](../images/110216PICS/news_r29.jpg)
Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370 comfort a crying woman as they gather to pray at
Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing September 8, 2014, on the
six-month anniversary of the disappearance of the plane. REUTERS/Kim
Kyung-Hoon
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Jason Middleton, head of aviation at the University of New South
Wales, said the wing flap analysis was of limited benefit.
"It meant the pilot was not alert, awake or planning a safe landing
- that's all it means," Middleton told Reuters.
He said the new drift simulations only showed the aircraft was "in
that generic part of the ocean" that is being searched and did not
help define a new search area in the Indian Ocean.
In a separate development, a lawyer for the families of four
Australian victims told Reuters that Malaysia Airlines had agreed to
release information about the missing plane as part of a
compensation case.
John Dawson, a partner at Carneys Lawyers, said he had been advised
he would receive the information by the end of the month. The
information is to include the most recent medical certificates held
by the flight crew.
(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett and Colin Packham. Writing by Jane
Wardell.; Editing by Michael Perry and Nick Macfie)
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