Flight Deck Decisions
Flight Deck Decisions
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which went missing on Saturday, 8 March 2014 was deliberately diverted from the intended flight path to Beijing, was flown westward across peninsula Malaysia and subsequently made several turns before running out of fuel over the southern Indian Ocean.
At no time was the aircraft under remote control.
Therefore, each change of direction was a result of an action by a person on the flight deck. No-one but the pilots, Captain Zaharie Shah (Pilot-in-Command) or Fariq Hamid (First Officer) is likely to have been in control of the aircraft. Each of the actions by either of the Pilots was preceded by a decision, consciously or as a prompt reaction to an event or situation.
Although the question Why may never be answered, an analysis of the decisions may prove useful.
Each of the Flight Deck Decisions is discussed or analysed in sub-pages based on the approximate location of where a change of direction occurred. For example, the most obvious decision was the air turn back initiated in the vicinity of waypoint IGARI above the South China Sea.
The Timeline for Flight MH370 has been segmented to reflect these same decision points.
| Description | Location |
| When MH370 was over the South China Sea, in the vicinity of waypoint IGARI and the Transfer of Control Point between KL ACC and HCM ACC, Air Traffic Control instructed MH370 to contact Ho Chi Minh air traffic control. Instead, MH370 made a sharp left turn and headed back toward Malaysia. | |
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| After crossing peninsula Malaysia to the Straits of Malacca, MH370 was observed by military radar to be in the vicinity of Penang Island when the aircraft changed direction again, heading north west toward the Andaman Sea. | |
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| Military tracked MH370 flying north west over the Andaman Sea until it was out of range. Somewhere north of Sumatra the aircraft turned south towards the Indian Ocean. | |
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| Maps which suggest a possible flight path of MH370 toward the southern Indian Ocean are based on the probable location of the aircraft at the time of several 'handshakes' when the onboard satellite data unit (SDU) connected via an Inmarsat satellite. However, the North Indian Ocean may also be considered a decision point - like a 'point of no return' where to continue south would mean a total loss of the aircraft but a change of course could lead to a safe landing or a better chance of an ocean rescue. |
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| At each location where a decision was made to change course of the aircraft, the direction chosen is the least rational. But on several occasions the turn made was tight and the aircraft presented an obvious target for radar. | |