Time:0006:15 MYT
Narrative
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00:06:15 MYT, 8 March 2014
ACARS: Notice To Crew (Special Loads)
Malaysia Airlines used ACARS to send a list of the perishable cargo loaded on-board 9M-MRO as a SPECIAL LOAD NOTOC or Notice To Crew. The message was routed via the service provider for ACARS (SITA) then over the satellite communications service provided by Inmarsat. The message was sent direct to the (cockpit) aircraft printer and to be printed out by the (flight) crew. The automated response MAS-S (successful) at 0006:32 MYT indicates that the message was transmitted successfully. Information about this event is summarised in the table below.
The NOTOC stated the special loads of total 4,566 kg of mangosteen fruit 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. The message concluded with the declaration “There is no evidence that any damaged or leaking packages containing dangerous goods have been loaded on the aircraft at this station”.
| Source | Malaysia Airlines (ground staff) using ACARS |
| Destination | Cockpit printer on aircraft 9M-MRO |
| Message | NOTOC: Special Loads |
| Satellite | IOR |
| Flight ID | MH0370 |
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References
Item 1
- RefID:Factual Information March 2015/1.9.4.1
1.9.4.1 ACARS Traffic Log
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 mangosteen fruit 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).
Figure 1.9E: Snapshot of ACARS NOTOC message
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 1.9E above shows the snapshot of the ACARS NOTOC message).
Item 2
Transcript
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Note: The ACARS message response MAS-S (successful) which is time stamped 1606:32 UTC is included in this article because the original message and the automated responses are related: 989I, 989L, and 989S.
Notes
- This is the first 'uplink' message - from the Ground Earth Station (GES) to the Aircraft Earth Station (AES) - for flight MH370.
- The SATCOM would have used the Indian Ocean Region satellite - because that link was established at 23:59:57 MYT and would be expected to remain for the remainder of the flight.
- The 'special loads' only refers to mangosteens. This would be so that the flight crew could ensure that the temperature in the cargo bays listed (41 Left, 41 Right, 43 Left and 44 Right) would remain suitable for the fruit during flight. Each item is identified as PER or perishable cargo.
- There is no mention of lithium batteries in this notice: the shipment of lithium batteries was not deemed to be a Special Load. The Declaration therefore applied only to the cargo stations listed.
- This 'Special Load' sheet was followed by a Final Load Sheet at 00:06:32 MYT.
- The first response to the Special Load message was an automated ACARS message type MAS-L (link-ack). Although the word ack means acknowledge, this does not indicate that the message was received. (Later, there will be (link-ack) messages when the ACARS transmission has failed).
- The response at 16:06:32 UTC (0006:32 MYT) is the confirmation that the Special Load message was received at the aircraft. The message type is MAS-S (successful). This is an Incoming Downlink, meaning that it is sent from the aircraft and received by the Inmarsat GES. As it is an ACARS message it would be forwarded by Inmarsat to SITA and then to Malaysia Airlines.