Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

== Timeline ==
{{main|Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}}
[[File:MH370 scheduled flight map with labels.png|thumb|upright=1.8<!-- large enough to be readable on an average computer screen...per MOS:IMAGESYNTAX "Images containing important detail (for example, a map, diagram, or chart) may need larger sizes than usual to make them readable." -->|Map showing the scheduled destination of the flight and the wider surrounding region]]
The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER operated by Malaysia Airlines, last made voice contact with ATC at 01:19&nbsp;[[Time in Malaysia|MYT]], 8&nbsp;March (17:19&nbsp;[[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], 7&nbsp;March) when it was over the South China Sea, less than an hour after takeoff. It disappeared from ATC radar screens at 01:22&nbsp;MYT, but was still tracked on military radar as it turned sharply away from its original northeastern course to head west and cross the Malay Peninsula, continuing that course until leaving the range of the military radar at 02:22 while over the Andaman Sea, {{convert|200|nmi|km mi|abbr=}} northwest of Penang Island in northwestern Malaysia.

[[Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370|The multinational search effort]] for the aircraft, which was to become the most expensive aviation search in history,<ref name="BBC new search 26 June 14">{{cite news |title=New missing Malaysian plane MH370 search area announced |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28031741 |access-date=15 November 2014 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=26 June 2014 |quote=The search for the missing airliner is already among most expensive in aviation history. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708021345/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28031741 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Reuters search most expensive">{{cite news|title=Search for MH370 to be most expensive in aviation history|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-airlines-costs-idUSBREA3709520140408|last=Wardell|first=Jane|location=Sydney|access-date=15 November 2014|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414120207/https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/08/us-malaysia-airlines-costs-idUSBREA3709520140408|archive-date=14 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="telegraph1" /> began in the [[Gulf of Thailand]] and the South China Sea,<ref name="SciSharp">{{cite web |last=Sharp |first=Tim |title=Facts About Malaysia Flight 370: Passengers, Crew & Aircraft |url=https://www.livescience.com/44248-facts-about-flight-370-passengers-crew-aircraft.html |website=livescience.com |publisher=Future plc |date=17 January 2017 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508034843/https://www.livescience.com/44248-facts-about-flight-370-passengers-crew-aircraft.html|archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> where the aircraft's signal was last detected on [[secondary surveillance radar]], and was soon extended to the [[Strait of Malacca]] and Andaman Sea. [[Analysis of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 satellite communications|Analysis of satellite communications]] between the aircraft and Inmarsat's satellite communications network concluded that the flight continued until at least 08:19 and flew south into the southern Indian Ocean, although the precise location cannot be determined. Australia assumed charge of the search on 17&nbsp;March, when the search effort began to emphasise the southern Indian Ocean. On 24&nbsp;March, the Malaysian government noted that the final location determined by the satellite communication was far from any possible landing sites, and concluded, "Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."<ref name="BBC_2014-03-24"/>

From October 2014 to January 2017, a comprehensive survey of {{convert|120,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} of sea floor about {{convert|1,800|km|mi nmi|abbr=on}}<!-- first occurrence of "kilometre" in article, so shouldn't be abbreviated, except everyone knows what km is --> southwest of [[Perth]], Western Australia, yielded no evidence of the aircraft. Several pieces of [[marine debris]] found on the coast of Africa and on Indian Ocean islands off the coast of Africa—the first of which was discovered on 29&nbsp;July 2015 on [[Réunion]]—have been confirmed as pieces of Flight&nbsp;370.<ref name=bbc2/><ref name="mh370.gov.my"/><ref name="MSN debris ID"/><ref name="ATSB Mozambique debris id"/> The bulk of the aircraft has not been located, prompting many theories about its disappearance.

On 22 January 2018, a search by private US marine exploration company Ocean Infinity began in the search zone around {{coord|-35.6|92.8|type:landmark_scale:10000000|name=CSIRO crash area}}, the most likely crash site according to the drift study published in 2017.<ref name="star23">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |title=Ship hired to find MH370 arrives in search zone |date=23 January 2018 |newspaper=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]] |access-date=23 January 2018 |agency=Reuters |location=Sydney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141402/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2018/01/23/ship-hired-to-find-mh370-arrives-in-search-zone/ |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |title=Norwegian vessel to arrive at MH370 search area this weekend |date=18 January 2018 |newspaper=[[New Straits Times]] |access-date=19 January 2018 |last=Shah |first=Aliza |location=Kuala Lumpur |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010703/https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/326400/norwegian-vessel-arrive-mh370-search-area-weekend |archive-date=7 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742|title=Malaysia says search resumes for missing flight MH370|work=[[Channel NewsAsia]]|date=23 January 2018|archive-date=24 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124070815/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/malaysia-says-search-resumes-for-missing-flight-mh370-9887742}}</ref> In a previous search attempt, Malaysia had established a [[Joint Investigation Team]] (JIT) to investigate the incident, working with foreign aviation authorities and experts. Malaysia released a final report concerning Flight&nbsp;370 in October 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brumfiel |first=Geoff |title=Final Report On MH370 Says Failure To Locate Airliner Is 'Almost Inconceivable' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/03/555330250/final-report-on-mh370-says-failure-to-locate-airliner-is-almost-inconceivable |publisher=NPR |date=3 October 2017 |access-date=31 March 2023 |archive-date=3 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403190342/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/03/555330250/final-report-on-mh370-says-failure-to-locate-airliner-is-almost-inconceivable |url-status=live }}</ref> Neither the crew nor the aircraft's communication systems relayed a distress signal, indications of bad weather, or technical problems before the aircraft vanished. Two passengers travelling on stolen passports were investigated, but eliminated as suspects. Malaysian police identified the captain as the prime suspect if human intervention was<!-- subjunctive --> the cause of the disappearance, after clearing all others on the flight of suspicion over possible motives. Power was lost to the aircraft's [[satellite data unit]] (SDU) at some point between 01:07 and 02:03; the SDU logged onto Inmarsat's satellite communication network at 02:25, which was three minutes after the aircraft had left the range of radar. Based on analysis of the satellite communications, the aircraft was postulated to have turned south after passing north of [[Sumatra]] and then to have flown for six hours with little deviation in its track, ending when its [[Fuel starvation|fuel was exhausted]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pasztor |first1=Andy |last2=Ostrower |first2=Jon |title=U.S. Investigators Suspect Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane Flew On for Hours |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=13 March 2014 |access-date=8 March 2023 |archive-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105005526/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579434653903086282 |url-status=live }}</ref>

With the loss of all 239 lives aboard, Flight&nbsp;370 is the second-deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 and the second-deadliest incident of Malaysia Airlines' history, second to Flight 17 in both categories. Malaysia Airlines was struggling financially, a problem that was exacerbated by a decrease of ticket sales after the disappearance of Flight&nbsp;370 and the downing of Flight&nbsp;17; the airline was renationalised by the end of 2014. The Malaysian government received significant criticism, especially from China, for failing to disclose information promptly during the early weeks of the search.<!-- supported by the "Aftermath" section ("Information sharing", "China" subsections), per WP:Lead only controversial statements in the lead need inline citations --> Flight&nbsp;370's disappearance brought to public attention the limits of aircraft tracking and flight recorders, including the limited battery life of underwater locator beacons (an issue that had been raised about four years earlier<!-- AF447 was lost almost five years earlier, but the recommendations were made during late 2009, not quite 4.5 years earlier, so four years is more appropriate --> following the loss of [[Air France Flight 447]], but had never been resolved). In response to Flight&nbsp;370's disappearance, the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] adopted new standards for aircraft position reporting over open ocean, extended recording time for [[cockpit voice recorder]]s, and, starting from 2020, new aircraft designs have been required to have a means of recovering the [[flight recorder]]s, or the information they contain, before they sink into the water.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-malaysia-airlines-flight-safety-20160304-story.html|title=How disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight is changing safety standards|date=4 March 2016|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=11 March 2022|archive-date=12 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312205603/https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-malaysia-airlines-flight-safety-20160304-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>