Inmarsat Report Casts Further Doubts on MH370 Search

Inmarsat, a part of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau-coordinated search efforts, has published an article, ‘The Search for MH370’, in The Journal of Navigation. The article contains some of the flight path reconstruction analysis, and concludes that “significant uncertainty” remains about the final location of the Boeing 777. 

Inmarsat Report Casts Further Doubts on MH370 Search

The report stated that the aircraft could have flown in a relatively straight line travelling as far north as Kazakhstan or deep into the southern Indian Ocean, but also that it could have flown around in circles and ended up almost anywhere on the final arc.

“The aircraft remained operational for at least seven hours after the loss of contact as the satellite terminal continued to transmit messages during this period,” the report said.

In the latest ATSB search update, the latest analysis indicates that the underwater search should be prioritised further south within the wide search area for the next phase of the search.

The update also reveals the first underwater search vessel GO Phoenix continues to conduct underwater search operations and its expected to arrive for first port call at Fremantle on October 21 to be resupplied.

Fugro Discovery is also due to reach its designated search site on October 22, after several days of sea trials and equipment testing.


Tim-ClarkRelated: MH370 Might Not Be in Indian Ocean, Emirates Airlines Head Says

The boss of a major airline believes missing flight MH370 may not have crashed in the Indian Ocean, and that probably control was taken of that airplane.

In an Interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Emirates Airlines head Tim Clark has stated he is “totally dissatisfied” with results of the investigation so far and that the mystery of vanishing airplane raises a “degree of suspicion”.


The Inmarsat’s analysis shows that MH370 changed course shortly after it passed the Northern tip of Sumatra and travelled in a southerly direction until it ran out of fuel in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia.

“A potential flight path has been reconstructed that is consistent with the satellite data, but it is stressed that the sensitivity of the reconstructed flight path to frequency errors is such that there remains significant uncertainty in the final location,” the report concluded.

Subsea World News Staff, October 15, 2014