Still Flying After Seven Hours

Retrieving a submerged 'black box' Still flying after seven hours If the plane crashed in the ocean, searchers would only be able to hear the sonic ping emitted by a homing beacon on the black box – activated when submerged in water – from 14,000 feet away or less. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday that a missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was steered off course WATER DEPTH (in feet) Search ship PRESSURE after its communications systems were intentionally disabled and that it could have flown for seven additional hours. 14.7 PSI (in pounds O The Boeing 3 The last air-traffic- 4 It then turned sharply 5 From there, the 2 Flight MH370 reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 6 The plane was 300 ft. below sea level, per square plane possibly flew north, registering on a system used by commercial flights inside Thai airspace. possibly last tracked heading northwest 777-200 airliner control confirmed westward and climbed 148 pounds per square inch inch) Known took off from Kuala position of MH370 was at 35,000 feet about to 45,000 feet before Maximum depth of the Lumpur on March feet at 1:01 a.m. 1,000 positions returning to 29,500 feet, U.S. officials said. It was picked up by Malaysian military radar west of the Malay Peninsula. at 2:15 a.m. That route South China Sea at the over water is used by carriers to fly toward Europe. 8 at 12:41 a.m. over Taman Negara, a national park, heading north over the Malay Peninsula. 90 miles off the east last known position of (refer to with 239 people on board. coast of the Malay Flight MH370. 780 PSI Peninsula. The time the map was 1:21 a.m. 2,000 sequence at left) Water preassure ANDAMAN BURMA CAMBODIA 200 Andaman Gulf of Thailand ISLANDS o Ho Chi Minh City increases by 14.7 psi MILES (INDIA) Sea 3,000 νIETNAM South China Sea PHILIPPINES for every 33 feet 6. an object sinks. - 1559 PSI RADAR RANGE - -- Search efforts At 14,000 feet (the THAILAND MALAYSIA have been terminated MALAYSIA Sulu 4,000 Sea maximum depth AIR TRAFFIC in the Gulf of Thailand CONTROL from which a black and the South China Sea, where the plane first disappeared from AREA box beacon can be Bandar Seri 5,000 Strait of Malacca Kota O Penang Baru heard), the pressure Banda Aceh o Begawan BRUNEI civilian radar. 2339 PSI for every square inch Indian MALAYSI A Ocean is more than 6,000 Kuala 6,000 Lumpur pounds and more Elevation (feet above sea level) MALAYSIA AIR TRAFFIC MALAYSLA than 400 times CONTROL 9,850 ft. SUMATRA greater than the Depth (below sea level) AREA 8,200 7,000 3118 PSI SINGAPORE pressure at sea level. 6,550 4,900 The black box can -330 ft. INDONESIA 3,300 -1,640 BORNEO withstand deep-sea 2,600 -3,280 8,000 1,950 -6,560 pressure up to MALAYSIA RADAR RANGE MALAYSIA RADAR RANGE 1,300 -9,840 INDONESIA 20,000 feet. SULAWESI 650 -13,120 Java Sea 3898 PSI 9,000 New data O A satellite more than 22,000 miles above the Indian Ocean picked up a signal from the plane at 8:11 a.m. on March 8, Malaysia's prime minister said Saturday. Although the satellite could not provide the plane's exact changes 9,912 ft., 4,419 psi 10,000 position, its route or the direction in which it was headed, the information could be used to plot two arcs where Maximum depth of the search the plane could have been located at 8:11 a.m. South China Sea. ESTIMATED RANGE OF A 777-200 TRAVELING IN A STRAIGHT LINE FOR SEVEN 4677 PSI 11,000 Water depth (feet) Sea level RUSSIA -330 ft. 12,990 ft., 5,747 psi 12,000 -1,640 KAZAKHSTAN Average depth 5457 PSI of the Indian Ocean. -3,280 If MH370 turned north, it would have -6,560 UZBEK. N40° CHINA TURKMEN. flown through a region where air- -9,840 KYRGYZ. 13,100 ft., 6,031 psi The black box of Air France Flight 447 was found nearly two years after crash. N40° space is heavily monitored: Beijing NORTH -13,120 ТАЛК. KOREA JAPAN Burma, Pakistan, India, IRAN AFGHAN. China and Afghanistan, SOUTH KOREA N30° where the United 14,000 ft., 6,236 psi CHINA N30° QATAR PAKISTAN States' Bagram East China Sea North SAUDI ARABIA BHUTAN NEPAL U.A.E. air base is The underwater locator beacon on the flight data recorder, Pacifi c commonly known as the black box, sends out ultrasound pulses at OMAN located. Осеап N20° INDIA an interval of once every second for 30 days. This device transmits TAIWAN N20° VIET. sound that can be heard from depths no greater than 14,000 feet. Arabian Sea BURMA ? MARIANA ISL. YEMEN BANGLADESH LAOS South China Sea INSIDE A SOLID-STATE DIGITAL VOICE AND DATA RECORDER Bay THAILAND Data recorded Crash survivability Bengal PHILIPPINES GUAM N10° CAMB. 25 hours of flight data The memory board of the recorder N10° Andaman Sea 2 hours of audio from cockpit is protected by a metallic casing ŚRI LANKA MICRONESIA 2 hours of digital messages capable of withstanding impacts SOMALIA BRUNEI PALAU LAST equivalent to 3,400 times the force MALDIVES RADAR EQUATOR MALAYSIA Sulu Sea EQUATOR of gravity and temperatures up to CONTACT 0° 0° 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. SINGAPORE Position INDONESIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA Solomon of satellite INDONESIA Thermal insulation Java Sea (22,300 miles o Diego Garcia Banda Sea over the Indian Sea Power Flash memorY EAST TIMOR Arafura Sea Honeywell India n S10° Ocean) S10° supply REC DO NOT OPEN Осеап Coral Sea MAURITIUS If MH370 turned south, it could have S20° S20° spent nearly all its flight time in the REUNION radar- free zone over the Indian AUSTRALIA Ocean as it headed toward an 20 inches area west of Perth, Australia. Perth S30° S30° Interface and controller board Great Australian Bight Records more than 3,000 parameters such as air S40° S40° speed, altitude, engine performance, Underwater and position of wing flaps and rudders. locator beacon Communication antennas Tracking Flight MH370 Sources: Honeywell, NOAA, Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia and news reports After normal channels failed, other methods of automatic communications have emerged that may help ||| BONNIE BERKOWITZ, ALBERTO .......... ............. CUADRA, RICHARD JOHNSON, investigators locate the missing plane. LARIS KARKLIS, TODD LINDEMAN AND GENE THORP/ THE WASHINGTON POST Emergency locator transmiters are normally carried in the tail of the aircraft. Transponder Radio Satellite ACARS Emergency locator Military radar Some planes carry equipment transmitter This communications system sends data on how a plane is Transponders send a plane's Voice transmission ended about This "primary radar"detects identification and location to 26 minutes after takeoff, but A beacon is supposed that routinely pings signals off satellites. British company everything that flies and doesn't air-traffic control radar (also onboard equipment may have functioning to airlines or manufac- to automatically send need a transponder signal. That is called civilian or secondary been able to transmit via short- Inmarsat said Friday that it had a distress signal after a crash. If MH370's was turers. U.S. officials said data how the Malaysian military was able range UHF radio or long-range, showed MH370's engines such equipment on Flight MH370 and that its data may help radar). Flight MH370's to detect what is believed to be operated for up to four hours after its transponder went dark. less potent VHF radio through activated, it has not been MH370 heading west after civilian radar lost the plane. transponder went dark about 40 minutes after takeoff. antennas on the plane's body. determine the plane's trajectory. detected. Makassar Strait o083 0063 E110° E100° E70° E60° ARC OF LAST CONTACT AT 8:11 ESTIMATED RANGE OF A 777-200 TRAVELING IN A STRAIGHT LINE FOR SEVEN E50° ARC OF LAST CONTACT AT 8:11 a.m. E140° E700 E130° E80° E90° E100° E120° E110°