Flight MH370 Research Articles

Research on deep-sea terrain refinement methods based on satellite remote sensing data

Bathymetric data is crucial for navigation safety and various applications. However, only a small portion of the seafloor has been systematically mapped through direct measurement. The remaining bathymetry is estimated from satellite altimeter data, providing only an approximate representation of the seafloor's shape. To address this issue, the convolutional neural network (CNN) is introduced for the analysis of seabed topography. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the first attempt to incorporate the CNN into the definitive map of the world ocean floor. By employing skip connections based on residual learning, we construct a deeper CNN layer that effectively reduces training complexity. The deeper convolutional neural network layer is used to create a more complex nonlinear mapping model, which is then employed to downscale low-resolution seabed topographic data in order to obtain high-precision seabed topographic information. This process enhances the representation of seabed topographic data to reflect the actual terrain more accurately. The results are compared with those obtained using the bicubic difference method. Conducting tests near the Gulf of Thailand, where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was lost, the results demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper achieves higher accuracy in processing the downscaling of seabed topographic data.

DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT MH370

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which was flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, lost communication with air traffic control shortly after take-off on March 8, 2014, and vanished. While the rest of the world awaited news of the missing plane and the 239 people on board, officials and experts began to look into the limited information available concerning the airliner’s real activities. The disappearance of a Malaysia Airline flight, carrying 239 passengers and crew, is one of the world’s biggest aviation mysteries. Despite all the efforts and evidence obtained so far, the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could not be determined exactly. In this study, which we have done, the crash zone of the aircraft has been determined approximately by using the data in the previously prepared reports. In addition, the average ocean current speeds, directions and the parts of the debris of the aircraft were investigated on the satellite images, and the estimation of the area where the plane crashed was tried to be strengthened.

A Stable Isotope Sclerochronology‐Based Forensic Method for Reconstructing Debris Drift Paths With Application to the MH370 Crash

AbstractA flaperon belonging to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 washed ashore on Réunion Island covered with the barnacle Lepas anatifera in July 2015, more than a year after the plane's disappearance. Here, we report the first high‐precision δ18Ocalcite versus temperature relationship for L. anatifera reared under laboratory conditions to unlock clues to the flaperon's drift path and origin. Using this experimental relationship and known growth rates for L. anatifera, we also demonstrate a new method for (a) converting δ18O data for one of the MH370 barnacles into a dated time series of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) experienced during the last part of the flaperon's drift and (b) identifying best fits between the observed flaperon SST time series and 50,000 SST histories generated from a particle‐tracking simulation. Our new method identifies a flaperon drift path far south of a previous isotope‐based reconstruction. We conclude with specific recommendations for using our method to continue the search for MH370 and other applications.

A Broad Perspective on Cloud Integrated Flight Data Recorder

The history of air traffic, whether its about the safety or the qualitative inspection of the several sensors and interconnected mechanical parts, is well known. Hence, the efforts applied through the research and analysis of several engineers profoundly made the air traffic investigation safer and more comfortable. As a result,the flight investigation of whether the lost aircraft or the airplane’s found wreckage has become more secure and convenient than in the Past. The use of light and advanced materials, the development of excellent communication equipment, and the rapid development of the aviation sector have played a crucial role in increasing its safety and reach to the general public, and so do the several challenges associated with the aviation sector. As a result, there has been much research regarding the air traffic investigation with the help of advanced sensor and better software that can simulate and even predict the dangers provided by several parameters helping in the investigation and exploring better sides of safety. The accident can be prevented with the help of improvements provided based on accurate analysis of previous air accidents. In modern aircraft, there is a device called the Black Box which helps analyze and investigate. For example, after Malaysian flight MH370’s disappearance, the airline again felt to upgrade the black box to a new working standard of the cloud-based technology. Currently, there are many cloud storage services worldwide such as GOOGLE, APPLE, AMAZON, MICROSOFT etc. After this accident and similar previous aircraft disappearances from different parts of the world, researchers finally decided to test steaming to nearby air traffic services and storing flight data in remote cloud storage. This study attempts to compile the worldwide efforts in the cloud-integrated flight data recorder (CIFDR) field. This research primarily focuses on different ways of storing data on cloud-based technology. The different trend worldwide approaches and different means applied to test this system without hindering the associated safety of the data going through encryption and decryption. Recently there has been a proliferation of internet facilities in flight. Although it is still in its infancy phase, the flight data can be sent to remote servers by improving this technique. Many challenges in transmitting flight data in real-time need to be overcome before commercializing this technique.

Analysis of Several Important Theoretical and Practical Issues in International Aviation Law–Discussion Based on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Accident

Analysis of Several Important Theoretical and Practical Issues in International Aviation Law–Discussion Based on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Accident

Recovering from a Major Aviation Disaster: The Airlines’ Family Assistance Centre

An aviation disaster with mass fatalities can overwhelm an organisation and impact the lives of thousands. The response to such crises can determine the future of the organisation and, more importantly, it can have a lasting effect on the victims’ friends and families. This paper identifies and analyses airlines’ legal requirements and duty of care in relation to the operation of a family assistance centre (FAC). The case study of flight MH370 was used, and interviews with key figures in the aviation industry who have experienced disaster first-hand were conducted. The study highlighted that subtle differences in response significantly impact the quality of care provided. The research also outlined the importance of training and preparedness. Choosing the right people to work in the FACs and to care for friends and families is integral. The study concluded that the speed and accuracy of communication with friends and family are critical factors in the success of any response.

Seafloor Topography Estimation from Gravity Anomaly and Vertical Gravity Gradient Using Nonlinear Iterative Least Square Method

Currently, seafloor topography inversion based on satellite altimetry gravity data provides the principal means to predict the global seafloor topography. Researchers often use sea surface geoid height or gravity anomaly to predict sea depth in the space domain. In this paper, a comprehensive discussion on seafloor topography inversion formulas in the space domain is presented using sea surface geoid height, gravity anomaly and introduces an approach that uses vertical gravity gradient. This would be the first study to estimate seafloor topography by vertical gravity gradient in the space domain. Further, a nonlinear iterative least-square inversion process is discussed. Using the search area for the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 as study site, we used the DTU17 gravity anomaly model and SIO V29.1 vertical gravity gradient to generate the seafloor topography. The results of the proposed bathymetric models were analyzed and compared with the DTU18 and SIO V20.1 bathymetric models. The experimental results show that the gravity anomaly and vertical gravity gradient in the study area are strongly correlated with the seafloor topography in the 20–200 km wavelength range. The optimal initial iteration values for seafloor topography variance and correlation length are 0.6365 km2 and 10.5′, respectively. Shipborne measurements from SONAR data were used as external checkpoints to evaluate the bathymetric models. The results show that the RMS for BAT_VGG_ILS (inversion model constructed by vertical gravity gradient) is smaller than for BAT_GA_ILS (inversion model constructed by gravity anomaly) and BAT_GA_VGG_ILS (inversion model constructed by gravity anomaly and vertical gravity gradient). The relative accuracy of the DTU18 bathymetry model was 9.27%, while the relative accuracy of the proposed seafloor models was higher than 4%. Within the 200 m difference range, the proportion of checkpoints for BAT_VGG_ILS was close to 95%, about 80% for BAT_GA_ILS and BAT_GA_VGG_ILS, and less than 50% for the DTU18. The results show that the nonlinear iterative least square method in the space domain is feasible.

Time‐Dependent Crustal Accretion on the Southeast Indian Ridge Revealed by Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Search

AbstractOur understanding of oceanic crustal formation is mostly limited to observations of young crust formed in the past several million years, due to the thick sediments on older crust and the remote location of many spreading centers. Here we use 40 m‐resolution bathymetric data collected over hundreds of square kilometers during the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on the flank of the Southeast Indian Ridge, which provides a record of crustal accretion from 11–23 Ma. Spectra calculated from the data show a characteristic timescale of 300–400 kyr and no evidence for periodicity coinciding with glacial cycles. This characteristic timescale could be explained by fluctuations in melt supply and the amount of faulting, leading to variations in crustal thickness. We show that this timescale of variation is consistent with porosity waves observed in a two‐phase flow model, which persist over millions of years.

Malaysian and Mainland Chinese Social Network Community Users’ Perceptions on Post-Mh370 Incident

Aside from the world-of-mouth generated by popular portals and forums, the quality of an opinion community also affects their social media users’ perception on certain topics. The advent of social media technologies has dramatically changed the scene in the information world. When Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing, the flow of information experienced complexity uncertainty and ambiguity in terms of information adequacy. Social media plays a vital role in building on a framework of re-trust and friendly perception towards Malaysia Airlines. This paper aims to compare social media users’ perception of the Malaysia Airlines missing flight MH370 incident in Mainland China and Malaysia respectively. It reveals a significant difference in user perception of active social media in these two countries. This paper argues that social networking sites, such as Facebook in Malaysia, Weibo and Wechat in Mainland China, become the public opinion field which illustrates sorts of openness and negotiation in Malaysia and Mainland China. In the law enforcement and emergency response community, the historical perception of social media was that it was an alternative option. However, the ubiquity of social media use and the role of social media as the front line of communications in a crisis event has changed that perception. In 2018, 200 questionnaires were collected from respondents in Mainland China and Malaysia respectively. The survey results contributed to the mechanism of crisis communication for henceforth similar incidents in the future. There is no doubt that the portrait of Malaysia Airlines on social media in these two countries affected its organizational reputation. Nevertheless, the participants from Malaysia and Mainland China showed a very average level of confidence to empower themselves to enhance dialog capacity among various stakeholders for this incident.

Media Coverage of Malaysian Airline Flight MH370: A Preliminary Study on the Framing of the Crisis in the Malaysian Mainstream and Alternative Newspapers

This study proposes to investigate and compare the coverage of the disappearance of Malaysian airline flight MH370 by Malaysian mainstream and alternative newspapers – the Star newspaper and Malaysiakini . The MH370 crisis in March 2014 is considered as the greatest aviation crisis in the history of Malaysia in view of its magnitude, and attracted massive local and international media coverage. It presented Malaysian authorities with new form of challenge, resulting to various criticisms from aviation, media and crisis communication experts over the manner in which information regarding the crisis were handled by the Malaysian Airline (MAS) in particular, and the Malaysian government in general. On the other hand, the role of the media during crisis is not only to provide information regarding the crisis, but also to act as the peoples’ advocate by providing avenue for public engagements and discussions. However, the ability of the media to play this role depends to a certain extent on ownership, and to a large extent on the degree of freedom it enjoys in a country. Through quantitative content analysis, the study compares the framing of the crisis by the selected newspapers, the sources of information for their news stories, and slants of the news. The study found among others that while the mainstream newspaper; the star provided more of general and limited viewpoints with concentration on the human interest frame, the alternative newspaper; Malaysiakini has more critical news reports with focus on the attribute of responsibility frame. KEYWORDS Crisis; Framing, MH370; newspaper coverage; Press freedom

Managing stakeholder emotions and cultural differences during crisis: lessons from four different countries

Since 2008, the world has witnessed some major transport (airlines, rail and submarine) failures around different continents. Among all others, Argentine submarine ARA San Juan, Malaysia Airline flight MH370, Canadian MM&A Train explosion and British Airways Boeing 777 left the world and its people under shock. Nonetheless, the immense mental trauma through which the victim families went was unimaginable. The way some authorities managed the emotions of the victim families during these crisis were really appreciable. This paper assessed the ways through which these disasters were managed by respective authorities from two perspectives, effective management of emotions of the victim families and cultural differences in crisis communication. Integrated crisis model (ICM), complexity theory and Hofstede's cultural frameworks were used to recommend culture specific crisis management techniques and effective organisational responses in dealing with the observed emotions among the stakeholders.

Managing Stakeholder Emotions and Cultural Differences during Crisis: Lessons from Four Different Countries

Since 2008, the world has witnessed some major transport (airlines, rail and submarine) failures around different continents. Among all others, Argentine submarine ARA San Juan, Malaysia Airline flight MH370, Canadian MM&A Train explosion and British Airways Boeing 777 left the world and its people under shock. Nonetheless, the immense mental trauma through which the victim families went was unimaginable. The way some authorities managed the emotions of the victim families during these crisis were really appreciable. This paper assessed the ways through which these disasters were managed by respective authorities from two perspectives, effective management of emotions of the victim families and cultural differences in crisis communication. Integrated crisis model (ICM), complexity theory and Hofstede's cultural frameworks were used to recommend culture specific crisis management techniques and effective organisational responses in dealing with the observed emotions among the stakeholders.

THE CASE STUDY OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN (ERP) IMPLEMENTATION DURING THE MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT MH370 DISAPPEARANCE

The unsolved mystery on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 has been one of the most highly discussed air crashed incidents in recent times. The doomed flight was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with a total of 239 people on board. Even after years of investigation and searching efforts that ended recently, investigators have not been able to identify the reason that led to the deviation from its original route shortly after taking off. Accordingly, this case study evaluates the implementation of Malaysia Airlines’ Emergency Response Plan (ERP) in handling the incident, particularly in the early crucial weeks. The data were collected from the ERP practices retrieved from several articles, reports, and journals; and they were analyzed by using a qualitative case study methodology. This study hypothesizes that there were a number of loopholes that led to an ineffective implementation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS)’ ERP steered by the Emergency Response Team (ERT) and Malaysian authorities; that was further worsened by both internal and external crisis elements ranging from unverified information to the shortcomings in the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation conducted.

Online Data Preprocessing: A Case Study Approach

<span lang="EN-US">Besides the Internet search facility and e-mails, social networking is now one of the three best uses of the Internet. A tremendous number of volunteers every day write articles, share photos, videos and links at a scope and scale never imagined before. However, because social network data are huge and come from heterogeneous sources, the data are highly susceptible to inconsistency, redundancy, noise, and loss. For data scientists, preparing the data and getting it into a standard format is critical because the quality of data is going to directly affect the performance of mining algorithms that are going to be applied next. Low-quality data will certainly limit the analysis and lower the quality of mining results. To this end, the goal of this study is to provide an overview of the different phases involved in data preprocessing, with a focus on social network data. As a case study, we will show how we applied preprocessing to the data that we collected for the Malaysian Flight MH370 that disappeared in 2014.</span>

Optimism and attribution about uncertain events: What happened to missing flight MH370?

This study examines how individual optimism affects attributions about uncertain phenomena. Using a motivated reasoning lens, we theorize that optimism drives people to overestimate the effectiveness of measures meant to prevent accidents. We tested this theory with two studies. The first study assessed attributions about Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 immediately following its disappearance. Individual optimism positively related to the perceived likelihood of an unpredictable explanation, a mentally unstable pilot, and negatively related to the likelihood of mechanical failure. The second study examined attributions about the causes of a hypothetical car crash, finding optimism positively related to preventable factors under the control of drivers. Optimists overestimate their own agency (in the car crash scenario) for promoting safety and the infallibility of institutional systems (airplane disappearance).

Strategies for simulating the drift of marine debris

ABSTRACT Modelling the drift of marine debris in quasi-real time can be of societal relevance. One pertinent example is Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The aircraft is assumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, leaving floating wreckage to drift on the surface. Some of these items were recovered around the western Indian Ocean. We use ocean currents simulated by an operational ocean model in conjunction with surface Stokes drift to determine the possible paths taken by the debris. We consider: (1) How important is the influence of surface waves on the drift? (2) What are the relative benefits of forward- and backward-tracking in time? (3) Does including information from more items refine the most probable crash-site region? Our results highlight a critical contribution of Stokes drift and emphasise the need to know precisely the buoyancy characteristics of the items. The differences between the tracking approaches provide a measure of uncertainty which can be minimised by simulating a sufficiently large number of virtual debris. Given the uncertainties associated with the timings of the debris sightings, we show that at least 5 items are required to achieve an optimal most probable crash-site region. The results have implications for other drift simulation applications.

Markov-chain-inspired search for MH370.

Markov-chain models are constructed for the probabilistic description of the drift of marine debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. En route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, MH370 mysteriously disappeared in the southeastern Indian Ocean on 8 March 2014, somewhere along the arc of the 7th ping ring around the Inmarsat-3F1 satellite position when the airplane lost contact. The models are obtained by discretizing the motion of undrogued satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys from the global historical data bank. A spectral analysis, Bayesian estimation, and the computation of most probable paths between the Inmarsat arc and confirmed airplane debris beaching sites are shown to constrain the crash site, near 25°S on the Inmarsat arc.

Social Actor Representation of the Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the Malaysian and Foreign News Reports: A Critical Discourse Analysis

The objective of this study is to examine the linguistic representation of social actors in the selected Malaysian and foreign news reports on the circulated event of the missing MAS flight MH370. Despite extensive studies of news discourse, less attention is paid on how news event are speculated and the extent the social actors are relegated. Hence, the study explores the role of newspaper editorials in promoting stereotypical depictions through the representation of self- and other- in their reporting of the MH370 tragedy. The study retrieved a total of fifty (50) news reports of the missing MAS flight MH370 incident from ten news press, twenty-five (25) published by five local (Malaysian) English newsagents: The Star, New Straits Times, Sun Daily, Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini, and twenty-five (25) others from five foreign newsagents: Daily Mail (UK), The Guardian (UK), Washington Post, New York Times and USA Today. The corpora were collected from March 8, 2014, to November 5, 2014, and analysed using Van Dijk’s (1998) Ideological Square framework, as well as Reisigl and Wodak (2000) Discursive Strategies. The analysis of this study discovers evidence of the “intergroup bias” made by the selected news press in representing the MH370 social actors. The selected news press displays an overt preference for own group and obvious demotion of the other group. The study also reveals the occurrence of lexicalization of the ‘other’ in the foreign news reports indicating positive representation of their in-group and exhibiting apparent disapproval of the actions by the out-group. On the other hand, the analysis also reveals an impartial representation of the MH370 social actor by the local news press both for in-group and out-group.

Is there hindsight bias without real hindsight? Conjectures are sufficient to elicit hindsight bias.

After learning about an event, people often mistakenly believe to have predicted what happened all along (hindsight bias). However, what if what has happened is not known, but subject to conjecture? Could conjectures, in the absence of knowledge about the event, elicit the same bias and make people believe they "conjectured it all along", too? We examined this question in 2 studies. Immediately after the disappearance of flight MH370 in March, 2014, we asked N = 432 individuals about the likelihood of a number of possible events. One year later, N = 100 of these individuals participated again and were randomly assigned to 2 experimental conditions. Participants in the current conjecture group answered the same questions from their current perspective, participants in the reproduced conjecture group were asked to reproduce their earlier estimates. Results show that conjectures had changed over time and affected participants' reproductions of their earlier estimates. We replicated this finding in a controlled lab experiment (N = 94) and found a comparable magnitude of conjecture-based and knowledge-based hindsight bias. These findings demonstrate hindsight distortions in the absence of definite knowledge and extend theoretical assumptions about the prerequisites of hindsight bias in the context of events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Drift analysis of MH370 debris in the southern Indian Ocean

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A flaperon from the flight was found on Reunion Island in July 2015. Two more confirmed pieces of debris were found in Mauritius and Tanzania, and 19 unconfirmed items were found off Mozambique, South Africa, and Madagascar. Drift buoys originating from the designated underwater search area arrived in Reunion Island, Mauritius, and Tanzania. Some of these buoys took a similarly long time as did real debris to reach these destinations, following a heading northeast and then west. For the present study, a maritime object drift prediction model was developed. “High resolution surface currents, Stokes drift, and winds” were processed, and a series of model experiments were constructed. The predicted trajectories of the modeled objects were similar to the observed trajectories of the drift buoys. Many modeled objects drifted northward then westward, ending up in Reunion Island, Mauritius, and Tanzania with probabilities of 5‰, 5‰, and 19‰, respectively. At the end of the simulation, most objects were located near 10°S in the western Indian Ocean. There were significant differences between experiments with different leeway factors, possibly because of the influence of southeast trade winds. The north part of the underwater search area is most likely to be the crash site, because the predicted trajectories of objects originating here are consistent with the many pieces of debris found along the east coast of Africa and the absence of such findings on the west coast of Australia.