Introduction
In two previous posts, (here and here), we have presented the assumptions and analyses for reconstructing our best estimate for MH370’s path into the SIO. Often referred to as “UGIB” after its authors Bobby Ulich, Richard Godfrey, Victor Iannello, and Andrew Banks, the model was developed using exhaustive data sets and technical documentation available from both public and confidential sources, and includes:
- Radar data collected by military and civilian installations in Malaysia
- Timing and frequency measurements collected by the Inmarsat satellite network
- Aircraft performance data for Boeing 777-200ERs
- Historical performance data for airframe 9M-MRO
- Navigation and speed modes for automated flight
- Drift analysis of debris that floated and was recovered in East Africa
- Aerial search results from March and April 2014
- Weather data along the flight path
The work included the development of an accurate fuel consumption model, as well as a statistical metric for the expected random noise inherent in the recorded satellite data. These improvements allowed the rejection of hypothetical flight paths that were previously believed to be possible.
An important assumption of UGIB is that from 19:41 UTC until impact, MH370 flew with the autopilot and autothrottle engaged and with no pilot inputs. The results of that work suggest that the final hours of the flight were due south in the Indian Ocean along E93.7875° longitude, which matches a great circle between the waypoint BEDAX (about 100 NM west of Banda Aceh, Sumatra) and the South Pole. The Last Estimated Point (LEP) was defined as the intersection of E93.7875° longitude and the 7th arc, with coordinates S34.2342 E93.7875°. The debris field was postulated to be close to the LEP, as the end-of-flight after fuel exhaustion was expected to be a short distance.
The final BFO values at 00:19:29 UTC and 00:19:37 UTC suggest that MH370 was in an increasingly steep descent with a downward acceleration of around 0.7g. That, combined with the missing IFE log-on, are consistent with an impact relatively close to the 7th arc. Boeing simulations of the end-of-flight (assuming no pilot inputs) suggest an impact within 8 NM of the 7th arc. Other simulations with a PC-simulator in which a bank was imposed to match the BFO-derived downward acceleration suggest that the impact should be within 5 NM of the 7th arc. Yet, two subsea searches along the 7th arc near the latitude of 34°S, covering a much larger width of 110 km, failed to find the debris field.
The first search, conducted by GO Phoenix with a towfish, had a width of 40 km (7 km inside, 33 km outside the 7th arc) when scanning near 34°S latitude. Although this search failed, there were some areas that were missed due to terrain avoidance, shadows, equipment failures, and tracking errors, which does open the possibility that the debris field was passed over by GO Phoenix and not detected.
The second search was conducted by Ocean Infinity using a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and extended the width inside the 7th arc by 42 km and the width outside of the 7th arc by 29 km, for a cumulative search width of around 110 km (49 km inside, 61 km outside). Due to the greater maneuverability of the AUVs, the search area included some of the steep slopes that were deliberately avoided by GO Phoenix due to challenging terrain. Despite this wider and more thorough search, the debris field again was not found.
In a previous article, we postulated that the debris field may have been missed due to terrain avoidance and/or shadows, or detected but not properly interpreted by reviewers. In particular, there is a steep slope that lies about 33 km due south of the LEP and 27 km from the 7th arc that was not scanned by the GO Phoenix’s towfish and appeared to have been only partially scanned by Ocean Infinity’s AUVs.
The figure below shows the ocean depth along a line of constant longitude in the vicinity of the LEP. The previously identified steep slope to the south of the LEP has a grade of about 30%. To the north, another slope has a grade of 44%. The slope to the north was beyond the limits of the search boundaries of GO Phoenix, but was scanned by Seabed Constructor’s AUVs, so we focus on the steep slope to the south.
New Information about the Previous Search
Working with Ocean Infinity, we were able to obtain a more accurate outline of the area searched with their team of AUVs. The outline is shown by the four yellow lines in the figure below. As shown in the figure, the two inner yellow lines show the approximate limits of the GO Phoenix search area, and the outer lines show the limits of the Ocean Infinity search area. Also shown in the figure are olive-green areas which represent areas that were not scanned by GO Phoenix’s towfish due to steep terrain. These and other areas of missing or low-quality data were made available by Geoscience Australia.
Looking again at the steep slope to the south of the LEP that we previously suspected was not fully scanned, we can see that our suspicions were correct. The portion of the steep slope that was not scanned by the GO Phoenix towfish is about 60.3 km2. Of this, about half was later scanned by Ocean Infinity AUVs, leaving about 30.5 km2 of seabed surrounding S34.53° E93.84° that was never scanned. We designate this area as a “High Priority Search Area”.
The figure below is a closer view of the High Priority Search Area and surrounding terrain.
Discussion
Ocean Infinity has expressed a desire to resume the subsea search for MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean (SIO), hopefully during the next austral summer that begins this December. As the a) final BFO values, b) the lack of IFE log-on, and c) the end-of-flight simulations all suggest an impact close to the 7th arc, a high priority should be to scan the areas closest to the 7th arc that were either never scanned or have low quality data before searching new areas further from the 7th arc. However, with pilot inputs, it is possible that MH370 glided after fuel exhaustion beyond the areas that were previously scanned. Therefore, searching wider along the 7th arc should also be part of the search plan if areas closer to the 7th arc are unsuccessful in locating the debris field.
The reconstructed route of MH370 proposed by UGIB remains a leading candidate for the hypothetical route to the SIO because of the accuracy of the physical models, the breadth of the data sets analyzed, and the statistical rigor applied to the BTO and BFO data. The analysis does assume there were no pilot inputs after 19:41 UTC, and the autopilot and autothrottle were engaged until fuel exhaustion. A steep slope to the south of where UGIB predicts MH370 crossed the 7th arc happens to lie along the extended path of the reconstructed route, and much of this slope remains unscanned. For this reason, the unscanned area surrounding S34.52 E93.84 should be designated a High Priority Search Area.
Acknowledgement
I’d like to thank Ocean Infinity for their help in defining the geographic boundary of their subsea search for MH370. I’d also like to thank Don Thompson for his help in GIS file format conversions.