MH370 location beacon battery had expired, says interim report
On the first anniversary of the disappearance of MH370, Malaysian Airline’s interim report revealed the battery of the locator beacon had expired more than a year before the plane vanished on March 8, 2014.
The report, which runs to almost 600 pages, showed the battery had expired in December 2012 – more than 14 months before the ill-fated flight.
Apart from the out of date beacon battery, no other concerns were highlighted in terms of the plane’s mechanical features.
The report also said no red flags were raised over flight crew, despite growing suspicion falling on pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid.
“There were no behavioural signs of social isolation, change in habits or interest, self-neglect, drug or alcohol abuse of the Captain, First Officer and the cabin crew,” the report said.
Also a shipment of lithium-ion batteries were not deemed a potential hazard and were not given additional security screening.
The report was written by the international search team initially coordinated by Malaysia and also included China and Australia.
The leader of the 19-member team, Datuk Kok Soo Chon, said the report looked closely at air traffic control data, maintenance records, aircraft simulator sessions, and interviews with more than 120 people.
Investigators visited air traffic centres in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in the course of compiling the report, Kok said.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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