The first comprehensive report into the mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 yesterday revealed that the battery of an underwater locator beacon had expired more than a year before the plane vanished on March 8 last year.
Apart from that anomaly, the report detailed the normality of the flight, shedding little light on one of aviation’s biggest mysteries.
“The sole objective of the investigation is the prevention of future accidents or incidents, and not ... to apportion blame or liability,” the report said.
Photo: Reuters
The significance of the expired battery on the beacon of the flight data recorder was not immediately apparent, except indicating that searchers would have had a lesser chance of locating the aircraft in the Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed, even if they were in its vicinity.
However, the report said that the battery on the locator beacon of the cockpit voice recorder was working.
The two instruments are critical in any crash because they record cockpit conversation and flight data, leading up to the end of the flight.
The 584-page report by an independent investigation group reported details of the crew’s lives — their medical and financial records, their training before detailing the aircraft’s service record — as well as maintenance schedules, weather, communications systems and other aspects that suggested nothing unusual except for the one previously undisclosed fact of the battery’s expiry date.
It said that according to maintenance records, the battery on the beacon attached to the flight data recorder expired in December 2012.
“However, once beyond the expiry date, the [battery’s] effectiveness decreases so it may operate for a reduced time period until it finally discharges,” the report said.
While it is possible the battery would operate past the expiry date, “it is not guaranteed that it will work or that it would meet the 30-day minimum requirement,” the report said.
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