The accumulation of parts from the aircraft’s right side has led some investigators to suggest that the plane may have changed course before it crashed, possibly under the control of a conscious pilot.
The signal showed that the satellite system had been reset, indicating a power failure, perhaps an indication that the plane was running out of fuel, according to the ATSB. The signal did not indicate location data. However, analysis of the time it took the transmission to go back and forth from the satellite led investigators to settle on a 400 mile arc as the likely location of MH370.
The New York Times (NYT) said in a report that questions are being asked on whether the plane followed a tight or broad spiral down path as it fell or glided towards a watery grave.
The crux of the matter is that investigators have so far never pinpointed when the plane ran out of fuel. All the assumptions, taken from satellite signals, identified the 400 mile arc from where the plane most likely sent it last signals as it made several turns and flew south for five hours with little deviation.
“We are really doing further work to test our assumption about the end of flight, which defines our search area,” said Dolan. “It’s really testing to make sure we haven’t missed anything, and that our assumptions remain valid.”
The new look at how the plane went down stems from the fact that the wreckage has not been found in the search area. That raises the possibility that the plane began descending earlier or perhaps even changed course to attempt an emergency landing on water. Investigators have so far dismissed these possibilities as inconsistent with other evidence.
Investigators, according to the NYT report, are now considering whether the plane’s engines ran dry and it spiraled into the ocean, travelling no more than 10 nautical miles in a horizontal distance. This would make it a relatively tight spiral.
Analysts at Boeing and elsewhere have been re-examining the models of the aircraft operating under autopilot responding to initial loss of power on one side, and 15 minutes later on the other side. The right engine would run out of fuel first, the tendency for it to burn more fuel than the engine on the left, according to Rolls Royce, the engine manufacturer.
Malaysia, China and Australia have ruled out extending the search for MH370, after the current mission ends in the last 15,000 sq km patch in the southern Indian Ocean, unless new evidence emerges to show the exact location of the aircraft.
Investigators have concluded that two pieces of MH370-related debris, recovered in March in South Africa (interior panel from the main cabin), and another in Mauritius (piece of engine covering), was certainly from the plane. However, there’s little evidence from the debris on where the aircraft lies.
On May 26, Australia’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester announced that two more debris have been found in Mauritius and another in Mozambique and are being examined for possible links with MH370.
The Australian Government announced last Friday that four more pieces of debris, three in Madagascar and one on a southern Australian island, are also being examined.
Early last year and early this year, three other pieces were found on African beaches. One part was the right wing, another “almost certainly” coming from the right wing, and a third “almost certainly” coming from the right side of the tail.
“The accumulation of parts from the aircraft’s right side has led some to suggest that the plane may have changed course before it crashed, possibly under the control of a conscious pilot.”