An expired battery in one of the underwater locator beacons would not have hampered the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. That鈥檚 the implicit claim in a statement issued today by the airline, in response to the most comprehensive report yet into the plane鈥檚 disappearance in March 2014.
Released yesterday, the report from a team of international investigators brings the passengers鈥� families and the world no closer to understanding what happened. Its biggest revelation was that the battery in one of the underwater beacons had not been changed, despite having an expiry date of December 2012. Even so, the report notes that this doesn鈥檛 rule out the beacon being able to function to an extent.
鈥淲hile there is a definite possibility that a [underwater locator beacon], will operate past the expiry date on the device, it is not guaranteed that it will work or that it would meet the 30-day minimum requirement,鈥� the .
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Moreover, a second beacon in the cockpit voice recorder had a properly serviced battery and should have worked as designed. 鈥淭he SSCVR battery would have been transmitting for 30 days upon activation when immersed in water,鈥� Malaysia Airline said in its statement.
Among almost 600 pages outlining everything known about the plane, from its uneventful take-off to the mysterious change of direction over Indonesia, there is no evidence supporting any particular theories.
No grounds for suspicion
More than anything, the report casts doubt on some theories and conjectures. A thorough examination of the captain, first officer and crew provides no reason to suspect any of them might have acted nefariously.
鈥淭he Captain鈥檚 ability to handle stress at work and home was good. There was no known history of apathy, anxiety, or irritability. There were no significant changes in his life style, interpersonal conflict or family stresses,鈥� it says.
鈥淭here 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.鈥�
In a , Malaysia鈥檚 prime minister Najib Razak thanked the world for contributions to the search effort and said they remain hopeful the plane will be found. 鈥淭he disappearance of MH370 is without precedent, and so too is the search 鈥� by far the most complex and technically challenging in aviation history,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he lack of answers and definitive proof 鈥� such as aircraft wreckage 鈥� has made this more difficult to bear.鈥�
The search has focused on a 60,000-square-kilometre zone in the Indian Ocean. More than 40 per cent of that has so far been covered and the rest is expected to take about seven months. There has been that Australia, which is leading the search, may begin to scale back search operations after that time.
