What has the aviation industry learned from Flight MH370?

More than five months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from radar screens, there is still no trace of the passenger jet. DW examines what is being done to prevent such an incident from happening again.

The fate of Flight MH370 has been shrouded in mystery ever since the Boeing 777 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing in the early morning hours of March 8 with 239 people on board. While satellite data suggest the aircraft crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, international search efforts have so far failed to provide any concrete evidence as to the fate of the plane.

This is why investigators decided to readjust the search south along a narrow arc identified as the most likely resting place of the jet. Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott - whose government is contributing to the international search - said the hunt for the plane would resume off the Western Australian coast in September.

Without any identified wreckage, it has been hard to establish facts, thus prolonging the painful wait for the relatives and friends of those gone missing. But the plane's disappearance has also raised questions as to what the aviation industry is prepared to do to prevent such an incident from happening again, especially given that this is not the first time an airplane has disappeared without a trace for months or even years.

It has been well established that Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur with no signs of distress and that 26 minutes after departure - while flying somewhere over the South China Sea - the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which transmits key information on the plane's mechanical condition, was switched off for reasons still unknown.

How can a plane simply vanish?

The plane then dropped off civilian air traffic control screens after its transponder, which relays information on the plane's location and altitude, was shut down less than an hour into the flight. After the plane was plotted by military radar 45 minutes later, the only other indication as to where the jet was headed came from the analysis of a series of electronic signals known as "handshakes" between the plane and a satellite. But how is it possible that a passenger jet can simply disappear in mid-air in an age when information is just a few clicks away?

International search efforts have so far failed to provide any concrete evidence as to the fate of the plane

According to aviation expert Chris Yates, one explanation is that the aviation industry is simply not well-equipped in terms of its aircraft tracking capabilities. "The fact of the matter is that the industry has long been behind the times," the UK-based analyst told DW, adding that while there is constantly new technology applicable to the industry, the time it takes to transfer such innovation into the cockpit or airframe can be measured in years if not decades.

"The regulatory framework for airplanes is extremely rigorous because one flawed decision can lead to the loss of aircraft in flight and, as a result, the loss of many lives." Another reason for this is the issue of cost. As Yates explains, airlines universally dislike safety recommendations or requirements that could result in them having to replace systems or parts of an aircraft at potentially huge cost and often fight "tooth and nail" to avoid having to do so.

A 'tracking task force'

Nonetheless, the industry says it is determined to tackle the issue. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) - which represents around 240 airlines - told DW that the aviation sector was committed to making sure that there are no other events where aircraft simply disappear or cannot be located. To this end, IATA's Director General and CEO, Tony Tyler, announced in April that a special task force - the Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) - would be formed to identify and recommend near-term options for aircraft tracking.

The team's aim is to define a minimum set of performance requirements that any system should meet, thus allowing airlines to make their own decisions about how to best track their aircraft, based on their operations. According to Yates, the ATTF's draft options - set to be presented to the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in September - include a host of short, medium and long term goals aimed at better ensuring that information is provided in a timely fashion to the right people in order to support search and rescue, recovery and accident investigation activities.

Enhancing the equipment

Independent aviation expert Heinrich Grossbongardt also points out that aviation authorities in Europe and the US are working on new regulations for the locator beacons of the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder, commonly known as black box. "This will comprise of significant longer battery life and an improved acoustic signal to make it easier to locate the boxes underwater," he says.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told DW that the new requirements include the extension of the transmission time of underwater locating devices (ULD), which will be fitted directly to the central part of the aircraft from 30 to 90 days.

The agency also said it proposes to equip large airplanes flying over oceans with a new type of ULD that have a longer locating range than the ULDS installed in currently used flight recorders. Alternatively, aircraft may be equipped with a means to determine the location of an accident within six nautical miles accuracy. In addition, the minimum recording duration of Cockpit Voice Recorders installed on new large aeroplanes should be increased to 20 hours from two hours today, the Cologne-based agency told DW.

There are also ongoing discussions about improving the Emergency Locator Transmitter, a device that automatically sends a signal of distress in case of a crash, which is received through a network of satellites. According to Grossbongardt, improved black boxes with longer battery life and a stronger vibration might take four or five years to be rolled out across the global fleet of long-haul jets.

Oceans and remote areas

Inmarsat, the UK-based satellite company which was able to determine Flight MH370's approximate path after the airliner vanished from radar screens, said that the loss of the plane reinforces the need for all aircraft to be tracked, especially when flying over ocean and other remote airspace, when out of range of ground-based radar systems. "Today, continual tracking of aircraft via satellite communication systems is only mandatory in certain regions of the world and we believe this should immediately be extended to all remote and oceanic routes," Jonathan Sinnatt, Director of Corporate Communications told DW.

The loss of MH370 reinforces the need for all aircraft to be tracked, especially when out of range of ground-based radar systems, says Inmarsat

The technology for real-time aircraft tracking is already available onboard most modern passenger jets. ADS-C allows for two way communication and is available via satellite, providing connectivity over land and the oceans. ADS-B broadcasts an aircraft’s position but is currently only available when in range of a ground station. But as Grossbongardt points out, the technology had until recently been seen mainly as a way of improving the efficiency of flight operations, but not as an important means of safety.

"Some airlines used it, some did not. This view has changed since MH370", said Grossbongardt, who is also the managing director of Expairtise, a communications agency specializing in aviation and aerospace.

Inmarsat has also pointed to other options such as a "black box in the cloud" service, which would stream black box data from an aircraft to the ground only in the event of a critical event, such as an aircraft performance anomaly. "In the event of a catastrophe while searching for the black box will remain vital to the investigation, having key data immediately available would certainly help in both understanding what has happened and also providing answers for families who may have lost loved ones," Sinnat said.

Live streaming full flight data?

But will this be enough to keep communication lines open with the aircraft? Jörg Handwerg, spokesperson of the German Air Line Pilots' Association 'Vereinigung Cockpit,' is of the view that despite such potential improvements, it will be virtually impossible to prevent airplanes from losing communications under any circumstances, especially if problems with the electrical systems on board emerge.

Handwerg and his association also reject the idea of setting up a system designed to live stream full flight data, given that "too many questions regarding the issue remain unanswered". Some of these questions involve the purpose of the data and where it would be stored, the people allowed to access it, and the measures in place to protect employees from any potential manipulation and misuse of the data.

A full flight data live stream to the ground would swamp the currently available broadband bandwidth, say experts

"It would be a complete control of what the pilots do on board, which would not be in accordance with basic principles of labor law in many countries," says Handwerg, who also stresses that setting up such a system would not prevent accidents from happening, but rather lead to increased ticket prices.

Yates points out that there is also a capacity issue that would need to be tackled before a full flight data live stream is even possible: "A significant amount of data is captured and stored on aircraft black boxes and it's widely accepted that a constant live stream to the ground would swamp the available broadband bandwidth."

Tackling the 'blind spot'

The unprecedented tragedy of Flight MH370 has shown that the aviation industry's capabilities of tracking aircraft are limited and should be substantially improved. The sector is only now beginning to address the issue, but as Yates emphasizes, the benefits of implementing effective measures to improve tracking are clear: "This will enhance the ability to fix the location of a downed airliner with a much greater degree of accuracy and thereby significantly enhance the timely search for possible survivors."

According to Grossbongardt, such a move would also help strengthen passengers' trust in the industry: "Everybody is aware that the trust of the flying public in the safety and security of the global air transport system is the basis of the airline industry."

"Improved tracking will enhance the ability to fix the location of a downed airliner with a much greater degree of accuracy," says Yates

Air traffic has reached today's high level of safety because it learns from every accident and uses the information gained to improve technology, flight operations and regulations. Indeed, every day approximately 100,000 flights take to the sky and land without incident. In 2013, more than three billion people flew and there were 210 fatalities, according to IATA.

However, there will always be a certain degree of uncertainty: "Our system today is a very solid system which is already very good, but as in all other areas of life it is not perfect and it will never be, no matter what technology we use," said Handwerg.

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Malaysia Airlines alleged sex attack victim speaks out in Sunday Night exclusive

AN Australian woman has spoken out about her alleged sexual assault on board a Malaysia Airlines flight earlier this month.

The 26-year-old alleged victim will tell her story on Seven’s Sunday Night this weekend, as well as showing chilling footage taken from her phone during the reported attack.

The woman, known only as Laura, claims she was assaulted by the chief steward on flight MH20 from Kuala Lumpur to Paris, August 4.

“I couldn’t stop it, I just froze, I was just scared,” she tells Seven reporter Ross Coulthart in the promo.

In audio of the interview, Coulthart can be heard asking Laura why she didn’t scream for help.

“I keep saying ‘why didn’t I scream, why didn’t I shout, why didn’t I stop it?’

“I’m a strong person because I can, I can do that, I know I can, but when I was in the moment I couldn’t. I felt so scared, so petrified.”

In the recording Laura took mid-flight following the alleged assault, a woman’s voice can be heard crying to a man sitting across the aisle as he shakes his head.

She says: “You did, you did, you did, don’t lie. It’s what you did.

“I’m so scared, I just want to get off this plane ... I don’t want to see you, go away, you give me the creeps, you dirty old man,” the woman can be heard saying in the audio.

Upon landing at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, the male steward — who is married with three daughters — was detained by police and two weeks later is still behind bars after making admissions.

The alleged victim says she is speaking out for first time about what happened because she feels let down by the actions of the airline.

Malaysian Airlines was in serious financial trouble even before the twin disasters of MH370 and MH17 claimed the lives of 537 people. Source: Flickr

Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the allegations were made, and has vowed to assist French authorities in their investigation, adding “the safety, comfort and wellbeing of our passengers is always our highest priority”.

“Malaysia Airlines expects and accepts nothing short of the highest standards of conduct from its crew and takes any such allegations very seriously,” it said.

Sexual assaults on planes are rare, but they do occur and can be difficult to investigate. In February Carlos Vasquez was sentenced to three years probation and fined $3000 for molesting a 15-year-old girl who sat next to him on a flight from Houston to Washington, US. She pretended to be asleep during the ordeal.

A month earlier passenger Bawer Aksal was sentenced to eight years in jail for sexually assaulting a woman on a United Airlines flight from Phoenix to Newark, US. The victim told the court: “I will never be the same person I once was”.

Last September an Indian man was sentenced to nine months jail for a mile-high sex attack, India Everyday reports.

Mile-high crimes usually occur on overnight flights, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Drew Ptasienski told US news site NBC News 41.

“The crew isn’t walking around (as much),” Ptasienski said. “It’s a crime of opportunity.”

The allegations comes as Malaysia Airlines continues to battle for survival following recent tragedies. Flight MH370 disappeared mysteriously in March with 239 people aboard, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No trace has been found and the airline was widely criticised for its handling of the crisis. On July 17, MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, with 298 people killed.

The airline is in deep financial trouble, with predictions it’s burning through its cash reserves at a rate of around $2.16 million per day, and bookings continue to slide.

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Malaysia Airlines faces fight over its own survival

This "Visit Malaysia Year 2014" was designed to lure even more foreign fliers to the beaches and other attractions of a Southeast Asian nation whose tourism bureau had profitably promoted with the "Malaysia, Truly Asia" slogan.

Then lightning struck twice, as Malaysia Airlines lost two passenger jetliners in under five months, with the likely loss of 537 lives. Tourism should recover as travelers enjoy other choices of airline, but the ill-fated national carrier appears less likely to survive, at least in its current form.

A government-led review of the airline's operations began after Flight 370 disappeared March 8 en route to Beijing. No trace of the plane has yet been found. That ongoing review, focused on the need to restructure, has been lent extra urgency by the second tragedy, the shooting down July 17 over eastern Ukraine of Flight 17 to Kuala Lumpur, although results are only expected in six months to a year's time.

The airline's commercial director said it will "emerge stronger" from the planned overhaul led by its majority shareholder, the government's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad. "There are several options on the table, but all involve creating an airline fit for purpose in what is a new era for us, and other airlines," Hugh Dunleavy wrote in a United Kingdom newspaper.

Aviation analysts in the region say the airline must make tough decisions to save and rebuild what was already a heavily loss-making business even before the two incidents caused many international customers to return tickets and demand refunds. Hard choices include whether to rebrand the airline with a new name, reduce staff and cut all international routes, they say.

In the absence of hard news from those conducting the review, speculation centers on whether Malaysia Airlines will go bankrupt, go private or sell off profitable parts such as its engineering unit. This month, Khazanah has dismissed news media reports that the airline will be privatized or merge with low-cost carrier AirAsia.

Given the now widespread aversion to boarding any flight whose airline code starts with MH, Malaysia Airlines must consider "cosmetic changes" including a different name and livery, and a switch from MH, said Timothy Ross, an Asian aviation analyst in Singapore for Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank. "More fundamentally, there are issues of cost and capital concentration. It's overstaffed, and its unions have understandably resisted moves to reduce their power and size," he said.

Run by an arm of the Malaysian government, the firm has experienced a "revolving door at the managing director level," with no real resolve to tackle unions or non-union labor costs, Ross said. Competition grows both from low-budget carriers such as AirAsia, and full service players, he said.

"It needs to figure out what it wants to be, rather than being all things to all people," said Ross, but Japan Airlines, bust just four years ago and now very well-run, offers hope "as long as management has a free hand," he said. "It's a test of how Malaysian politicians deal with it, or the airline will limp on as it has for the past decade, relying on government infusions," Ross said.

Chinese tourists, whose fast-swelling numbers excite the travel industry worldwide, have shunned Malaysia's national carrier ever since Flight 370 vanished. "Many Chinese people don't trust them now," said Zhang Qihuai, an aviation law expert in Beijing. "They must investigate the reason for their bad public relations management, and give relatives good compensation, those are the most important issues for their image in China," he said.

Yet Zhang said he expects the firm will survive its "double crisis."

Safety doubts will shrink its market share, costing the airline some good international routes, but the Malaysian government can fund its survival, just as Beijing spent billions to keep Chinese airlines flying during the economic crisis of 2008, he said.

Malaysia Airlines can keep its name, for the pride of millions of loyal passengers at home, but should trim its ambitions and become a domestic-only airline, advised Mohshin Aziz, aviation analyst at the Kuala Lumpur-based Maybank Investment Bank. "They must ask 'where is our business relevant?'" he said. "They only really make money on domestic sectors. The moment they go international, they lose money. Now the laws of probability are that they won't make money on international routes for a long time, if ever."

The firm loses $1.6 million every day, and will run out of capital by the middle of next year, Aziz said. Discounting tickets remains a "losing proposition," and international travelers can choose other airlines, but domestically, Malaysians will support the airline, he said.

"We love it, love the service, the food, what it represents," Aziz said. "If you change the brand name, logo and everything, it's an effort to disassociate yourself from the history."

Public opinion in Malaysia demands the airline be kept alive, and support grows for a domestic-only future, he said.

In the past, authorities "would say 'no way, international is what a carrier is all about', but extraordinary circumstances require an extraordinary solution," Aziz said.

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Can Malaysia Airlines survive latest tragedy?

First a Malaysia Airlines plane goes missing and is never found. And four months later, another one of its passenger jets is shot out of the sky.

The tragic events have taken the lives of 537 people in all, and brought devastation to their families.

It has also left many pondering the future of the airline and its ability to weather the latest storm.

If customers flee, it could really put a dent in its bottom line, said Justin Green, a military trained pilot and aviation attorney.

Malaysia Airlines was already a struggling company before these latest tragedies.

Even before Flight 370 disappeared, a difficult business climate forced the airline into the red for the three years in a row, leading to a loss of about 4.2 billion ringgit ($1.3 billion) over that period.

"But the situation has become much graver," said Daniel Tsang, an aviation analyst at Aspire Aviation. "Bankruptcy is unquestionably a possibility."

According to international law, Malaysia Airlines is responsible for making initial payments of about $150,000 to the families of each deceased passenger in both flights.

There will also be lawsuits to fight. Even thought it appears Flight 17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile last week over Ukraine, there's a chance the airline could be found negligible for flying in the disputed airspace where Ukraine rebels are operating, Green said. While the flight's route was approved by Eurocontrol, other carriers were avoiding the airspace.

Those additional payments still wouldn't break the bank, Green said. Many of Malaysia Airlines' expenses will be covered by the maze of insurance policies that cover a plane and its passengers.

Very few airlines went bankrupt immediately after previous tragedies, Green said.

The now defunct Pan Am was in financial trouble long before the terrorist bombing of its Flight 103 over Scotland, but the attack did help push the airline toward its ultimate bankruptcy, the airline's former CEO Tom Plaskett told CNN.

The airline survived for two more years after the attack, until it filed for bankruptcy in 1991.

So far, Malaysia Airlines customers have proved quite loyal.

After Flight 370 went missing on March 8, Malaysia Airlines did not see an immediate decline in passengers, according to its April traffic report. But the number of passengers dropped 4% in May compared to the same month last year.

The airline is also waiving fees and refunding tickets until the end of December for anyone who wants to cancel or postpone their travel plans.

Overall, the company experienced a 13% uptick in the number of passengers for the year to date.

Another factor that will play in its favor is that Malaysia Airlines has state-backing. The government's investment firm owns nearly 70% of the company, which just might help it survive these tough times.

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Crash: Malaysia B772 near Donetsk

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration 9M-MRD performing flight MH-17 from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) with 280 passengers and 15 crew, was enroute at FL330 about 50nm northwest of Donetsk (Ukraine) when the transponder signal was lost at FL330 at position N48.56 E37.21 at 13:43Z. The aircraft came down near the village of Shakhtarsk (Ukraine) about 56nm from the last transponder position.

Interfax reports citing an industry source that a Malaysia Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Malaysia has crashed near the Ukrainian/Russian border, the burning wreckage has been located. The aircraft has been shot down, the agency subsequently added.

Malaysia Airlines have confirmed an incident, the aircraft did not enter Russian Airspace so far, about two hours after the estimated entry into the airspace. At 15:40Z Malaysia Airlines tweeted: "Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow."

Ukraine's Ministry of Interior have confirmed the Boeing has crashed, there were no survivors.

Smoke rising from supposed crash site (Video: Secretariat for HQ of National Resistance of Ukraine):

Avherald.com

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Lost Malaysia Airlines jet flew for hours on autopilot

Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 flew for hours on autopilot before running out of fuel over the vast Indian Ocean and crashing, a team of international investigators searching for the plane now believe.

Australian officials now leading the international probe said Thursday said further analysis of data revealed that the lost jetliner flew in a straight line after veering off its planned flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, suggesting it was under automatic control.

"Certainly for its path across the Indian Ocean, we are confident that the aircraft was operating on autopilot until it ran out of fuel," Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Martin Dolan said at a news conference in Canberra, the nation's capital.

Dolan said someone aboard the doomed jetliner must have switched on the Boeing 777's autopilot before the automatic controls would have taken over the plane's operation.

"The basic assumption would be that if the autopilot is operational it's because it's been switched on," he said, according to the Associated Press.

But officials had no explanation to offer as to why automatic controls would have taken the plane with 239 passengers and crew so far off course, nor could they say when durng the flight the autopilot was activated.

Flight 370 disappeared from radar screens about an hour after taking off March 8 from Kuala Lumpur.

No distress signal was received from the airplane or its crew, and no sign of them has been spotted despite a multi-nation search on the surface and floor of the Indian Ocean.

"We couldn't accurately, nor have we attempted to, fix the moment when it was put on autopilot," Australia's transport minister, Warren Truss, told reporters.

"It will be a matter for the Malaysian-based investigation to look at precisely when it may have been put on autopilot," he said.

Dolan also said investigators now presume the crew of Flight 370 were incapacitated, possibly from oxygen deprivation, as the plane turned south and flew under autopilot.

This would explain why the plane would have lost radio contact with the ground and flew so long without changing course after the initial radical change from its flight plan.

Dolan also offered further explanation of why authorities plan to search a different area of the ocean when search efforts resume in August.

High-powered sonar equipment will be used to scour the new 23,000-square-mile search area, several hundred miles southwest of the previous area that was painstakingly checked over weeks by a high-tech underwater drone.

But the new search area is so large that it could take as long as 12 months to thoroughly check, the AP said.

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How long will the search for MH 370 continue?

Malaysia Airlines’ (Kuala Lumpur) missing flight MH 370 has now been missing for 100 days. So far, no debris from the missing fine has been found. Nothing has been found, despite promising leads and observations. Everything turned out to be floating ocean flotsam.

The previously reported “pings” are now thought to be erroneous. In short, missing flight MH 370 is a true aviation mystery of epic proportions.

Missing Air France flight AF 447 took almost two years to be located so there is some hope MH 370 will be found. However authorities had a better idea where AF 447 was located. For the MH 370 without better data, no one knows for sure where the flight is located. For the families of the missing passengers and crew members, this uncertainty is so hurtful and very hard to accept. They cannot have any closure. The families rely on any hope which they cling to. Today, after 100 days, they have very little to cling to.

CNN has raised the difficult question of how long the search will continue. The search is very costly and without better data it has a low chance of being discovered. If anyone wanted to have this flight “disappear” they have succeeded.

So far Australia has shouldered most of the cost in the search. Australia is leading the search due to assumption the flight crashed into the southern Indian Ocean closest to Australia. Many other countries including the United States, Malaysia and China have contributed costly assets and crews in the search with zero results. The assumption that the flight crashed near Australia is now in question. In short, no one knows where MH 370 has gone.

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Malaysia Airlines seeks more cost-cutting to survive crisis

Malaysia Airlines is stepping up efforts to cut costs to survive, following the mysterious disappearance of its flight MH370 which has resulted in the biggest crisis in its 40-year history, a senior executive said on Monday. The Boeing 777-200, carrying 239 passengers and crew, vanished from radar screens on March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

Before the disaster management had hoped to break even in 2014 after three years of losses but last month it posted a record quarterly loss of 443.4 million ringgit ($138 million) for the three months ended March 31. The second quarter this year is “a challenge” but the management wants to implement measures that, if successful, could enable the airline to break even in 2015, Hugh Dunleavy, the carrier's director of commercial operations, told Reuters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Doha, Qatar.

“I don’t think there will be any sacred cows,” said Dunleavy. “Every part of the airline will have to be looked at very carefully.”

Dunleavy declined to comment on suggestions that MAS could be taken private or that it might sell off its engineering business, but he added that there were other things that the airline could do. These included cutting “legacy costs” that have been in place for “the last 10 to 20 years”, he said.

“The world has changed since those costs were implemented. In those days, the Middle Eastern carriers and low-cost carriers were non-existent. MH370 has given us the impetus to be far more vigorous in going after those costs,” he said.

The airline will retire the last of its older Boeing 737-400 aircraft by 15 June, replacing them with 737-800s that have higher fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs. The 737-800s are also being worked harder, their average utilization increasing from nine hours a day to around 12 hours, said Dunleavy. Other operating costs are also being tackled, but Dunleavy declined to provide more details as these are being finalised.

Media reports in Malaysia have also suggested that the airline could re-negotiate its catering and ground-handling contracts. Industry sources said that MAS could also cut jobs and freeze wages and bonus payments. The cargo unit's business model is also being re-assessed, with the airline possibly selling some freighters if it can find a buyer. MAS had planned to order new passenger aircraft, including Airbus A330s and A350s, before MH370 went missing. That plan has been put on hold, although the airline could acquire some A330s on lease to replace ageing Boeing 777-200s, the sources said.

The airline could also reconfigure the cabin to add more business class seats to increase revenue yields. Revenues were hit after the MH370 disaster in part because the airline stopped all promotional and marketing activity. This resumed in the first week of May, and forward bookings have returned to pre-MH370 levels in most markets, said Dunleavy. Average fare yields, however, remain under pressure due to competition from other full-service airlines in Asia and the Middle East, as well as low-cost carriers AirAsia and AirAsia X in Malaysia. The airline continues to burn cash but Dunleavy said he remained confident that management can turn the business round.

"We have to look at the business model that will allow us to be sustainable over the next 40 years," he said.

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MH370 not in Indian Ocean, 634 runways for Malaysia Airlines jet

The missing plane, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, is not in the Indian Ocean, and the Australian search team along with other international search teams ended their mission for Flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean stating that the area can now be "discounted as the final resting place of the plane," reported The Mirror on May 29.

According to a senior US Navy official, the four acoustic underwater pings that were picked up last month and that had searchers believe that the missing plane was in the Indian Ocean turned out to be a false lead and not coming from the plane’s black boxes after all. Michael Dean, the US Navy’s deputy director for salvage and diving commented that “the best theory is that the pings were actually sounds from the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield or from the pinger locator being towed behind the ship,” reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

As all countries in the search for Flight MH370 have come to the same conclusion, that the missing plane is not in the Indian Ocean, investigators are back to square one and returning to initial reports by Malaysian officials that the airplane had been hijacked either by terrorists or as a result of “deliberate action” by someone on the plane.

As such, investigators are now looking into all possible runways that the plane could have approached after its March 8 disappearance while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Satellite evidence shows that he aircraft's transponder was turned off and that the plane changed direction shortly before it vanished with its 239 passengers and crew members on board. The plane had sufficient fuel to have flown for about another 2,200 miles. It is estimated that the requirement for the runway would have been about 5,000 feet.

The WNYC Data News team found that based on the plane’s size and fuel availability, there are 634 runways on which the plane could have possibly landed. Those 634 runways include locations as far away as Pakistan to the north, the Australian coast to the west, and Japan to the east. Some of the unusual places include the Gan Airport in the Maldives, the Dalanzadgad Airport in Mongolia, and the Yap Airport in Micronesia.

Could the missing plane, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, really have landed on one of those 634 runways and is it possible that anyone is still alive? Would anyone keep 239 souls alive for any reason? What distinguishes MH370 from other flights that have disappeared for a period of time before having been found is the information that has been provided by Malaysian officials. Based on the consistently misleading information provided by Malaysia, it is more likely that Malaysia does not want the missing plane to be found. As to why and what really happened – that is another question.

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7 ways air travel changed after air disasters

One of the key questions asked after any serious airline incident is: how do we stop this happening again?

Malaysia Airlines has already changed its cockpit regulations as a result of Flight 370's disappearance.

Many other incidents in the past have led to safer flying conditions for us today, as a result of improvements and changes to protocol, laws and technology in planes. Below we outline some of the most important ones.

These helped pave the way to making 2013 one of the safest years in aviation history according to the Aviation Safety Network, with only 29 known accidents worldwide, and 265 fatalities (the 10-year average is 720 fatalities per year).

1. Collision Avoidance Systems

Collision Avoidance Systems have been a priority in the aerospace industry since the inception of flight.

In 1956, a TWA jet crashed into a United Airlines flight above the Grand Canyon. The incident was the first of many that illustrated the need for increased communication between planes.

A few years later, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was formed to set guidelines for aviation in the United States, but still, issues remained.

Several other two-plane accidents -- including a 1996 collision near New Delhi that resulted in 349 casualties -- emphasized the need for advanced, anti-collision technology.

After a congressional ruling in 1991, the FAA implemented the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which monitors the airspace around an aircraft independent of air traffic control.

"TCAS really came about in the late '90s, and since then, I don't think we've really seen a collision between two airlines," notes Phil Seymour, president and COO of the International Bureau of Aviation, a consultancy that offers analysis and advice to the aviation industry.

2. Roomier seats

Coach may seem pretty crammed these days, but according to Seymour, there's a limit to how much plane manufacturers are allowed to shave off the space around seats.

In fact, modern-day seat layout has been rigorously calculated to carry out the most effective evacuation.

This is in part thanks to research carried out by the Cranfield Institute after a 1985 incident, when a British Airtours 737 caught fire before take-off at Manchester International Airport.

An engine caught fire, and the flames spread quickly. Unfortunately, the lack of space between seats meant that bottle-necking occurred at the doors, and some passengers couldn't escape.

"The aisles became jammed with people panicking to exit, and there literally wasn't enough space between the seats," recalls Seymour.

"Now, there are limits in terms of the minimum space between seats as well as the distance to an emergency exit."

3. Weather radar

Severe weather has played a role in some crashes, Delta Airlines Flight 191, most notably, which crashed in 1985 while approaching Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in a thunderstorm.

"Rain is one thing, but if a pilot gets into wind shear, and the currents are there, it will literally just push your aircraft onto the ground. There have been some incidents where aircraft have crashed when making their final approach," says Seymour.

In 1981, the FAA required all turbine-powered commercial planes be installed with wind shear detection systems by 1993. Since then, the models have become increasingly sophisticated.

"A lot of the more advanced weather radar don't just detect bad weather, but predict wind shear. If a pilot sees wind shear coming, instead of landing, he can circle around the airport until it disappears."

4. Manual training

It took two years for search parties to recover the black box from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route to Paris from Rio.

On reviewing the recordings, the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyse (BEA) blamed pilot error, in particular an overdependence on the automated flight control system.

"The senior captain was on his break, and the aircraft was being piloted by two less experienced pilots," recalls Seymour. "Since then, Airbus and Boeing have both changed their operation procedures, and have put more focus on manual training," he adds.

In the wake of the incident, Air France also revamped its training procedures, and introduced a new "gatekeeper" position.

Gatekeepers are tasked with contacting the flight crew in the event of an incident and providing pilots with on-the-spot training, tools and advice.

5. Retiring old planes

The FAA addressed the issue of how long planes should fly in 1988 when they created the National Aging Aircraft Research program, which monitors the structural integrity of older planes.

The measure was a result of an Aloha Airlines accident. While flying at 24,000 feet, a large section of the roof blew off, leaving passengers flying in the open air.

The plane -- a Boeing 737 -- was 19 years old, and investigators blamed the incident on the plane's age-related wear and tear.

6. Reviewing repairs

When it comes to making repairs to old aircraft, airlines have also become increasingly stringent.

This is mainly the result of Japan Airlines Flight 123, which crashed in the mountains 62 miles from Tokyo. The crash was the result of a poorly executed repair made several years earlier.

"The repair covered a crack in the bolt head, but many hundreds of flights later, it corroded and the air pressure bolt head just burst open," recalls Seymour.

Boeing responded by monitoring their repairs more closely.

"After that, the types of repairs allowed on an aircraft skin were much more rigorously controlled," says Seymour.

7. Retrieving data

Both the Air France 447 crash and the more recent incident involving Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have spotlighted the need for better access to data.

"There were several recommendations stemming from AF447, mainly centered around the flight data recorders and, more specifically, on ensuring the ability to locate them more easily and quickly," says Ilias Maragakis, communications officer for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

In the aftermath of the Air France incident, EASA published a notice of a proposed amendment to retire older recording technologies and recommended that cockpit voice recorders have a minimum recording duration of two hours.

Unfortunately, it may be a while before the necessary changes are implemented.

"Changes to regulations do take time. It's taken almost two decades for aircraft to be manufactured and older aircraft to be modified to have a system that means an empty fuel tank can't explode on an aircraft," Seymour points out.

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