On 8 March 2014, flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER registered 9M-MRO, lost contact with Air Traffic Control during a transition between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace. An analysis of radar data and subsequent satellite communication (SATCOM) system signalling messages placed the aircraft in
the Australian search and rescue zone on an arc in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. This arc was considered to be the location close to where the
aircraft’s fuel was exhausted.
Recent refinement to the analysis has given greater certainty about when the aircraft turned south into the Indian Ocean and has produced a better understanding of the parameters within which the satellite ground station was operating during the last flight of MH370. The latest analyses indicates that the underwater search should be prioritised further south within the wide search area for the next phase of the search. The ATSB has published MH370 – Flight path analysis update to supplement the previously released report MH370 – Definition of Underwater Search Areas, which describes the continuing work.