Facts About Flight 370: Passengers, Crew & Aircraft
by LiveScience Staff | March 20, 2014 03:22pm E3
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 A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 lands at Los Angeles International Airport in February 2013.Credit: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 image via Shutterstock |
Passengers and crew
Flight 370 left Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. local time carrying 227 passengers and 12 crewmembers. People from 14 nations were on board; most of the passengers — 153 — were Chinese citizens; all of the crewmembers were Malaysian. Three Americans were on the flight. Other passengers were from Australia (6), Canada (2), France (4), Hong Kong (1), India (5), Indonesia (7), Iran (2), the Netherlands (1), Russia (1), Taiwan (1) and Ukraine (2).The manifest released by Malaysia Airlines included an Austrian and an Italian. However, the men have since been identified as Iranian nationals who boarded the flight using stolen passports. Investigators at first thought the men may have been terrorists, but now say they were seeking asylum.
The flight's pilot was Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, who was born in northern Malaysian state of Penang and was a grandfather. He had more than 18,000 hours of flight experience. The co-pilot was Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, who had 2,763 flight hours. The Associated Press reported that he was engaged and was planning his wedding.
The aircraft
Flight 370 took off in a Boeing 777-2H6ER. The code "H6" is Boeing's designation for Malaysia Airlines, and "ER" stands for Extended Range. It was the 404th Boeing 777 produced. The plane first flew on May 14, 2002, according to the Aviation Safety Network. It had flown a total of 53,465 hours on 7,525 flight cycles (a cycle is one takeoff and landing of an aircraft).This type of aircraft is configured to carry 282 passengers — 35 in Business Class and 247 in Economy Class. It has two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines mounted under its 200-foot (61 meters) wings. The plane has a maximum fuel capacity of 47,380 gallons (179,400 liters) and a range of 7,941 miles (12,779 kilometers). Its cruising speed is Mach 0.84 (640 mph or 897 kph).
This particular aircraft last underwent maintenance on Feb. 23, 2014. A Malaysia Airlines spokesperson said no issues were identified during the maintenance. The aircraft had no history of major incidents before its disappearance. However, it was reportedly involved in a minor ground collision in 2012, which resulted in significant damage to a wingtip, according to Flightglobal.
The airline
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) began operations in 1972 after splitting off from Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, which was founded in 1947. The airline's home base is Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with hubs in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. The airline operates flights throughout East and Southeast Asia, with service to Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Europe and, until April 2014, Los Angeles via Tokyo. It has 105 planes in its fleet.The Aviation Safety Network lists three accidents (not including Flight 370) involving MAS aircraft:
Sept. 2, 1992: Both tires collapsed, as well as the left main gear, causing a Fokker 50 to veer off the runway at Sibu Airport in Malaysia. No one was hurt.
Sept. 15, 1995: A Fokker 50 landed 500 meters from the end of a 2,220-meter runway in Kota Kinabalu. The pilot attempted to take off and try again but crashed into some nearby houses. A total of 34 people on board were killed.
March 15, 2000: Baggage handlers unloading 80 canisters from anAirbus A330 were overcome by strong toxic fumes. Fire and rescue personnel discovered that the canisters contained oxalyl chloride, a toxic and corrosive chemical. Several canisters had leaked, causing severe damage to the aircraft's fuselage. The aircraft was considered damaged beyond repair. A Chinese company was fined $65 million for mislabeling the canisters and destroying the aircraft.
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