Malaysia provides technical details leading to conclusion of MH370's ending

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Tuesday that UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) provided further details as how the data was analysed.

He said Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company, developed a second innovative technique in recent days which considers the velocity of the aircraft relative to the satellite.

According to his words, the Inmarsat technique analyses the difference between the frequency that the ground station expects to receive and one that is actually measured. This difference is the result of the Doppler effect and is known as the Burst Frequency Offset.

"The Burst Frequency Offset changes depending on the location of the aircraft on an arc of possible positions, its direction of travel, and its speed. In order to establish confidence in its theory, Inmarsat checked its predictions using information obtained from six other B777 aircraft flying on the same day in various directions. There was good agreement,"said Hishammuddin.

Yet he also mentioned that while on the ground at the Kuala Lumpur airport, and during the early stage of the flight, MH370 transmitted several messages. "At this stage the location of the aircraft and the satellite were known, so it was possible to calculate system characteristics for the aircraft, satellite, and ground station," he said.

"This analysis by Inmarsat forms the basis for further study to attempt to determine the final position of the aircraft. Accordingly, the Malaysian investigation has set up an international working group, comprising agencies with expertise in satellite communications and aircraft performance, to take this work forward," said the statement.