page_title: Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
section_title: July 2015 – January 2017
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 / July 2015 – January 2017
caption_attribution_description: English: Probability of the location where Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 entered the ocean, based on an analysis by the Australian Defence and Science Technology Group (DST Group) and released on 3 December 2015.
context_page_description: The timeline of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 lists events associated with the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370—a scheduled, commercial flight operated by Malaysia Airlines from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport on 8 March 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew. Air traffic control lost contact with Flight 370 less than an hour into the flight, after which it was tracked by military radar crossing the Malay Peninsula and was last located over the Andaman Sea. Analysis of automated communications between the aircraft and a satellite communications network has determined that the aircraft flew into the southern Indian Ocean, before communication ended shortly after 08:19. The disappearance initiated a multi-national search effort that became the most expensive search in aviation history.
  In the weeks after Flight 370's disappearance, the search focused on waters in Southeast Asia and an investigation into the disappearance was opened.
context_section_description: On 29 July, a piece of marine debris is found on Réunion—an island in the western Indian Ocean—that resembled an aircraft component. The object is confirmed to be a flaperon from a Boeing 777. A search of the island and nearby waters is launched to locate other possible debris from Flight 370. Other marine debris found on Réunion over the following days is suspected of originating from Flight 370, but only the flaperon is conclusively linked to Flight 370. On 5 August, Malaysia's Prime Minister confirms that the first object discovered is from Flight 370; confirmation from French officials comes on 3 September. In the subsequent months several pieces of debris are determined to be highly likely to have come from Flight 370.
  On 17 January 2017 the underwater search for Flight 370 is suspended after a survey of 120,000 km² (46,000 sq mi) of the Indian Ocean is unsuccessful in locating the plane.
  29 July
  A piece of marine debris resembling an aircraft flaperon, and a suitcase are found on a beach on Réunion, a French island in the western Indian Ocean about 4,000 km (2,500 mi) west of the underwater search area. The items are transported the following day to Toulouse, France for analysis.
  31 July
  A Chinese water bottle and an Indonesian cleaning product are found on Réunion in the vicinity of the location where the aircraft flaperon and suitcase were found.
  2 August
  The Malaysian Ministry of Transportation announces that the first object discovered is a flaperon from a Boeing 777; they state that the verification was made with investigators from France, Malaysia, Boeing, and the US NTSB.
  5 August
  The Malaysian Prime Minister announces that experts have "conclusively confirmed" that the flaperon found on 29 July is from Flight 370; the debris is the first physical evidence that Flight 370 ended in the Indian Ocean.
  6 August
  Malaysia's Transport Ministry claims that window panes and aircraft seat cushions have washed up on Réunion. This claim is disputed by France.
  7 August
  Maldivian police investigate claims that plane debris has washed up on North Malé Atoll, Maldives. Authorities in nearby Mauritius have also begun searching for debris and sent a piece of a bag found on Îlot Gabriel for inspection.
  12 August
  A packet of Malaysian noodles were found in South Australia and a Malaysia Airlines baggage tag was found in Nowra, New South Wales. The items were turned into Australian authorities, who noted that "It’s very challenging for investigators to find something that can be linked to the aircraft – it would really have to be some form of debris from the aircraft. But we encourage people to bring anything unusual or out of place forward. It’s far better that we investigate and rule it out."
  The debris from North Malé is flown to Malaysia for investigation.
  Malaysia's government news agency published a new theory that Flight 370 made a soft landing on the water, floated for a while on the surface, and then sank mostly in one piece. Many experts also believe in this theory.
  3 September
  French investigators affirm "with certainty" that the aircraft flaperon discovered on 29 July is from Flight 370, due to a serial number that matched the records of the Spanish manufacturer that produced portions of the flaperon.
  8 September
  Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) releases a drift analysis that concludes that the finding of the flaperon on Réunion is consistent with the current search area for Flight 370.
  3 December
  The ATSB publishes a report, based on analysis by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group (DST Group). The analysis determined that the most probable location of Flight 370 when it entered the water is within the southern half of the existing search zone. The JACC also releases a pre-publication draft of Bayesian methods in the search for MH370, a book by the DST Group detailing their analysis.
  Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss announces the number of vessels in the search would be doubled to four, and that the undersea search was expected to be completed 
caption: A heat map of the probable final location of Flight 370 according to the DST Group analysis.
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