Operational time is one night in March 2014. Search time ran for years.
Dates below prefer ATC logs, Malaysian announcements, ATSB paper and debris identifications.
Timeline
- Flight 370 departs
9M-MRO leaves Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:41 MYT with 239 people on board.
- Last ATC call
After the IGARI handoff the cockpit says good night. Secondary radar ceases. The aircraft is not on Ho Chi Minh’s frequency.
- First search boxes
Malaysia, Vietnam, China and others search the South China Sea and later the Strait of Malacca as military radar reconstructions emerge.
- Southern-ocean announcement
Najib Razak states that Inmarsat analysis shows the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors.
- ATSB seabed search
Australia’s JACC and ATSB lead a 120,000-square-kilometre underwater survey west of Australia. No airframe is found.
- Réunion flaperon
A wing fragment is found on Réunion. French authorities later identify it as from 9M-MRO.
- Official search ends
The ATSB-led seabed search is suspended without the wreck. Malaysia, Australia and China issue a joint statement.
- Ocean Infinity sweep
A private contractor searches a further area under an agreement with Malaysia. No wreck is reported.
- Malaysian safety report
The Annex 13 investigation publishes its final report. Cause undetermined; wreck still missing.
- Open wreck-file
Families and later private proposals keep pressure for another search. No court or board has located 9M-MRO.
After 2018 the official paper thins and the anniversary features thicken.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.