Letters

MH370 and analysis of ping data

It was recently reported that all the information gathered on the disappearance of the Malaysia Airline Flight 370 would be reviewed to make sure that the search is being conducted in the right area.

Ping data analysis has played a pivotal role in mapping out the "most likely" search area. Critical to the accuracy of the ping data analysis is accurate knowledge of the circuit latency of the pinging device on the missing aircraft. Each millisecond of uncertainty in the circuit latency translates into 150 kilometers of uncertainty of the location of the pinging source from the satellite. And since the satellite is 36,000 km above the earth, this translates into 3,300 km in uncertainty in its position on Earth, which is more than half the distance from Malaysia to Africa.