MH370: Beacon battery had sufficient energy to last for 30 days underwater - MAS

A similar underwater locator beacon battery (ULB) unit was installed with the Solid State Cockpit Voice Recorder (SSCVR) providing sufficient energy for the beacon to transmit for 30 days after it was activated.

Malaysia Airlines in a statement said, the ULB was still running on the day the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014.

The statement was issued in response to an interim report released on the investigation into the year-long disappearance.

READ THE INTERIM STATEMENT HERE

MAS also clarified that the consignment of Motorola Lithium-ion batteries was physically inspected by MASKargo personnel in Penang and customs inspectors, prior to being sealed before the item left the Penang Cargo Complex.

The beacon is designed to transmit signal if a crash occurs in water.

The company also confirmed that the inspection procedures performed on the item are in line with those defined by ICAO.

The Engineering Maintenance System was not updated correctly when the ULB battery was first installed. This was a maintenance scheduling oversight, said MAS.

"The CVR is installed side by side with the Solid State Flight Data Recorder (SSFDR) at the E7 Avionic rack ... the SSCVR battery would have been transmitting for 30 days upon activation when immersed in water," the statement added.

The national airliner also said that it had always supported and cooperated fully with the investigation from the beginning, across several lines of enquiry, and will continue to do so.

MAS also said the company has taken significant steps to improve safety in response to the loss of flight MH370 and that the airline has consistently adhered to the standards required by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme.

Yesterday, an interim safety-investigation report from ICAO stated that the battery on one of MAS flight MH370's data recorder beacons may have expired more than a year before the plane went missing, reported CNBC.

The report said that the SSFDR ULB battery expired in December 2012 and that there is no evidence to suggest that the SSFDR ULB battery had been replaced before the expiry date.

It also said that it is not guaranteed that the device will work or that it would meet the 30-day minimum requirement, despite it will operate past the expiry date.