Inmarsat says equipment not installed on missing AirAsia jet

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A member of an Indonesian Hercules C130 aircrew watches through a window while monitoring the Belitung Timur Sea during search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 near Belitung Island, December 29, 2014. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Inmarsat, the British satellite communications firm that helped provide key information in the hunt for Flight MH370, said its location equipment was not installed in the Indonesia AirAsia jetliner that went missing yesterday.

The firm reportedly confirmed this with UK daily The Guardian earlier today when the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 was underway. Search has since been called off.

When MH370 went missing on March 8 this year, it was data from the satellite communications firm released on March 14 that helped pinpoint the possible location that the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft had likely crashed.

According to Inmarsat, its satellite had registered “routine, automated signals” during the Boeing 777 jetliner’s journey en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

After MH370 was reported missing, initial search efforts were concentrated on the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam where the aircraft was last heard from before it lost contact with the Subang Air Traffic Control.

But Inmarsat’s data said electronic signals or “handshakes” were picked up from the aircraft well after it disappeared from sight, and that these signals had likely come from somewhere over the southern Indian Ocean.

In the Gallery

AirAsia's QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore, taking the same code as the missing plane which took off 24 hours earlier, taxis at Changi Airport in Singapore December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla (left) monitors progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta in this picture supplied by Antara Foto, December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Staff members unload AirAsia's QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore, which took the same code as the missing plane that took off 24 hours earlier, at Changi Airport in Singapore December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
A relative shows a picture of alleged passengers who were travelling on missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 on her mobile phone screen at the airport in Surabaya, East Java. ― AFP pic
A family member of a passenger on board the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 react as waiting news at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Family members of passengers on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
A family member of a passenger on board the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 react as waiting news at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Military and rescue authorities monitor progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Mission Control Center inside the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
An Indonesian man, whose wife is a passenger onboard the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, makes a phone call at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Relatives of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry as they pray together in a waiting area at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes (right) talks to the family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Relatives of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry as they pray together in a waiting area at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes (centre) talks with his staff at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Relatives of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 pray together in a waiting area at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
A boy stands near a list of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 as he looks for his aunt's name at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla shakes hands with family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 at a waiting area in Surabaya's Juanda International Airport December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Relatives point at the name of their family member on a list of passengers onboard AirAsia flight Qz8501c at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
A member of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) looks out into the waters, onboard a C-130 Hercules, during a Search and Locate operation for the missing AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft over an undisclosed search area December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) personnel survey the waters, onboard a C-130 Hercules, during a Search and Locate operation for the missing AirAsia QZ8501 aircraft over an undisclosed search area December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Relatives of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry in a waiting area at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
Navy soldiers work on a map of Indonesia monitoring all Navy ships from Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia involved in the joint search and rescue operation for AirAsia flight QZ8501 at a navy base on Batam island, December 29, 2014 in this photo supplied by Antara Foto. ― Reuters pic
Pilot of Navy airplane CN235 M. Naim holds a map to co-pilot Rahmad while flying over the Java sea during joint search operations of AirAsia flight QZ8501 December 29, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. ― Reuters pic
Family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 stand near Indonesia's map in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. ― Reuters pic
A member of an Indonesian Hercules C130 aircrew watches through a window while monitoring the Belitung Timur sea during search operations for AirAsia flight QZ8501 near Belitung island, December 29, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. ― Reuters pic

The international hunt for MH370 then moved entirely to the large ocean swathe somewhere off the coast of Perth in Australia, despite doubts raised by experts over the aircraft’s drastic change of direction.

Despite the data, however, there still remains no sign of the missing aircraft today, nine months on.

Indonesia AirAsia’s Flight QZ8501 disappeared from Jakarta’s radar at 6.18am local time yesterday amid stormy weather enroute to Singapore from Surabaya.

On board the Airbus A320 jet were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, one Frenchman and one Briton, comprising 155 passengers and seven crew members.

The plane’s last known position was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak in West Kalimantan on Borneo Island.