19th Apr 2017

Somebody needs to check their maps at Malaysia Airlines. In a recent post on Facebook, the Malaysian carrier confused Auckland for Christchurch, placing the volcanic Mt. Eden near Christchurch, whereas in real life, it is located about 700 km north near Auckland.

The post, accompanied by a picture of Mt. Eden (with Auckland in the background, of course, not Christchurch) said:

Standing tall above Christchurch is the volcanic Mt. Eden. Once a fortified Maori village, the hill is now home to a vibrant suburb that offers some of the finest cultural and natural sights in Christchurch.

The post was taken down about two hours after, but not before it caught the eyes of Reddit users. And in the typical Reddit fashion, the users there had a lot of fun at the MAB’s expense. One user, with obviously good memory, wrote:

I remember that earthquake that happened in Auckland just a few years ago that was so severe it moved one mountain from Auckland to another city roughly 700 kilometers away.

Back in 2015, one MAB pilot had to ask for directions shortly after takeoff after he became confused what route he should take. He was flying from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur.

MAB Signs Deal to Track its Fleet from Space

In the meantime, Malaysia Airlines had signed an agreement with Aireon, FlightAware and SITAONAIR, that will allow it to tack it fleet via satellite. This is the first such deal for any airline, not just in Malaysia or Asia, but the world as well.

In a press release, Izham Ismail, MAB Chief Operating Officer said:

Real-time global aircraft tracking has long been a goal of the aviation community. We are proud to be the first airline to adopt this solution.

With this, MAB will be able to track its flights as they cross oceans, pass over polar regions or travel anywhere else in the world, according to a press release from Aireon.

Unfortunately, since the location transmission system went dead and the satellite network would be incapable of receiving the signals from it, it is unlikely that the network would be of much help in tracking the missing MH370 flight, which disappeared on 8^th March, 2014.