[P7_TOM]

Brock – “- the letters "IC" - preceded by a probable "T" (or possible "F") - might suggest the word "STATIC" - part of a warning painted on many parts of a commercial jet. Some folks suggest such a warning would be expected on the underside of the extreme edge of a 777's wingtip, because that's where static build-up can occur (I am out of my element, here).”

Reluctant as I am to enter the MH 370 fray without hard facts, discussing some basics seems innocuous enough.  Traditionally a ‘static port’ is exactly what it claims to be – where “static” air pressure is measured.  I have found a reasonable explanation in Wiki – HERE.

Static pressure.
The static pressure is obtained through a static port. The static port is most often a flush-mounted hole on the fuselage of an aircraft, and is located where it can access the air flow in a relatively undisturbed area.[1]

Some aircraft may have a single static port, while others may have more than one. In situations where an aircraft has more than one static port, there is usually one located on each side of the fuselage. With this positioning, an average pressure can be taken, which allows for more accurate readings in specific flight situations.[1] An alternative static port may be located inside the cabin of the aircraft as a backup for when the external static port(s) are blocked. A pitot-static tube effectively integrates the static ports into the pitot probe. It incorporates a second coaxial tube (or tubes) with pressure sampling holes on the sides of the probe, outside the direct airflow, to measure the static pressure. When aircraft climbs, static pressure will decrease.

‘Problems’ with ‘static ports’ have caused many incidents and accidents, if they are blocked by ice, polish, or paint (masking tape), no matter how sophisticated the systems the data is fed into, if those little holes are blocked things can and do get ‘interesting’.  LINK.

Blocked static port.

A blocked static port is a more serious situation because it affects all pitot-static instruments.[6] One of the most common causes of a blocked static port is airframe icing. A blocked static port will cause the altimeter to freeze at a constant value, the altitude at which the static port became blocked. The vertical speed indicator will become frozen at zero and will not change at all, even if vertical airspeed increases or decreases. The airspeed indicator will reverse the error that occurs with a clogged pitot tube and cause the airspeed to be read less than it actually is as the aircraft climbs. When the aircraft is descending, the airspeed will be over-reported. In most aircraft with unpressurized cabins, an alternative static source is available and can be selected from within the cockpit.[6]

There are some images for the 777 static ports but the two below, on the vertical 'tail fin' of a triple may be of some interest to you.



You will note on almost every aircraft that the static ports are made highly visible and  checking them prior to departure is a time honoured requirement.  

Hope that helps; we can provide 'in depth' systems description, but that seems OTT for now.

Cheers.  P7...