What Really Happened to the Most Mysterious Aviation Incident in History?

It was March 8, 2014, when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 unexpectedly disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. Little did anyone know that, even 10 years later, this plane and all its passengers would still not be “home.”

Vanished Without a Trace after 39 Minutes of Takeoff

According to records, when MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur Airport at 0:41, there were no abnormal signs. Before leaving Malaysian airspace, the pilot sent a final message saying, “Goodnight Malaysia 370.”

Minutes later, the plane’s transponder, a system that transmits the aircraft’s location to air traffic control, ceased to function. Military radar later detected the plane turning back towards the Andaman Sea before disappearing. Satellite data showed it continued to fly for several hours, potentially until it ran out of fuel and vanished.

227 Passengers and 12 Crew Members

At the time of the incident, MH370 was believed to be carrying around 239 people, including 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Most of the passengers were from Malaysia and China, with a few from countries such as the United States, Canada, Indonesia, France, and Russia.

Among the passengers were two Iranian teenagers using stolen passports to seek a new life in Europe, a group of Chinese calligraphy artists returning after exhibiting their works, 20 employees of the US-based Freescale Semiconductor company, a stunt double for actor Jet Li, families with young children, and a honeymooning couple. None of them would ever return after 10 years.

Search Efforts

After the incident was reported, a large-scale search operation was immediately launched with the support of Malaysia and various other countries. Numerous ships and aircraft from different nations began searching in the South China Sea before moving to the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Australia, along with Malaysia and China, led the largest and most expensive underwater search ever conducted. These countries collectively covered an area of about 120,000 square kilometers off the west coast of Australia, using aircraft, ships equipped with underwater signal detection, and robotic submarines.

Search teams discovered ultrasonic signals that could have come from the plane’s black box and found sunken ships believed to be 19th-century merchant vessels, but the plane itself was never found. It wasn’t until July 2015 that a debris, believed to be a flaperon from MH370, was discovered washed ashore on Reunion Island in France. Subsequently, other debris from the plane was found on the eastern coast of Africa.

Despite these findings, these were the only remnants we had of the ill-fated aircraft. In 2017, after three years of extensive effort, the broad search operation officially came to a close.

In January 2018, the US-based marine robotics company Ocean Infinity began a new search under a “no find, no fee” agreement with Malaysia. This search focused on the northern area. However, Ocean Infinity also ended its search just a few months later, with no indication of any new evidence regarding the plane’s location.

Why Hasn’t MH370 Been Found?

Following the news of the plane’s disappearance, numerous theories emerged about what could have happened on board, ranging from hijacking to cabin depressurization rendering everyone unconscious or even the plane falling into a cosmic black hole. However, there is no concrete evidence to support any of these hypotheses.

Experts attribute the elusive nature of the investigation to the fact that nobody knows the exact location where the plane went down. The Indian Ocean, as the world’s third-largest ocean, poses challenges in search efforts due to its unfavorable weather conditions with constant storms and rough seas.

Disappearing aircraft underwater is not a normal occurrence, but once they vanish, it becomes incredibly difficult to pinpoint their location. According to the Aviation Safety Network, in the past 50 years, dozens of planes have gone missing, and the probability of finding them at the bottom of the ocean is extremely low.

What Lies Ahead?

During a memorial event held on March 3, the Malaysian Government asserted that they would continue the search if new credible evidence emerged regarding MH370.

Currently, they are considering the proposal from Ocean Infinity for a new search using updated technology, although it remains unclear whether the company has any new evidence regarding the plane’s whereabouts. Nonetheless, many families of the victims remain steadfast in their quest for answers. They believe that the mystery must be solved, not only to bring closure but also to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Source: AP