A decade ago today, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers aboard, in what is known as the world’s worst air crash. Surprisingly, two major search missions yielded no significant results. It is not known what exactly happened to the plane. This mysterious event gave rise to many speculations. British news agency Reuters published a report on Friday (March 8) about the search for MH370 and the unsolved mystery of what exactly happened that day. Let’s know about MH 370 in the light of that report.
March 8, 2014. The Boeing 777 disappeared about 40 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing.
Analysis of satellite data suggests the plane may have crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean off the coast of Western Australia.
What happened that day?
As the flight entered Vietnamese airspace, Captain Zahari Ahmad Shah greeted everyone and said, ‘Good night, Malaysian three seven zero’.
Shortly thereafter, the plane’s transponder went off. Which means the aircraft’s movements can no longer be easily tracked.
According to military radar, the plane deviated from its route and flew over northern Malaysia and Penang Island before heading to the tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea. After it was detected in the south, all communications were lost.
Underwater exploration
Malaysia, Australia and China launched an underwater search of 120,000 square kilometers (46,332 square miles) in the southern Indian Ocean based on data from an Inmarsat satellite and an automatic link between the aircraft.
About $14.3 million was spent on conducting the search. After two years of continuous search operations, no trace of the aircraft was found. After this failure, the search operation was called off in January 2017.
Then in 2018, the US exploration agency Ocean Infinity offered Malaysia a three-month exploration mission called ‘no-cure, no-fee’. This means, the company will only accept payment from Malaysia once the plane is found. Malaysia accepted their proposal. The company searched a total area of 112,000 square kilometers (43,243 square miles). Their failed operation was closed in May 2018.
Have any debris been found?
More than 30 suspected plane wreckages were collected along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean. Only three of these were pieces of the MH370 wing. Most of the debris was used in drift pattern analysis with the aim of minimizing the distance to the aircraft’s possible position.
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Investigation report
A 495-page report on the disappearance of MH370 was released in July 2018. It said the Boeing 777 was likely deliberately manipulated to take control. However, if this happened, the investigators could not determine anything about who is responsible for it.
The report also highlighted errors at the Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control centers. At the same time recommendations are issued to avoid recurrence of the same incident.
Investigators have not reached any conclusions about what happened to MH370. They said it depends on finding the wreckage.
Conspiracy theory
The failure to identify the crash site of MH370 has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. A myriad of outlandish explanations are then heard, from mechanical failure or remote-controlled crashes to alien abductions and a Russian conspiracy.
In recent years, some aviation experts have suggested that an experienced pilot may have intentionally made the plane disappear.
Investigators, however, said there was nothing suspicious about the past history, finances, training and mental health of both the captain and the co-pilot.
What would be a new search?
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this week that the government is willing to reopen the investigation into the disappearance of MH370 if necessary.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Ocean Infinity had been invited to discuss a new exploration proposal. People also said that once the proposal of Ocean Infinity is approved by the Malaysian cabinet, the Malaysian authorities will talk to Australia for cooperation in starting the search again.
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