On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers and crew, departed at 12:40 a.m. and was flown to an altitude of 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) en route. Everything proceeded normally for the first 45 minutes of the flight as the plane flew over the South China Sea.
At approximately 1:15 a.m., MH370 reached waypoint IGARI and was directed to hand over to Vietnamese air traffic control. However, after the plane made a right turn, it disappeared from radar and lost contact with Vietnamese air traffic control. This left no one aware that the plane had disappeared for about 18 minutes until Vietnamese air traffic control contacted Malaysia to inquire about the situation.
Initially, the search team focused on the last radar position of the plane in the South China Sea, but found no trace of the plane, including debris or oil slicks. A major revelation came from the Malaysian military, when they discovered that MH370 had turned around and flown back across Malaysia, travelling northwest through the Strait of Malacca before disappearing from military radar north of Sumatra.
Five days after it went missing, Inmarsat satellite data showed that MH370 continued to send ping signals to the satellite for six hours after losing contact with air traffic control. This data suggested that the plane had flown south over the Indian Ocean, and that its last known position was in a remote part of the Indian Ocean, far from any normal flight path.
Despite a massive search led by Australia, no wreckage of the plane was found after weeks of searching. Even with the help of satellites and underwater locators, the search was fruitless.
The investigation continues with various theories as to the cause of the disappearance, ranging from mechanical failure, fire on board to the possibility of hijacking. However, to this day, the real cause remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.
During the investigation and theories surrounding the disappearance of flight MH370.
1. **Sonar network detects suspicious sounds**: Scientists used a network of sonar devices spaced 2 km off the coast of Perth, Australia to detect unusual sounds in the ocean. Data from this network recorded a sound that they believed could be related to flight MH370. However, after detailed analysis, they found that the location of the sound was much further away than the Inmarsat satellite data provided, so it was not considered valuable for further investigation.
2. **Debris appeared in 2016**: Two years after the disappearance, some debris from a plane was found on the island of Réunion and along the east coast of Africa. Serial numbers on the debris confirmed that it was from MH370. However, although ocean drift models fit the estimated location of the crash site, the main fuselage has not yet been found.
3. **Hijacking theory**: One of the main theories is that the plane was hijacked. Initial investigations focused on two Iranian passengers who were using fake passports. However, they were identified as refugees seeking to reach Germany, with no other suspicious signs. Attention therefore turned to the crew, especially Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
4. **Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah**: He was a veteran pilot with over 22 years of experience. An investigation into Zaharie found that he had simulated a flight on his home simulator, with a similar flight path to the final flight path of MH370. Although this raised suspicions, there was no direct evidence to prove that he was the one who carried out the hijacking. Zaharie is also a man with strong political views and was involved in a controversial trial just hours before MH370 took off, leading to speculation that it may have been an act of political protest.
5. **Details of how the plane disappeared from radar**: If the theory that Zaharie was in control is correct, he could have asked co-pilot Farik Abdul Hamid to leave the cockpit for some unsuspecting reason. Zaharie could then have locked the cockpit door, turned off the plane’s radar and satellite systems, causing MH370 to disappear from air traffic control radar screens.
6. **Route and concealment**: After turning off the radar and satellite systems, the plane is believed to have flown manually over the Malay Peninsula, avoiding the sensitive air defense zones of Indonesia and Thailand. Traveling along popular commercial flight routes helps the plane hide from military radars. Along the way, the co-pilot’s mobile phone connected to a cell tower near Penang, but the signal quickly disappeared.
7. **Final stage of flight**: The plane continued to fly south over the Indian Ocean. The Inmarsat satellite system recorded the plane’s handshake signals with satellites, helping to determine arcs of MH370’s potential location. However, after the plane ran out of fuel, the engines stopped working, the plane fell into free fall and contact was lost completely.
8. **Finally, what happened to MH370**: Despite many theories and years of searching, the wreckage of MH370 has never been found, making it one of the longest unsolved mysteries in aviation history.
The story ends with a call to continue the search and a hope that answers will eventually be found as to what really happened to MH370.
