On the 8th of March, 2014, the night started normally. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur. The flight, headed to Beijing. There were 239 on board. Crew, family, friends. All seemed normal.
Then something strange occurred.
Less than an hour into the flight, MH370 disappeared. No warning. No distress call. Just vanished.
Where Did It Go?
At First, Air traffic control thought it was a mistake. Planes had gone off before, but they always reappear. However, this one did not.
Radar showed the plane changed direction suddenly. It turned west abruptly. Then it went out over the Indian Ocean. Then there was silence.
The Search Begins
Search parties began searching within hours. They concentrated along the flight route near Vietnam. Still, they found nothing. No wreck. No trace. Meanwhile, they found nothing.
As days passed, the party then moved west. The Indian Ocean is immense. Black and deep. difficult to search. Many planes and vessels assisted. From orbit, satellites scanned.
Nevertheless, no sign yet.
How Is This Even Possible?
Everybody asked the question. We have GPS. We monitor everything. In our hands is technology more powerful than ever.
So how can a contemporary jet just disappear?
Here’s the cruel reality that monitoring isn’t flawless.
Radar, transponders, and satellites are all employed by planes. But over open water, radar has limited coverage. If systems get disabled or cease to function, the plane ceases to be visible.
And that most likely occurred. MH370’s systems went silent. The exact reason is unclear.
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Big Questions, Little Hints
Wreckage washed up over a year later. On Réunion Island initially. Then on African beaches. These were MH370’s remains. We knew now that it had crashed. Somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean,
The main wreckage? Not yet discovered.
What about questions? It’s still pending.
And the key questions remained:
Yes, the plane did turn, but why? Was there a person in control? Could it have been a mistake? Could it have been planned?
There was a fire, or so some experts say. Others think it was a hijack. Others believe it was the pilot. But no one can demonstrate it.
Why It Matters
It’s not just a mystery. It’s tragedy. Families still have not been given answers. Many insist that until they know what happened, they can’t move on.
They don’t want silence.
As a world community, we need to know too what went wrong.
What We’ve Discovered
Since MH370, regulations in aviation have evolved. Planes are now required more often to give their locations. With new technology, planes can now be tracked in real-time from satellites. These changes were made to make flying safer.
But, the changes were implemented too late for MH370.
The Search Goes On
After so many search, the official search ended in 2017. Yet millions had been spent, and nothing had been discovered. In 2018, a company made another search privately. There was a lot of hope. Though, there is no wreckage.
The water is good secret keeper.
A Mystery That Haunts
MH370 disappearance ranks as one of the aviation’s greatest enigmas. Experts, families, and tourists continue to wonder what happened.
It reminds us even in the contemporary world, that some things are still out of our reach.
We are 35,000 feet in the air. We employ satellites and autopilot. But One aircraft, strayed off course and never turned up.
Final Thoughts:
MH370, reminds us of two things. First, there are limitations even for modern technology. Second, each life on board was precious.
There was more to it than an airplane. They were individuals. Sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and friends. Their stories deserve to be heard. Their families need to know.
One day we may find out. Perhaps the mystery of sea will be solved.
Until then we remember MH370. And we pose the question.
How can a modern airliner simply vanish?
