The world of aviation is full of mysteries, with many unsolved cases and unexplained incidents that have fascinated people for years. One of the biggest mysteries is the disappearance of MH370. The flight went dark after the captain’s last message, and this mystery still puzzles experts and sparks endless speculation.
The mysterious disappearance
A decade ago on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished without a trace, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.
At 1:19 a.m. on that day, Flight MH370 lost contact with the world. The plane’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, delivered a calm and routine message, “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero,” after being told to switch to Vietnamese air traffic control.
These six words gave no hint of the impending crisis aboard the aircraft carrying 239 passengers. This would be the last communication from the flight.
The plane had been airborne for 48 minutes after departing from Kuala Lumpur, heading to Beijing on a journey that was supposed to last 6.5 hours. However, just two minutes after Zaharie’s final message, at 1:21 a.m., the plane went dark and disappeared from radar.
A massive international search in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed, found nothing. Except for a few small fragments that washed ashore later, no bodies or significant wreckage have ever been recovered.
For Naren, whose wife Chandrika was among the 239 people on the flight that never reached its destination, this is unbearable. He said, “I worry that by not knowing what happened to the flight, we are collectively vulnerable to a recurrence.”
This question haunts those who fear flying, and even many who don’t. How can a sophisticated Boeing 777, equipped with modern instruments and global satellite tracking, simply vanish without a trace?
Theories surrounding Flight MH370
Pilot-assisted suicide
Many people believe the aircraft’s commander, Captain Zaharie Shah is the culprit of this tragedy. One common theory suggests that Captain Shah locked the first officer out of the cockpit, turned off the communication systems, and put on an oxygen mask before depressurizing the cabin.
At such a high altitude, higher than Mount Everest, the passengers and crew would quickly succumb to a lack of oxygen.
But the official report says: “There was no known history of apathy, anxiety, or irritability. There were no significant changes in his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict or family stresses.”
The first officer, 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid, was on his first solo mission on the Boeing 777 without a training captain. He had flown the aircraft only five times before. Investigators said his “ability and professional approach to work was reported to be good”.
Given his limited experience, it seems unlikely that he could have executed such a complex plan.
Pilot hijacking the plane
One theory suggests that one of the pilots might have intended to hijack the plane, land it safely, and then escape. While there’s no historical precedent for this, it’s possible that the pilot’s plan failed due to hypoxia, which incapacitated everyone onboard. However, it’s hard to imagine a motive for such a bold act.
Besides, the investigators concluded: “There is no evidence to suggest that the PIC [pilot in command, ie captain] and FO [first officer] experienced recent changes or difficulties in personal relationships or that there were any conflicts or problems between them.” They also analyzed the pilots’ radio conversations and found no signs of anxiety or stress.
In addition, the final report highlights, “It is not possible to deactivate automatic deployment of the masks from the cockpit.” In the event of a significant drop in cabin pressure, the masks would automatically drop, giving passengers and crew time to communicate with the ground.
Hijacked by a passenger or member of cabin crew
Given the large number of passengers and the 10 cabin crew members on board, there are numerous potential motives to consider. Kuala Lumpur International Airport had standard security measures in place, but as 9/11 demonstrated, passing through a checkpoint doesn’t guarantee a passenger poses no threat to the aircraft or its occupants.
Two Iranian passengers were traveling with stolen passports from an Italian and an Austrian. However, they seemed to be illegal migrants looking to reach the West rather than individuals with malicious intentions.
All 10 cabin crew members were married with children, which many believe makes it unlikely they would have hijacked the aircraft.
Hijacked and flown to Kazakhstan
US aviation journalist Jeff Wise proposed a controversial theory in his book, claiming that MH370 was hijacked on purpose and flown to Kazakhstan.
Wise argues that, despite the Inmarsat data and the debris that started appearing two years after the plane vanished, MH370 actually flew north from the Andaman Sea, rather than south towards Antarctica.
Wise suggests that hijackers tampered with the satellite transmission data in the plane’s electronics bay, which is accessible through a hatch in the first class cabin.
Wise said, “to provide a false trail of breadcrumbs leading away from the plane’s true route”.
“It’s ridiculous,” Exner said of Wise’s thesis, “that’s the most ridiculous of all (the theories), I think.”
Aliens and black holes
Under the category of the absurd, theories about UFOs intercepting MH370 and black holes swallowing planes continue to be hot topics in online forums.
One of the most notable fake UFO videos circulating on social media was altered to show alien spacecraft surrounding MH370 before it was supposedly zapped out of the sky.
This UFO video even appeared on Alex Jones’ Infowars. Before that, hJones, known for his controversial claims, has been heavily criticized for falsely stating that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.