Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (or MH370) had disappeared with 227 passengers and 12 crewmembers onboard on March 8, 2014. Even a decade after the tragic incident, the cause of disappearance remains a mystery! The aircraft disappeared from the radar while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to China’s Beijing International Airport. The crew of the Boeing 777-200ER communicated with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 38 minutes after take-off for the one last time when the flight was over the South China Sea. Minutes later, the aircraft was lost from ATC’s secondary surveillance radar screens. However, the Malaysian Military‘s primary radar system tracked the plane for another hour, deviating westward from its planned route, and crossing the Malay Peninsula and Andaman Sea. The aircraft left the radar range 200 nautical miles (370km) northwest of Penang Island in northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. Thereafter, the aircraft was not found.

More than 20 countries were involved in the search for the MH370 after its disappearance. However, their efforts went in vain as the Government of Malaysia announced on March 24 (2014) that the aircraft had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean on its way to China after nearly 16 days of search operation. The Malaysian Government also announced that none of the passengers survived! It may be noted that most of the passengers were Chinese nationals. According to Beijing, satellite images showed the plane had flown over the southern Indian Ocean for seven hours before crashing into the sea.

Even after the announcement made by Malaysia, a search operation was carried out for almost three years covering an area of 120,000sqkm of the Indian Ocean to trace Flight MH370. However, the Malaysian Government called off the operation in January 2017. Several aircraft wreckage have been recovered from the Indian Ocean during these 10 years and some of them have been claimed to be part of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines plane. Unfortunately, Flight MH370 has never been found in spite of conducting the largest search operation in history for a missing aircraft.

There are a number of theories as to how the plane went missing. While some are of the opinion that someone in the aircraft killed the pilot, others believe that the pilot committed suicide. According to some experts, the plane crashed in mid-air because of a technical fault. Again, many believe that the flight was hijacked or the passengers and crew members onboard fainted for unknown reasons. Others have opined that the aircraft lost control in mid-air due to its overload.

A couple of months after the disappearance of the aircraft, British freelance journalist Nigel Cawthorne mentioned in a report titled Flight MH370: The Mystery that the plane had been shot down during a joint British-Thailand military exercise! Around the same time, Malaysian leader Mahathir bin Mohamad expressed suspicion that the CIA might have been behind the disappearance of Flight MH370. Many also blamed China for triggering the accident. The Chinese people called for a boycott of Malaysia due to its failure to find Flight MH370, claiming that the Government of Malaysia was not interested in searching for the aircraft.

Meanwhile, family members of some of the missing passengers have claimed that those passengers are still alive! However, they are unable to communicate. Those families have also called for a renewed search for the missing aircraft. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim has assured them that his government would relaunch the search operation, if he gets the necessary evidence.

On the other hand, a US agency has claimed that it has scientific evidence about the whereabouts of the missing Flight MH370! The Independent recently reported that the Texas-based marine robotics firm, Ocean Infinity, has submitted a proposal to the Malaysian Government for launching a new search operation in the southern Indian Ocean. The company has claimed that it would not charge a single penny unless it finds the wreckage of Flight MH370.

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das