Written by Josh Heine
Two weeks ago, swept the world as the search began for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished hours after departing from Kuala Lumpur, the nation’s capital. Onboard were 239 mostly Chinese and Malaysian passengers, along with others from Iran, the US, Canada, Indonesia, Australia, India, France, New Zealand, Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. Currently, 25 nations are involved in the search efforts, which span across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Two objects have been spotted this week, one of which is approximately 78 feet long, but it is uncertain if they are actually plane debris or something else. Authorities hope to locate the flight’s “black box,” which contains all the flight data. Here is the most updated information on the crash:
Flight MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8 at 12:41 AM and was due to arrive in Beijing. The plane issued its last ACARS transmission, a service that allows communication between onboard and ground computers, at 1:07 AM before silencing approximately half an hour later. The copilot issued what authorities believe to be the flight’s last transmission “All right, good night,” at 1:19 AM. The transponder was silenced a few minutes later. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam stated that Flight MH370 failed to contact the tower at Ho Chi Minh International Airport at 01:21 AM as scheduled. At 2:15 AM, Malaysian military radar plotted Flight MH370 south of Phuket Island in the Strait of Malacca, which is west of the flight’s last known position. Thai military radar logs also confirmed that the plane changed course, heading west and then north over the Andaman Sea.
Several theories currently exist for the crash, each with their unique strengths and weaknesses. One is a terrorist attack perpetrated by passengers, supported by the fact that the plane intentionally diverted from its designated flight path. Since the two Iranian passengers carried stolen passports, they instantly attracted suspicion from international authorities. However, authorities discovered that both Iranians were travelling to Europe were not connected to terrorist organizations. Another theory is that a fire ignited due to a cargo of lithium batteries. Since lithium batteries are incredibly flammable, a fire is very plausible. However, the pilot or copilot would have alerted ground authorities, which did not occur with MH370. Even if all electronics were disabled or mechanical failure occurred, the reason for the crash remains shrouded in mystery.
Both the pilot and copilot are the subjects of investigation for possibilities of terrorism or error. However, most investigations are inconclusive. Neither have dangerous political connections that would lead them to terrorism. The 53 year-old pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shaw, was a self-described “aviation geek” with over 18,000 hours of flight time and a flight simulator installed in his home. The FBI is currently investigating the flight simulator currently investigated due to file deletion by the pilot. Fariq Abdul Hamid, the 27 year-old copilot, had almost 2,700 hours of flight time and was described by friends and family as “serious” regarding his career. However, he committed a serious breach of air safety regulations by inviting two South African women into the cockpit in 2011.
As of March 24, 2014, Malaysia Airlines declared “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Flight MH370 presumably crashed into the South Indian Ocean with all passengers drowned, according to a new flight analysis.
