The Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was a passenger flight on its way to the Beijing Capital International Airport on March 8th 2014 when it suddenly disappeared. The disappearance led the authorities to launch an international search effort in a large area of the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. But years after its disappearance, the whereabouts and the cause of disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 still remains a mystery. There were many theories that were put forth by experts but none of these theories were confirmed to be true. Here are a few facts related to the missing Malaysian Airlines 370 that we know till date.
– The Malaysian Airline Flight 370 took an abrupt U turn towards the Andaman Islands when it was above the region where the South China Sea meets the Gulf of Thailand. This deviation from its normal path of flight was confirmed by the satellite pings and military radars.
– One of the most suggested theories related to the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was the hijacking of the plane which led the pilots to change the route. However, this theory fails to explain the disappearance of the plane from the radar. A plane can be detected even if its transponder has been disabled with the help of signal mechanism and passive radars.
– The black box is a mechanical device that is fitted in all Boeing 777 that have the ability to resist mishaps such as an explosion, fire or collision. It also has the ability to record all data of the flight and conversations in the cockpit. One of the most unusual facts related to the missing Malaysian Airlines 370 is that its black box is not transmitting any signals at all. This could mean that either it was manually disable or destroyed.
– One of the most bizarre fact is that there were two passengers on the Malaysian Airlines 370 who boarded the plane with stolen passports. Because of this reason, terrorism was speculated to be a major reason for the disappearance of the flight. However it was later confirmed that the two people with stolen passports had no connection to any terrorist organizations and were simply trying to escape to Europe.
– The pilot of the Malaysian Airline 370 was suspected of foul play when it was found that he had a homemade flight simulator. However, the FBI investigation did not reveal anything suspicious and so far no crew members have been accused of any crime.
– An interesting fact that further adds mystery to the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines 370 is the fact that the Boeing aircraft MH370 was the 404th produced Boeing 777. This is a strange coincidence because 404 is an HTTP response code for something that cannot be found.
– When a plane crashes into the ocean for any reason, some of its parts float on the ocean waters because they are buoyant in nature. Although it was speculated that the plane crashed into the ocean, there were no parts found floating on water surface which adds to the confusion regarding the mystery of the missing Malaysian aircraft.
– The Malaysian Airline 370 had 227 passengers and 12 crew members who belonged to 14 different nations around the world.
– On 24th of March the Malaysian government officially announced that based on the reports of the examinations conducted by British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and Inmarsat, it is beyond any reasonable doubt that the Malaysian Airline 370 carrying 227 passengers sank in the southern part of the Indian Ocean without any survivors.