In 2014, flight MH370 disappeared and vanished without a trace. Taking 239 passengers and crew with it, the disappearance remains one of the largest aviation mysteries in modern history.
For days, families and the world waited for answers but they never came. Many conspiracy theories have circulated to try to figure out what happened that night but none have been able to bring clarity.
What We Know About Flight MH370
Passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were expecting to fly to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The flight was scheduled to depart from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. local time.
The aircraft had 277 passengers with 12 crew members on board. Weather conditions were normal and no signs of technical issues were reported before takeoff. So what happened that went so wrong?
Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur at its scheduled time and reached a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The plane followed its planned route of traveling northeast across the South China Sea for about 40 minutes. Then, things started to become strange.
At 1:19 a.m. local time, the co-pilot made a final voice transmission: “Good night Malaysian 370.” Two minutes later, the aircraft’s transponder stopped transmitting, causing the plane to disappear from civilian radar.
However, military radar showed MH370 deviating from the planned route. The plane ended up turning west, crossed the Malay peninsula and flew over the Strait of Malacca. Then, it showed the plane turning northwest and flew for almost an hour before going beyond radar range.
At 2:22 a.m. local time, flight MH370 was no longer detectable by radar systems. A satellite, however, picked up “handshakes” from the aircraft. These are automated signals that can indicate or show how long a plane was in the air. The continued “handshakes” from flight MH370 indicate that it remained in flight for almost seven more hours after radar disappearance.
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight went multinational. It became one of the most extensive and expensive aviation searches in history. More than 20 countries, including the United States, helped in the search for the missing plane and its passengers and crew.
The initial search efforts focused on the South China Sea near the plane’s original planned route. After analyzing satellite data, the search then shifted thousands of miles southwest to the southern Indian Ocean.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) coordinated most of the deep-sea search. Ships, submarines and aircrafts scanned a massive area of over 120,000 square kilometers of seabed. Even with the large-scale search, the wreckage and the black boxes were not located.
Since then, pieces of debris that are suspected to be from flight MH370 have washed up on shores. In 2015, debris washed ashore on islands and coastlines of the western Indian Ocean. The first confirmed debris to be from MH370 was a flaperon found on Reunion Island.
Several bits of debris have been confirmed by investigators to be a part of the missing plane. Still, crucial items from the missing aircraft have not been found. Including but not limited to: The main fuselage, the cockpit voice recorder and data recorder (black boxes), planes wings, engines and tail section, passenger belongings, etc.
The lack of found debris and items from the plane prevent people from coming up with what exactly occurred on March 8, 2014. Although, there have been some ideas made of the events.
The Conspiracies Heard Around The World
Many conspiracy theories have speculated what happened to flight MH370 and where it might have gone. Let’s dive into the top three conspiracy theories that have many people interested in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Pilot Suicide / Deliberate Act
Conspiracy theorists have argued and claimed that captain Zahaire Ahmad Shah intentionally diverted the aircraft from the planned route to carry out a planned murder-suicide. Theorists have used shaky evidence to support this theory.
Although there is no credible evidence, rumors about Shah’s martial issues sparked as motive to support this theory. Theorists have also used Shah’s speculated political support for a jailed opposition leader.
Some theorists have taken the more factual route and noted the unexplained turns and altitude changes after the last communication. This has been interpreted as deliberate piloting to execute a certain plan.
A flight simulator was recovered from the captain’s home. It included a simulated route into the southern Indian Ocean. This discovery further pushed the conspiracy of a planned crash. Theorists have suggested that the simulation route proved the captain practiced the final route before disappearance.
Deleted files that were recovered by forensic experts on the simulator make the data seem suspicious. The flight path on the simulator was very close to the actual flight path of flight MH370 and ended in a remote oceanic area similar to the suspected crash zone.
Many court arguments debunk this theory. Investigators found no proven motive for the captain to intentionally crash the plane. Friends, family and colleagues described the captain as stable, professional and devoted to flying.
Experts have noted that if the captain had intended to carry out a murder-suicide, the initial evasive actions and long detour seemed unnecessarily complex. They claim that a rapid descent or straightforward crash would have been more typical in pilot-suicide cases.
To mention again, there has not been a cock pit recording recovered from the flight. Truly, we can not say that a planned murder-suicide did not happen. It is a very possible theory but it is unable to be proved due to lack of evidence of flight MH370.
Aircraft Hijacking
Many theories have circulated that suggest passengers or unknown individuals took control of the flight. Believers of this theory think that a passenger, stowaway or unknown hijacker overpowered the crew and took over control to fly MH370 to a certain location and failed.
Theorists point out the abrupt disabling of communications to further push the theory. The sharp turn west shortly after last communication has been seen as intentional navigation and not mechanical failure. Theorists also point out the aircraft’s hours-long continuation on a steady and deliberate path. This can suggest the plane was guided by a conscious pilot.
One of the biggest weaknesses of this theory is the fact that no terrorist group claimed involvement. Usually, in the case of terror attacks, terrorist groups are proud of their planned operation and take responsibility almost immediately after.
Another weakness is the absence of motivation for a hijacking. If we look at prior hijacking cases, the motive normally involves demands or political statements, attempts to negotiate and responsibility claimed by a group to gain publicity.
For flight MH370, there was no message, random or manifesto delivered. The passenger lists also revealed that no individuals aboard the flight had any suspicious backgrounds and no ties to extremist terrorist groups.
Official investigators have made an emphasis on there being no physical evidence that suggest hijacking. Key findings, or lack there of, have debunked the theory entirely.
There was no distress call or “hijack code” entered into the transponder. This is something all crews are trained to send quickly in the case of a hijacking emergency. From the recovered debris, there were no signs of a struggle, forced entry or conflict. Backgrounds of the crew and passengers came back clean, showing no credible risk indicators.
International agencies, including Malaysian authorities and the U.S. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have all concluded this theory is false. They believe there is no compelling evidence that points to hijackers.
We still have not located the black boxes to tell us what really happened aboard flight MH370. It is possible to suggest that maybe the hijackers knew about crews being trained for entering a “hijacking code.” Therefore somehow prevented the crew from entering a distress call. But factually, we will never know.
U.S. Military Shootdown Cover-Up
One of the most persistent conspiracy theories claims that flight MH370 strayed too close too close to the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, which is located in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.
Supporters of the theory argue that the aircraft was mistaken for a hostile or unidentified threat. In panic and unsureness, U.S. military intentionally or accidentally shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight during classified military operations.
Some believe the U.S. intercepted the plane after a suspected hijacking. They believe the aircraft was forced to land at Diego Garcia and have the passengers detained. Theorists suggest the entire event was covered up to avoid diplomatic backlash or global scandal.
Conspiracy theorists focus on the base’s secrecy to prove the theory. Diego Garcia is a highly strategic and restricted military installation used by the U.S. Navy and other U.S. defense agencies.
This powers further speculation as civilian access is strictly prohibited. It has a history of classified missions and the remote location makes it a convenient focal point for theories involving hidden activities.
Theorists argue that military exercises or operations might have been underway the night MH370 disappeared. Radar or surveillance systems at the base could have detected the aircraft but information has been withheld.
The U.S. government has made multiple official statements that deny flight MH370 approached Diego Garcia or that military action was taken. Satellite “handshake” data also shows that the aircraft flew south into the Indian Ocean away from Diego Garcia. A possible shootdown would have most likely have produced widely scattered debris and explosive damage patterns. Of the recovered debris found, such patterns do not exist.
In Conclusion
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 remains one of the most confounded events in modern aviation. The routined flight turned into a global mystery after radar disappearance and unexplained flight path changes.
Despite the international search effort that spanned over years, investigators were only able to recover scattered debris and not the main wreckage or black boxes. This leaves many crucial unanswered questions.
The absence of evidence has sparked many conspiracy theories. Pilot suicide or deliberate act, Aircraft hijacking or U.S. military shootdown cover-up, it is all just speculation with no concrete evidence. Each theory contains gaps and inconsistencies but there is no telling what could be true and what could be false.
The MH370 tragedy is a reminder of how much we still don’t know about what truly happened during the flight. The case remains unsolved and hopefully will one day be solved when the black boxes or more debris are found.
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