In 2014, a plane with 239 people aboard went missing. Over a decade later, its fate remains a mystery.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8th. It was a Boeing 777-200IGW, designed for long-distance flights with a wide body and large fuel capacity. The plane never reached its destination. Seventeen months later, two pieces were found, but the main wreckage remained missing.
By tracking the plane, authorities found that MH370 made a sharp turn over the South China Sea, towards the Strait of Malacca. The plane changed altitude, flying as low as 12,000 feet above the ocean, and then vanished from radar. This diversion was flown manually, raising the question of why the pilot would do this. It is thought that the radar position symbols for the transponder code vanished, which shows where the plane was turned off by the pilot. Why did he turn it off? There are many theories.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was the captain aboard the plane of this fateful flight. He had over 18,000 hours of flight time logged, so he was definitely experienced. After the disappearance of MH370, authorities questioned the culpability of the captain, who is still thought to be the culprit today. Police checked Captain Zarharie’s flight simulator, which showed a flight into the Southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is thought to have gone missing, though the flight simulator had not been working for a year before the incident. More evidence was found, such as the plane’s diversion just so happened to fly over Captain Zarharie’s hometown.
The leading theory, concocted by authorities, is that Captain Zarharie Ahmad Shah flew the plane to the Southern Indian Ocean, where he committed mass murder-suicide by suffocating the passengers by limiting the air supply or by purposefully crashing the plane.
Though this could easily be less likely, Captain Zarharie was a pilot for over 15 years and was said to be loyal. His family still thinks he is being used as a scapegoat for this tragedy. Mr. Zaharie’s 26-year-old son Ahmad Seth said he had ignored “all of the speculation”, adding: “I know my father better,” as he told the New Straits Times. Captain Zaharie’s sister also states to CNN separately, that “They did their tests in 2014, there was nothing incriminating in his activities…The FBI did their tests … if there was anything, the police would be the first people to know. That’s why this story has been dismissed…He’s been made a scapegoat from the beginning. This latest accusation? Oh my God. Heaven forbid.” Zarharie devotedly led a YouTube channel where he taught interested netizens about aviation, so these actions do seem out of character.
Overall, this flight is a tragedy, and no matter whose fault it is, people are still searching for those they lost. After an 8-year hiatus, the search for MH370 will continue. Ultimately, seeking closure for the families of the victims is the priority of the search.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/28/asia/mh370-pilot-flight-simulator
https://www.motleyrice.com/aviation/commercial-aviation/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370
