The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
It was five days ago when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777-200ER airliner with 227 passengers and 12 members of the flight crew, simply disappeared from its flight path.
What should have been an ordinary flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China has quickly turned into perhaps the biggest mystery right now in the world.
Flight 370 departed from Malaysia at 12:41 AM local time on March 8, 2014. As far as we know, everything seemed to be normal as the airliner flew to the north-northeast on its course to Beijing, China. When the pilots acknowledged the radio communications being handed off to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, before the aircraft entered Vietnamese airspace, that was the last that anybody heard from the aircraft. The airliner ceased communicating with air traffic control, and there was no more signal from the Boeing 777’s transponder.
This loss of communications occurred about an hour after take-off as Flight 370 was still over the Gulf of Thailand. The airliner was at its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, and cruising speed of 471 knots.
There was no bad weather anywhere near the vicinity of where Flight 370 disappeared. Nor are there any reports of the aircraft’s ELT (emergency locator transmitter — a device that sends out a distress call / homing beacon after a crash landing). There are also no signs of any wreckage despite a large, multinational task force searching for the missing aircraft.
Right now there are many theories about what might of happened to the missing airliner. Before we take a look at some of the theories, let’s examine some of the evidence that we know for a fact.
EVIDENCE
First of all, we know that two passengers used stolen passports to board Flight 370 in Malaysia. It’s been noted that Malaysia is one of many international airports with relatively weak security measures. Had the passports actually been verified, then those two people would not have been allowed to board the flight.
It’s also been made public that one of the aircraft’s pilots had smoked with in the cockpit and also allowed female visitors into the aircraft’s cockpit during flights. Obviously this is a huge safety and security risk. Did this behavior contribute to the missing aircraft? It’s too early to tell.
Another piece of evidence is the conflicting news reporting coming out of Malaysia. The spokesman over there seems to continually trip over his words and take back previous statements. It’s like he’s the Malaysian version of Baghdad Bob. This conflicting reporting makes it look like Malaysia is hiding evidence and covering up the true story.
It’s also odd how China seems to be rather quiet about this missing flight. 152 Chinese citizens were on Flight 150, yet the country itself doesn’t seem to care about finding the airliner.
THEORIES ABOUT MALAYSIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT MH370
Let’s take a look at a few theories about the disappearance of Flight 370 and what might have happened to the missing passengers and flight crew.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – INDIAN OCEAN CRASH
The first theory is the one that I support the most.
Let’s say that there was a sudden malfunction to the airliner as it was cruising on its flight path. Perhaps it was a minor electrical disturbance that knocked on its communications, or other systems as well.
Perhaps that pilots noticed that there was a serious problem and determined that the airliner was safe enough to fly back to its home base an hour behind them. They could have turned around the aircraft and set the autopilot to maintain their heading back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
But what if the aircraft’s oxygen system was also effected by an electrical disturbance? If there was a small reduction in oxygen flow, it’s doubtful that the passengers or pilots would have noticed it. They would have simply fallen asleep and never regained consciousness. After all, this would have occurred around 1:30 AM during a long-distance flight. The autopilot would have kept the aircraft on the last course issued by the pilots. The 777 would have then continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean, some 2,000-2,500 miles away.
Such a scenario is very possible. Professional golfer Payne Stewart died in 1999 when his Learjet suddenly lost cabin pressure and the flight crew was unable to use their emergency oxygen masks fast enough. As the pilots were incapacitated, the Learjet remained on autopilot and continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed. Although the original flight path was from Orlando, Florida to Dallas, Texas, the aircraft actually crashed in South Dakota.
There are rumors that some radar systems spotted the Boeing 777 aircraft turning around and altering its flight path just after it lost communication. Other rumors have people claiming to have spotted the missing airliner still in flight but way off course.
Further still, more rumors claim that the engines on the Boeing 777 continued transmitting bursts of data back to its manufacturer (Rolls-Royce PLC) some four hours after the pilots stopped communicating with air traffic control. If the 777 crashed off the coast of Vietnam at 1:30 AM, obviously its engines would not still be operating for several hours later.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – TERRORISM – “FLYING MISSILE”
The fact that two passengers used stolen passports to board Flight 370 points to something sinister. It’s possible that these were two terrorists who tried to hijack the aircraft. The pilots could have fought back and decided to crash the airliner rather than let the terrorists use it as a flying missile, just like United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.
However, if this happened and Flight 370 crashed in the Gulf of Thailand, or made it into the South China Sea, then we’d start seeing some indicators by now. We’d possibly see oil slicks or floating pieces of debris. But so far nothing has been spotted. Does this mean that such an occurrence did not happen? Not necessarily. It took searchers two days to find the first pieces of wreckage after Air France Flight 447 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on May 31, 2009.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – TERRORISM – “REMOTE CONTROL”
There’s a rumor floating around that since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, airliners were required to have secret “back doors” on the electronics. This would allow a person to remotely take control of an aircraft out of the pilot’s hands should it ever be hijacked.
The rumor is that terrorists have hacked into this secret control system and actually gained control of Flight 370. This could have been a trial run just to see if such a feat is possible. If true, the terrorists could have easily shut down the aircraft’s communications and crashed the airliner into a remote location. The terrorists could have also flown the airliner to a secret airfield, but that’s just a bit too sketchy for my taste.
It’s more believable that IF this were to occur, then the terrorists will use it again in the near future. This could have just been a trial run to see if it was possible. Next time it will be with more airliners and a much more spectacular type of attack.
When you look at today’s technology, one could only wonder if such a “remote control” is possible for an airliner.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – TERRORISM / BLACK OPS – “FUTURE WEAPON”
A more sinister theory is that the Boeing 777 in Flight 370 was hijacked and secretly flown to a discrete airfield for use as a future flying weapon.
Remember how we mentioned that Flight 370 lost contact around 1:30 AM on a long distance flight? Most of the passengers were probably asleep. Let’s say that the pilots were in on this plan. What if they reduced the flow of oxygen and incapacitated the entire passenger compartment, including the other members of the crew? They could easily turn off the aircraft’s transponder, change the course and drop altitude, and easily fly to a different airfield. There are many places that an aircraft of that size could easily land within range of its fuel supply.
Also remember how this would have happened in the middle of the night over some of the most remote places in the world. As long as the pilots were skilled enough to fly at low level or somehow otherwise disguise the airliner from other radar systems, then they could have literally flown anywhere within like a 2,000 mile radius.
At some point all of the passengers along with unnecessary people would easily be killed to maintain secrecy. It’s even easier if they’re all sleeping or simply killed from the lack of oxygen.
If this was to happen, a terrorist group or black op organization would have a Boeing 777 airliner that could be used to carry a weapon of mass destruction, or be used as a flying missile. Only this time it would be even more dangerous as the aircraft could be disguised as a regular airliner on the radar screens. There would be no hijacking code on the transponder or any other warning until it’s too late.
Is such a scenario a work of fiction?
Maybe not.
There are rumors that the cell phones of the Flight 370 passengers continued to work well after the aircraft was reported as missing. Of course nobody answered the phones, but allegedly they were ringing.
A ringing cell phone means that not only is the phone not destroyed from a crash or sitting underwater, but it’s also close enough to a tower to receive a signal. Otherwise any calls to the phone would go straight to voice mail.
Of course, the ringing cell phones are just one of many RUMORS surrounding the disappearance of Flight 370.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – NORTH KOREAN MISSILE
On March 6, 2014, an airliner from China Southern Airlines flew through the missile trajectory of a North Korean missile. This actually occurred seven minutes after the missile was launched, and the airliner was not in any danger, but it’s still considered as a close call by aviation standards.
It was noted that North Korea was launching a series of missiles off its east coast during that time to basically show off the fact that they could. It’s not like the North Koreans have the best or most accurate missile technology out there . . .
Anyway, when you look at the map showing Flight 370’s basic route information, you’ll see that the Gulf of Thailand is thousands of miles away from North Korea. The best of North Korea’s long-range missile *might* be able to hit a target from that distance, but that alone is a pretty remote chance.
The bigger thing to consider is that the North Korean missile tests involved surface-to-surface missiles, not surface-to-air missiles. There’s no way in hell that the North Koreans could have launched a surface-to-air missile and hit an airborne target thousands of miles away.
Nope.
Although this theory is still brought up on websites, it’s completely false.
FLIGHT 370 THEORY – ALIENS
When in doubt, it’s time to go for the extraterrestrial abduction theory.
Allegedly aliens from outer space have been responsible for abducting aircraft while in flight. While an abduction of something the size of a Boeing 777 airliner seems suspicious, one must not forget that we’re dealing with aliens. That’s a whole different level.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s seems rather odd that an airliner the size of a 777 could simply disappear anywhere in the world.
While oil slicks and pieces of debris have been spotted in the water, none of it is from the missing airliner. As the days pass and hope fades, Internet rumors only grow more rampant.
Should the missing airliner from Flight 370 ever be located, will we be told the true story of what happened in the early morning on March 8, 2014?