Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: The plane that disappeared in thin air

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished. The crash site was never found, nor was the plane. It remains one of the most perplexing aviation mysteries in history.

In the years since the crash, investigators have looked into everything from ocean currents to obscure radio phenomena to try and locate the plane. All have thus far failed to find the wreckage.

Who and what was on board? There were nationals of more than a dozen countries on board the lost plane, although more than half were from China.

What happened when MH370 went missing? When Malaysians woke up to the news that the plane had gone missing, they were shocked. As the hours passed and no one seemed to have much idea of what had happened, shock turned to disbelief.

In Beijing, tearful relatives demanded to know what had happened to their loved ones. Amid the lack of answers, officials from Malaysia Airlines, civil aviation authorities and the Malaysian government came under unprecedented international scrutiny.

What has been done to find it? In the immediate aftermath of the plane going missing, Malaysia coordinated a search that involved more than two dozen countries.

The search, covering some 120,000 square kilometres (46,332 square miles), involved ships, submarines and aircraft, and cost $147m. The notoriously poor weather of the southern Indian Ocean added to the challenges, and the effort was suspended in 2017.

What might have happened to MH370? Malaysia’s official report into the disappearance, released in 2018, found that while foul play was probably involved, it was not possible to say who had turned off the transponders and turned the plane around.

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