The Final Flight of MH370:The Greatest Mystery in Aviation History

The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight No. 370 from radar detection of Malaysia’s air traffic control on 8th March while en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur  is considered as the most baffling and mysterious event in the history of aviation.  The plane carried 239 people (majority of whom are Chinese) on board, including the pilots and crews.

One  month has passed after MH370 suddenly vanished in mid-air but the Malaysian Government and other Governments who have offered help in the search have still no concrete findings and possible answers on various questions beginning with “Why, What, Who, When and Where”.   Even aviation scientists and experts are flummoxed over the incident and they have only guesses and speculations to offer in the absence of pertinent data and information.

There are many conjectures from experts and even from social media that the plane could have suffered mechanical/technical failure or there could have been a  co-ordinated terrorist attack or  a deliberate suicide mission  by anyone inside the plane (obviously with prior  knowledge on air travel industry) or the plane could have landed on another remote airfield and that its passengers are still  alive, hopefully.  Many things have been said and done.  However, three things were sure:  first, the plane was deliberately diverted, second, the plane’s transporder was turned off which prevented the air traffic control operators to track the plane and third,  no distressed signals or calls from anyone in the plane were made.   All these theories  have not been discounted by Malaysian authorities and based on reports they are taking everything  into account in their  investigation of the real cause of the plane’s disappearance.

The British Inmarsat (International Mobile Satellite Organization) was the first organization to provide a key and solid satellite data, citing that MH370 sent 7 hourly pings to its satellite, the last of which was a partial ping.    This gave the Malaysian authorities  a critical indication on where to search for the plane. Hence,  the hunt  along the two corridors of the northern and southern portions of the Indian Ocean.

However, despite an intensive international efforts, the search along the two corridors have still failed.  It was only a couple of days ago that another crucial clue from the Chinese and Australian Governments in another search area  have been reported which could be a positive lead for unraveling the mystery.   Based on news reports (thank you CNN for the blow-by-blow accounting and analysis), the Chinese and Australian ships which are in the southern Indian Ocean waters  have detected  “pulse signals” that are in consonance with that of the black box of an airplane.   As of yet,  the Governments involved in the search are still not sure on whether or not the signals and objects being picked up by their detecting machines are indeed coming from the missing MH370.

I believe there is a need to find the wreckage of the plane wherever it is so as to recover the black box before it expires and eventually solve the mystery of the missing plane in the end and put some closure to it so grieving family members can move on and begin a new life.