9 Years And Counting: On This Day In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Disappeared

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 onboard, disappeared on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing, China.

Image for representation

In one of the biggest aviation mysteries which has never been resolved, a Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on this day. 9 years ago. The flight disappeared from the face of the Earth on March 8, 2014, and hasn't been found ever since. The airline operated a Boeing 777-200ER registered as 9M-MRO with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard. The flight disappeared on March 8, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing, but went off the course, never to be found again. Although debris was located few years later, there's no conclusive evidence on the vanishing of the plane as big as the B777.

The Malaysian Govt, in January 2015, declared all 239 onboard to be presumed dead after months of search operations. This made it the most mysterious and deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 in the history of Aviation. The event also raises significant questions on the flight safety in the modern time, as the advanced technology of our times couldn't help in locating the plane. 

Always in our thoughts and prayers. #MYairportsshares #MH370 #malaysiaairlines pic.twitter.com/uZIClA1eif

— Malaysia Airports (@MY_Airports) March 8, 2023

What Happened?

The air carrier from Malaysia was operating Flight MH370 with a Boeing 777-200ER registered as 9M-MRO, and was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China. The crew from the plane last communicated with air traffic control (ATC) around 38 minutes after takeoff when the flight was over the South China Sea. The aircraft was lost from ATC radar screens minutes later, but was tracked by military radar for another hour, deviating westward from its planned flight path, crossing the Malay Peninsula and Andaman Sea.

After years of searching, debris was found, confirmed or believed to be from the MH370 aircraft washed up along the African coast and on islands in the Indian Ocean. Malaysian investigators previously drew no conclusion about what happened aboard the flight, but did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course. Multiple theories blame the Captain of the flight to deliberately sabotage the plane. 

#OTD in 2014: Malaysian Airlines MH 370, a B-777 with 239 aboard, disappears off Penang (Malaysia). Contact was lost some 40 mins after take-off, on the Thailand Gulf. Jet was never found; light debris later surfaced in the Indian Ocean. Cause officially undetermined. pic.twitter.com/6WlLI1ORPF

— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) March 8, 2023

Families Demand Justice

As per a report on IANS, the families of those on board the Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane have urged the government in Kuala Lumpur to begin a new search for the aircraft. In 2018, the Malaysian government had engaged US seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity to search for the aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean, offering to pay up to $70 million if it found the plane, reports CNN, but its operation came up short.

The firm was deployed came after Malaysia, China and Australia ended a fruitless two-year $135 million underwater hunt in January 2017 after finding no trace of the plane. Voice370 -- a grouping of relatives of those aboard the plane -- said Ocean Infinity hoped to embark on a new search as early as this summer and urged the Malaysian government to accept any proposals from the firm on a conditional fee basis, such that the firm would only be paid if successful.

"Ocean Infinity, over the last 12 months have made real progress working with many people to further understand... The events in 2014," CNN quoted Voice370 as saying in a statement, following a memorial event to mark the ninth year since MH370`s disappearance. "Ultimately, this has greatly improved their chances of conducting a successful search."

One of the biggest streaming platforms globally, Netflix, has announced a three-part documentary series exploring the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The series is expected to shed light on the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370, that went missing in 2014. Titled "MH370: The Plane That Disappeared", the docu-series has been released on March 8, 2023, on the ninth anniversary of the plane's disappearance.