MH 370: Full Story Explained

A couple of days ago, Malaysia agreed to the terms of Ocean Infinity, an exploration firm for resuming the search for one of the most extraordinary aviation accidents of all time- Malaysia Airlines MH 370. The firm is set to receive $70 million if they are able to locate the plane.  The seabed search operations will be based on a “no find, no fee” principle”, and a report from Reuters said that it would “cover 15,000 sq km (5,790 sq miles) in the southern Indian Ocean”. 

MH370, which was a widebody aircraft,  had taken off from Kuala Lumpur on 8th March 2014 at 12:42 in the morning. The aircraft in question was of the Boeing 777 family – one of the biggest passenger planes to be built. This flight headed to Beijing had 227 passengers, was led by ten flight attendants, and was piloted by two people:  53 years old Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who was one of the seniormost captains of Malaysian Airlines, and First Officer Fariq Hamid, 27 years old, who was on a training flight and would have been fully certified to become a pilot had this flight been completed. 

However, First Officer Fariq Hamid, who already had clocked up 2,763 flying hours, wasn’t be to be certified. Instead, the horror that followed with the eventual disappearance of MH370 would make it seem as if Fariq’s certification was trifle in comparison to what the aviation community, and the family members of the people onboard would go through. 

Sketches of MH70 just before disappearance

MH30 flew in the correct flight path for about 20 minutes. But at 01:08 in the morning, this flight crossed the Malaysian coastline and reached above the South China Sea, heading toward Vietnam. Zaharie reported that the plane was at 35,000 feet. Everything was running normally.

Approximately eleven minutes later, the airplane entered the jurisdiction of Vietnamese Air Traffic. That’s why the Air Traffic Control of Kuala Lumpur radioed the airplane, saying, “Malaysian 370, contact Ho Chi Minh, 120.9. Goodnight.”Captain Zaharie answered by saying, “Good night. MH 370.”

However,”Good night. MH 370″ would turn out to be the last words from this airplane. The flight disappeared merely 30 seconds after entering Vietnamese airspace, out of the remits of any radar, and eventualy became the biggest aviation mystery in the world.

How did MH370 disappear?

When MH370 disappeared from the radar at 01:21 AM, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Kuala Lumpur assumed the plane had flown out of the range of their radar and had entered Vietnam’s airspace, and hence believed that there was nothing irregular.

ATC in Vietnam, on the other hand, saw that MH370 entered their airspace but then disappeared from their radar suddenly. They tried to communicate with the plane, but there was no response. After repeatedly trying to make contact with, and failing to do so for 18 minutes, Vietnamese controllers informed Kuala Lumpur that MH370 had disappeared. Generally, in such situations, Kuala Lumpur’s Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre should have been notified within one hour about the disappearance of the plane. But it was only after four hours had passed that an emergency response began. Here’s a timestamp of what took place later:

• 06:32 in the morning was the time the airplane should have landed in Beijing, but it did not, and led to an immediate search operation in the South China Sea.
• Thirty-four ships and 28 aircraft from seven different countries tried to locate the plane that morning. But there was no trace of it.
• On 12th March, it was reported that a military radar had spotted it near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, westward from Malaysia, above the Strait of Malacca on the night of disappearance, with the plane last seen on the military radar at 02:22 in the morning

Many people wondered if the aircraft flew toward India’s direction and crash in the Himalayas or in Kazakhstan.

Some days later, satellite data revealed that the plane was trying to automatically communicate with a satellite- a common occurence. Large airplanes like the Boeing 777 often try to establish communication with satellites to make their communication easier—similar to how your phone connects to a network.

However, when MH370 communicated with the satellite, it merely tried to log in, attempting to establish a connection. No data was transmitted about the location of the plane. The satellite was simply aware that the plane tried to communicate but had no information about where it actually was.

Investigations into the Mystery

Some scientists and investigators thought to use the fact the MH 370 had tried to contact a satellite to approximate the location of the plane. After all, the plane had attempted to establish communication with the satellite seven times. Researchers theorized that when the satellite received the communication, it would have moved its antenna in the direction of the plane. By measuring the angle of the satellite’s antenna and making calculations, they estimated the location of the plane.

While the exact location of the aircraft couldn’t be determined using the satellite, it could be used to estimate a general area. The white circle seen in images represents the possible locations where the plane could have been when it tried to communicate with the satellite. The different white circles in the image are known as Satellite Handshakes with each circle representing the time when the plane attempted to communicate with the satellite.

The last circle, the seventh one, represents the final time the plane attempted communication, marking the last known point of the airplane. So, the circle covers a vast area, including Kazakhstan, China, Indonesia, Australia, and a large expanse of the ocean, making search rescues incredibly difficult as there were no definitive area to pin down. 

Possible location based on fuel calculations

Investigators also enquired how far the aircraft could fly given it maintained its speed (with whatever fuel remained). They estimated that the plane could be within a specific shaded area of the circle—an arc known as the 7th Arc. The 7th Arc is approximately 2,000 km west of Australia and covers a large, unexplored section of the ocean, said reports:

 

“ Different burst-timing offset (BTO) values can then be mapped out as a series of arcs on Earth’s surface, with each arc representing a range of BTO values and hence possible distances – much as wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum can be grouped into bands such as visible light, microwaves, X-rays and so on. The last recorded ‘handshakes’ from MH370 were sent from somewhere within its seventh arc. Experts therefore concluded that MH370 should be found somewhere off the western coast of Australia. But the official targeted search area was huge, covering 120,000km2 (46,332 square miles) – around half the size of the UK.”

Following this discovery, several search operations were launched. By April 2014, search operations on the ocean surface were halted as they yielded no results. Since the plane had likely crashed, it would have sunk into the ocean rather than floating on the surface. Deep-sea search operations then began. At the time, this became the largest and most expensive search operation in history. For weeks, months, and even years, search teams scoured the ocean floor, but they found nothing.

Three years later, after spending $160 million, the operation was officially called off and deemed a failure. However, amid this disappointment, one breakthrough emerged. In July 2015, the first piece of debris from the plane was discovered. The debris, carried by ocean currents, washed ashore on the island of Réunion, located east of Madagascar. The recovered part was identified as the flaperon from the plane.A photo confirmed that this broken piece belonged to MH370.

Renewed Search Efforts

In 2018, an American company, Ocean Infinity, signed a new contract with the Malaysian government to search for the missing MH370 on a “No Find, No Fee” arrangement. CNN reported about the terms of the efforts in the following way:

“The 90-day search will initially take place over an area of 25,000 square kilometers (just under 10,000 square miles) off Australia’s west coast, to the northeast of the original search area. The payment is on a sliding scale. If the debris field, cockpit voice recorder or flight recorder are discovered within the first 5,000 sq km (1930 sq mi) searched, Ocean Infinity will command a fee of $20 million, rising to $70 million if any of those items are found outside the initial 25,000 sq km area.” 

Ocean Infinity was equipped with advanced underwater surveillance vehicles and while scanning the ocean floor, they discovered that the 7th Arc region contained numerous underwater volcanoes, cliffs, and mountains, but despite having searched for months, the were not able to unearth the missing flight. 

Background check on the passengers and pilots

While mulling over the disappearance of the flight, investigators tried to determine what might have happened on MH370 that it would vanish without a trace. Possible theories included

• An electrical failure on board.
• A mechanical accident or technical malfunction.
• The transponder being switched off manually—potentially by a pilot or passenger acting intentionally.

Did the pilot’s intentionally crash the MH 370? 

Initially, Captain Zaharie Shah was accused of deliberately disabling communication and crashing the plane into the ocean. Some people speculated that he may not have been in the right mental state, with some suggesting that he was suicidal. Some even claimed that Zaharie might have been linked to a terror attack.

The following three reasons left people pointing afinger at Zaharie:

1. The airplane made a nearly 180-degree turn from Vietnam back toward Malaysia. Autopilot could not have executed this maneuver on its own; it had to be done manually and intentionally.
2. The plane was flown directly along the border between Thailand and Malaysia, which some believe was done deliberately to avoid detection by both countries’ airspace radars.
3. A flight simulator was found at Zaharie Shah’s home. While not unusual for a pilot, investigators discovered that he had mapped out a flight path on the simulator that closely resembled MH370’s actual trajectory.

At first glance, these points may seem damning. However, the official in charge of the search operation completely denied this theory, citing counterarguments:

• Zaharie Shah was a highly experienced and respected pilot.
• He had no known family, financial, or professional problems.
• There were no behavioral changes or warning signs indicative of suicidal intent.

 

Experts argue that if a pilot were suicidal, there would typically be observable signs in their life. None were found in Shah’s case. The investigation report concluded that the pilot hadn’t crashed the aircraft intentionally, and thus sparing the family of the captain from what they perceived as unjust blame. 

 

ATSB’s search director, Peter Foley, was quoted on the BBC, and revealed that there were no signs of Zaharie bringing down the aircraft: 

“We considered every piece of evidence that we had at the time in an unbiased fashion…..We have quite a bit of data to tell us that the aircraft, if it was being controlled at the end, it wasn’t very successfully being controlled,” 

However, a few weeks ago, Simon Hardy, Expert Boeing 777 pilot, suggested that the pilot had requested the topping up oxygen levels, not for the passengers or the cabin crew but only the cockpit, hinting that the pilot had rendered the passengers unconscious (after depressurizing the aircraft) and crashed it in the ocean.He was quoted in The Sun as having commented: 

 

“ It’s an incredible coincidence that just before this aircraft disappears forever, one of the last things that was done as the engineer says nil noted[no oxygen added], then someone else gets on onboard and says it’s a bit low…Well it’s not really low at all… it’s a strange coincidence that the last engineering task that was done before it headed off to oblivion was topping up crew oxygen which is only for the cockpit, not for the cabin crew.”

Negating the theories behind the hijack of MH370 

The second theory suggests that MH370 was hijacked by terrorists. This led investigators to scrutinize two passengers who were traveling with fake passports. Both were Iranian, and their stolen passports had originally belonged to an Italian and an Austrian citizen. These passports were reported stolen in Thailand.

No concrete evidence linking the two people to terrorism were observed. Even Interpol concluded that they were unlikely to have been involved in a hijacking. Consequently, this theory was largely dismissed.

Hypoxia and Autopilot Failure

The most widely accepted theory is that the crew and passengers of MH370 lost consciousness due to oxygen deficiency, including Captain Zaharie Shah and his co-pilot. The plane then continued flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. A sudden loss of cabin pressure could have caused hypoxia, leading to unconsciousness. On the other hand, hijackers on the aircraft may also have tampered with the cabin’s oxygen supply.

Here’s a brief outline of a possible sequence of events based on how hypoxi might have led to the crash of the MH370: 

1. As MH370 entered Vietnamese airspace, the pilots may have noticed malfunctions in the aircraft.
2. The pilot decided to turn the plane 180 degrees back toward Malaysia.
3. While flying back, a serious accident could have occurred, leading to oxygen depletion.
4. Everyone on board lost consciousness due to hypoxia.
5. The plane continued flying on autopilot, eventually heading south over the Indian Ocean.
6. Once the fuel was exhausted, the aircraft crashed 2,000 km west of Australia.

Alternative and Unlikely Theories

Over the years, numerous alternative theories have emerged, including:

• The plane was abducted by aliens.
• The U.S. military shot it down and covered up the incident.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin knew the plane’s location.
• A new Bermuda Triangle phenomenon caused the disappearance.

These theories, while intriguing, lack credible evidence and are widely dismissed by experts.

The Latest Developments: A Breakthrough by Richard Godfrey?

As of 2022, a retired aerospace engineer, Richard Godfrey, claims to have uncovered new information regarding MH370’s final location. Using advanced radio wave technology, he combined data from:

• British Inmarsat Satellite records
• Boeing’s flight performance figures
• Australian oceanographic models
• WSPRnet (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network) technology

This technology relies on radio wave reflections to predict the aircraft’s path. According to Godfrey’s calculations, MH370 is likely resting at a precise location along the 7th Arc, approximately 4 km beneath the ocean’s surface. Godfrey is confident in his calculations, pinpointing the crash site within a 40-nautical-mile radius. 

Criticism and Validation

Some experts question the accuracy of Godfrey’s methodology, suggesting that his data may not be precise enough to locate the wreckage definitively. However, he asserts that a dedicated search could be completed within a year, potentially providing answers by the end of 2022.

Further supporting this theory is a drift analysis, which examined ocean currents to predict where debris from the crash would have traveled. Drift analysis shows that wreckage should have washed up in regions such as Madagascar and nearby islands—exactly where 27 pieces of MH370 have been found to date.

The Future of the Search

With both radio wave analysis and drift modeling aligning, there is renewed hope that the fate of MH370 may finally be uncovered. If a new search operation is approved, the world may soon have definitive answers about one of aviation’s greatest mysteries. And that’s where Ocean Infinity comes into the equation: if the recent agreement between the Malaysian government and this agency comes to fruition and MH370 is discovered, it will finally answer the most pressing question in all of aviation.