The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 remains as shocking and unnerving today as it did when the plane vanished from radar screens more than eight years ago. The fate of the Boeing 777 and all 239 souls on board continues to baffle air crash investigators.
Channel 5 is showing a new two-part documentary revisiting the suspected disaster and updating viewers on the latest developments in the case. The first hour-long episode - Flight MH370: The Vanishing - aired last night at 9pm (Monday, May 30).
The fascinating programme focussed on events on the night of the plane's disappearance on March 8, 2014 - and the immediate aftermath and search. Tonight's finale - Flight MH370: The Silence - picks things up four months later, with relatives of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members no closer to finding out what happened to their loved ones.
What happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
The plane disappeared shortly into a scheduled overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport, in China. Air traffic controllers reported the last communication from the pilots at 1:19am, just 38 minutes after takeoff, as it was over the South China Sea.
At that point, the aircraft was on its scheduled flight path and everything seemed to be okay. But then something went very seriously wrong.
The plane disappeared from air traffic control radar screens minutes after the final words from the cockpit. A multinational search effort was launched, concentrating on where the aircraft should have been - over the South China Sea.
It was later established, however, that military radar had tracked the plane for a further hour. But before disappearing altogether, Flight MH370 had mysteriously deviated from its planned route and had been flying westwards over the Maly Peninsula and the Andaman Sea.
The search for the wreckage of the aircraft is one of the most expensive in history. Further analysis using satellite technology later revealed that MH370 had flown south over the Indian Ocean.
The Malaysian government concluded: "Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean." It led to Australian investigators taking over the search in waters west of Perth on March 17. But despite continuous and painstaking efforts to locate the plane, they all proved to be fruitless.
What followed was years of frustration and continued heartbreak and uncertainty for the relatives of those lost. The documentary includes strained relations between Malaysian authorities and China, where feelings continued to run high amid accusations of a cover-up by relatives of the flight's 153 Chinese passengers.
A comprehensive survey of 120,000 km of the ocean floor southwest of Perth, Western Australia, lasted from October 2014 to January 2017. But still, it yielded no evidence of the plane's whereabouts.
Malaysian authorities released their final report in October 2017, which revealed what they suspected had happened to Flight MH370. It considered the fact that none of the flight crew, or the plane's communication systems had relayed a distress signal, indications of bad weather, or technical problems.
Police had identified two Iranian nationals travelling on board with stolen Australian and Italian passports, but they were eventually eliminated as suspected terrorists. Suspicion fell on the plane's captain as the prime suspect after all other passengers were ruled out as suspects.
Investigations continue into captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who was 53 at the time of the flight's disappearance. A formal inquiry into his possible role in the tragedy has yet to be launched.
A private US marine exploration company called Ocean Infinity began another search of likely crash sites in January 2018, however, it was called off after six months.
Further hopes of putting the mystery to bed happened when 18 pieces of debris found on beaches in the western Indian Ocean were identified as being likely to have come from MH370. Further speculation, however, has continued into the fate of the plane.
Former United Airlines pilot Captain Ross Aimer said in 2018 that he believed lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold ignited before setting fire to the aircraft. The latest updates on the plane's disappearance came in March 2020, six years after it went missing when two memorial services were held to mark the anniversary.
Flight MH 370 is the second-deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777 and the second-deadliest incident in Malaysia Airlines' history. The families of its passengers have called for a new search for the plane in a bid to seek closure. Flight MH370: The Silence airs at 9pm on Channel 5 tonight (Tuesday May 31).
