#Unsolved #ten #years #MH370 #biggest #mystery #modern #aviation
This weekend, the families of the relatives will gather for a memorial service in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. They are still full of questions about the missing device.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport just after midnight on Saturday, March 8, 2014. There were 2 pilots, 10 crew members and 239 passengers on board the Boeing 777. They came from 14 different countries.
The majority of passengers came from China (153 people) and Malaysia (50 people). The only Dutch occupant was 50-year-old Surti Dahlia from Amsterdam. She hoped to meet her great love in Malaysia.
The flight’s destination, the Chinese capital Beijing, was never reached. The plane last contacted air traffic control 38 minutes after takeoff. The pilot wished them a good night.
Off course
No one knows exactly what happened in the cockpit. Afterwards, satellite data showed that the aircraft changed course and ultimately crashed – probably without fuel – in a very remote part of the Indian Ocean.
“The place where the plane disappeared is so vast and immeasurably large,” says aviation expert Joris Melkert, who has continued to follow the case all these years. “Hardly anyone comes to this part of the ocean, because there is nothing to get. At the time of the accident, only a Norwegian cargo ship was in the area. The question was also what exactly that ship was doing there.”
The area in question is called the ‘roaring forties’ by sailors. This is because of its location at the fortieth parallel and the powerful, turbulent westerly wind that prevails. The same wind and meter-high waves have made the search very difficult from the start. Just like the depth of the water: the Indian Ocean is up to 4 kilometers deep in some places.
Various theories have been formed over the years about the circumstances of the suspected crash into the sea. There might have been a fire or a lack of air pressure on board, causing the pilots to try to reach the nearest airport. The fact that this did not work could possibly be because both pilots lost consciousness. It has also been speculated that the pilot deliberately crashed the plane.
‘Worse than a needle in a haystack’
All conceivable resources have been used in the search, from planes and helicopters to submarines, drones and divers. The suspected crash area is about 120,000 square kilometers, Melkert explains. “That is three times the territory of the Netherlands and that is really gigantic. This is even worse than looking for a needle in a haystack and the reason that the complete wreck was never found.”
Over the years, loose debris washed ashore, including on the French island of Réunion, Madagascar and Tanzania, but the black box was never found. That quickly became extremely difficult: the battery of such a ‘flight data recorder’ in a Boeing 777 is empty after thirty days and then no longer transmits signals.
The hope has always remained that the fuselage of the aircraft would be found. As happened with the missing Air France flight AF447. In 2011 (almost two years after the disaster), the fuselage of the aircraft was found off the coast of Brazil at a depth of four thousand meters with the help of robot submarines.
In September last year, a new technique using radio waves was used to determine a smaller area of about 130 by 74 kilometers within which the wreck must be located somewhere. That area is located more than 1,500 kilometers west of Australia.
‘It’s still possible’
Because the search is still not given up. Family members and a group of experts hope that the maritime company Ocean Infinity, specialized in seabed research, will soon make a new attempt and finally solve the mystery. But according to some critics, the Malaysian government is not interested in this because it would cost too much money.
According to Melkert, the wreck can still be found after all these years. “The device consists largely of aluminum, which can remain underwater, isolated from oxygen, for centuries. It may be buried under sediment, but if you have a lot of money and time, nothing is impossible. The wreck will not decay quickly and still needs to be removed. The question is still: where?”
