Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Disappearance: Explained

Table of Contents

• Section 1: Introduction
• Section 2: Flight 370: Timeline
• Section 3: Flight 370: Search operations
• Section 4: Brief Description about Flight 370

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Disappearence: What Actually Happened on 8th of March

A Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370), operated by Malaysia Airlines, vanished on March 8, 2009, as it was en route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport in China. The loss of the Malaysian was the deadliest occurrence involving a Boeing 777 aircraft in Malaysia Airlines' history, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members who are now assumed dead.

From 14 different countries, including Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Australia, India, France, the United States, Iran, Ukraine, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia, and Taiwan, all of the passengers on board the flights came. Even nine years after it vanished, the tragedy continues to be the biggest aviation mystery, and the search for the missing aircraft grew to be the most expensive in aviation history.

Flight 370: Timeline

Less than an hour after takeoff, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had its last voice contact with air traffic control (ATC) as it was passing over the South China Sea. As it abruptly diverged from its initial northeastern course to head west and cross the Malay Peninsula, it eventually vanished from ATC radar screens but continued to be tracked on military radar. It followed this course until 02:22, when it left the radar's range over the Andaman Sea northwest of Penang Island in northwest Malaysia, according to Wikipedia.

Flight 370: Search Operations

The multi-national airplane search effort broke all previous records for search costs in aviation. The search operation started in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand, where secondary monitoring radar last picked up an aircraft signal, and it was shortly expanded to the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea.

Brief Description about Flight 370

A Boeing 777-2H6ER with the registration 9M-MRO and serial number 28420 was used to operate Malaysian Flight 370. On May 14, 2002, the 404th Boeing 777 was constructed, and on May 31, 2002, Malaysia Airlines received the brand-new aircraft. Two Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines provided power to the aircraft, which had a maximum seating capacity of 282 people. It had been in service for 53,471.6 hours and 7,526 cycles (takeoffs and landings) and had never been in an accident before.