A Boeing 777-200 aircraft which operated as Malaysia Airlines flight 370 — carrying 227 passengers and 12 members of the flight crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing — disappeared early in the morning on Saturday, March 8, 2014 somewhere over the Gulf of Thailand en route — and still, no trace of the aircraft has been found one year later.
The airplane was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30 in the morning local time on that fateful day — but it did not arrive. No “mayday” was reported by the flight crew; and the aircraft never entered Chinese air space. A criminal inquiry had been launched; and assets were deployed to the southern Indian Ocean in search of the aircraft.
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, new analysis of satellite data suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean”, according to an official statement released from Malaysia Airlines on March 24, 2014. “On behalf of all of us at Malaysia Airlines and all Malaysians, our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time.”
Only 40 percent of the “priority zone” of 60,000 square kilometers have been thoroughly searched thus far, according to this article written by Patrick Begley for The Sydney Morning Herald. The completion of this search for the remainder of this zone should be completed sometime in May.
Peter Foley — who is the director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and in charge of solving what is arguably the most mysterious aircraft disappearance — is feeling “confident we’re in the right place”, as “we’ve exhausted every other avenue several times.”
In addition to the disappearance of the aircraft, there is still no explanation as to what happened and why — although theories continue to swirl about.
Friends and families of the victims of this tragedy hope so, as they have been frustrated by the lack of information pertaining to this incident for an entire year. They are seeking some kind of closure after being put through an emotional roller coaster.
I hope they receive that closure as soon as possible, as they have already endured more than their fare share of sorrow…
