Nearly nine years after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished, a new theory from a group of engineers suggests the aircraft may have been deliberately crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, potentially solving what some call the 'perfect crime'. The theory, explored in a Netflix docuseries, posits that whoever was flying the plane likely depressurised the cabin early on, killing everyone on board hours before the aircraft ran out of fuel and plunged into the sea.
The Boeing 777 disappeared on 8 March 2014, 42 minutes after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. The last communication was a routine handover to Vietnamese air traffic control. Shortly after, the plane made a sharp left turn, flew back over the Malay peninsula, and headed out over the Andaman Sea before dropping off radar. However, satellite data from Inmarsat showed the plane continued flying south for six hours before crashing.
The official narrative, supported by the Independent Group of aviation experts and Australian investigators, points to Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah as the likely pilot who executed the manoeuvre, though no motive has been established. The Malaysian government has faced criticism for its handling of the investigation, with some alleging a lack of transparency.
The Netflix series, 'MH370: The Plane That Disappeared', pieces together evidence from radar, satellite data, and expert analysis. Director Louise Malkinson called it 'the greatest aviation mystery of all time', noting the extraordinary nature of the disappearance in an age of advanced tracking technology.
Despite extensive searches in the southern Indian Ocean, no wreckage has been found, leaving families of the 239 passengers and crew without closure. The engineers' theory adds to a long list of hypotheses, but remains unproven.
