With everything that happens on the internet, it’s hard to keep track of every new dramatic event. It feels like they can come and go in five minutes — every day there’s something new for people to talk about. What feels like something that’s going to be a historic event, dies in the flames of virality and sinks into oblivion.
Still, I think a lot of people keep better track of specific events out of personal interest. For me, the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 (MH370) still fascinates me. Even if I tried, I couldn’t say it better than Petter Hörnfeldt, an experienced pilot with more than 10,000 hours in the cockpit of the Boeing 737, who argues:
“How can a Boeing 777, one of the biggest and most modern aircrafts in the world just vanish without a trace? It can’t.”
On Mar. 8, 2014, almost 11 years ago to the date, MH370 disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia with 239 souls on board, bound for Beijing Capital International Airport in China. A massive search was launched to find the missing aircraft, but to no avail. At the time, everyone was talking about it, since it was an indisputable tragedy and an extremely unusual event. It’s the 21st century; aircrafts can’t simply disappear without a trace — there’s always a trail of clues left behind.
Back then, I was starting to dip my toes into the topic of airline incidents, and from then on it’s become something I’ve kept coming back to. Just as other people might levitate toward, for example, True Crime Cases or Seconds From Disaster (2004-2018); I find the topic of aircraft accidents very intriguing. I’ve watched most, if not all, episodes of Air Crash Investigation (2003–) that I could find, and I have seen myriad videos on the topic. I would consider myself knowledgeable enough when it comes to these incidents to say that for MH370’s wreckage to remain undiscovered is extremely unusual. For over 10 years, the question of whether one day we’ll find the wreckage and finally be able to solve the decade old mystery has never left my mind. Even if it’s no longer an internet hot topic, and even if for the rest of the world it’s old news, for me it will never cease to be riveting.
Almost a year ago, Mentour Pilot released a video essay presenting all known information related to the case, and urged for another search to be initiated to find the wreckage. While it’s confirmed that the plane went down, thanks to debris recovered from the ocean’s surface, we still have not been able to locate the aircraft as a whole. Still, the YouTube channel’s video revived the conversation on the internet about the importance of finding the missing plane.
To say that I’ve monitored any developments closely is an understatement. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that a new search effort would be conducted in the first months of 2025! I am delighted to announce that at the time of writing this article, Ocean Infinity’s Armada 78-06 vessel is underway to the estimated crash site. A lot of new developments were made in the past couple of years, and it was thanks to them that this new search was greenlit.
I’ll admit, I have high hopes for this search. I won’t overwhelm you with the details but, in short, the combined knowledge of dozens of industry experts agreed that the new selected search site is very likely to contain the remains of MH370. I believe the families still affected by the disaster today deserve closure, and that pinpointing the crash site and examining the wreckage is paramount for improving air travel safety. I can’t wait to hear more about how the search effort goes, and if it is found, I’m sure it will become viral again.
