Shortly after midnight on 8 March 2014, a Boeing 777 heaved into the air from Kuala Lumpur and climbed to its assigned cruising altitude of 10,700 metres. After being instructed to switch frequencies to Vietnamese air traffic control, the pilot replied in the methodical manner that is common in radio calls: "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero." It was the last message that would ever be received from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
A decade has passed since the plane veered off course during a flight to Beijing and disappeared but, despite one of the largest and most expensive multinational searches in history, one of aviation's greatest mysteries remains unsolved: how can a sophisticated Boeing 777 simply vanish? For KS Narendran, from India, whose wife, Chandrika, was among the 239 people on board the flight that never reached its destination, that is impossible to accept. "Every succeeding anniversary has been less about my personal loss and more about not yet having answers to what really happened to the flight," he said.
The need for answers also burns inside the families of those who were operating the doomed flight, as accusations and conspiracy theories swirl.
This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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