Hello readers. As we enter day 5 of the missing MH370 saga, one can only imagine the pain of the friends and relatives of those on the flight. They are still desperately awaiting for answers as to what happened, many others around the world like myself are equally interested as we just want to know why a Boeing 777 can simply disappear just like that. The most disturbing news that emerged in the last 24 hours was that Malaysian military radar (of the Malaysian Royal Air Force) actually picked up the plane near Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca at 2:40 am local time.
Now this is worrying for two reasons: firstly, that places MH370 on the other side of the Malaysian Peninsular: possibly in the Straits of Malacca, Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal or even the Indian Ocean itself. This means that all the rescue effort has been focused on the wrong area in the first few vital days of this operation as all these countries were searching in the South China Sea. Good grief, so much precious time has been wasted in this search and rescue operation - it is unreal. If the plane had crashed in the Andaman Sea instead, then any debris or oil floating on the surface of the water would have had dispersed by the currents, waves and wind in the meantime. If there had been any survivors from the crash, that meant that they had spent 4 to 5 days waiting in a life raft in the middle of the sea waiting to be picked up because the Malaysian authorities had been searching in the wrong sea.
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| The last known radar position of MH370 over the South China Sea. |
Secondly, if the Malaysian air force had this information all this time, why didn't they come forward with this any earlier? Surely they would have and could have shared this vital information with the authorities who were coordinating the search and rescue efforts - why did they hold on to this information for four days before releasing it? All this only further fuels speculation that the Malaysian authorities are not being totally honest and are not telling us everything so far - so in the absence of answers, there have been so many conspiracy theories about the fate of MH370. Some of the theories are quite credible,others are total bullshit written by idiots who have no technical knowledge. Such is the problem with the internet - don't get me started on some of the dumber conspiracy theories out there.
Now the secrecy about this piece of information suggests that there may have been an act of terrorism - this is a theory that is favoured by some as it does provide hope for the families involved that their loved ones may still be alive. The pilot may have switched off the planes transponder - that does not necessarily mean that the plane crashed at that moment, it just meant that the plane could not be tracked by secondary radar used by civilian authorities but it could have been tracked by primary radar used by the military. That is why the plane was picked up on radar flying near Pulau Perak in the Straits of Malacca. If the plane had experienced some kind of catastrophic sudden mechanical failure, it would not have been able to change course and fly about 500 km from its last known location in the South China Sea to the Pulau Perak vicinity. Hence this suggests that the plane didn't crash, not initially anyway.
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| What was the plane doing flying off course into the Straits of Malacca? |
All we know is that the Malaysian authorities have been giving out scant and conflicting reports - this has angered and frustrated the Chinese authorities as well as the Vietnamese authorities, who have spent much time, resources and effort searching for this plane in Vietnamese territorial waters. What the hell is actually going on here? Some people have suggested that this points to a cover up - the Malaysian authorities know something but they are not telling the truth. Others have suggested that this is nothing but good old fashioned Malaysian incompetency and that there is really nothing sinister - the authorities in KL are just plain clueless. Yet others have suggested a combination of both - a mistake was made initially when they lost contact with MH370 and they are now just trying to cover up that mistake.
Let me share with you something that happened yesterday. I was looking for my hat and gloves (it's March and it still can get to about 5 degrees at night here in London) and I couldn't find them. They were not on the coat rack, not on my shoe rack, not in my coat pockets, not anywhere obvious. I got so fed up as I looked everywhere for them but they were just no where to be found. I started to imagine that I must have dropped them when I last wore them out of the house. I tried to remember where I had been to work or to the gym or to shopping, possible places where I could have taken them off and dropped them. I even contemplated the possibility that they may have been stolen at some point and wondered who might have stolen them. Then finally, I found them in my gym bag - what must've happened was that I had gone to the gym with them but decided after my work out that I was not cold and didn't need to wear my hat and gloves. So I had left them in the gym bag when I got home instead of hanging them up where I normally would.
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| Are the Malaysian authorities covering up a mistake? |
Moral of the story? There is usually a logical explanation for everything - but when we're searching for answers, our minds can go into overdrive and start imagining all kinds of things, some of them are plausible, others ridiculous. It is important to remain rational and calm - that was how I actually remembered where I had left my hat and gloves. If I had allowed myself to get carried away, maybe I would have convinced myself that my hat and gloves had been lost or stolen already. So, for now, let's remain calm and patient - answers will emerge eventually. I am hoping for a miracle for MH370, what is the alternative? It is day 5 and we still have no news. We're all desperate for some answers.
As usual, please do leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts. What's your theory on the fate of MH370? What do you think actually happened to this flight? How do you feel about the efforts of the Malaysian authorities?
