On the fifth anniversary of the mysterious and tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, The Guardian gives a look at the various theories about one of aviation’s greatest mysteries that emerged during these last five years.
An early theory suggested MH370 had been taken, not south into the sea, but north into central Asia. However, this northern landing idea was debunked by the company that owned the satellite, Inmarsat, and further refuted in 2015 by the discovery of debris off the coast of Africa.
A “mass hypoxia event” (i.e: a loss of oxygen) and a crash near Western Australia. The hypoxia theory – which concludes that the pilot, captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was unconscious at the end of the journey – is still the current official theory of the Malaysian government and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).
A deliberate course is based on findings in 2016 by US investigators and the ATSB that the personal flight simulator in Captain Zaharie’s home had been used to draft a route into the southern Indian Ocean, similar to the route believed to be taken that fateful day. In the years since, the Malaysian government has continued to refute the “rogue pilot” theory, and re-advance the theory that Zaharie was unconscious and the victim of an accident.
The 25,000 sq km priority zone theory is based on the ATSB’s comprehensive report where two theories put forward: The first was the same unconscious pilot theory. However, the ATSB provided new evidence. They said the plane was free-falling and the pilot was unconscious. The second theory was that a small new area – called the “priority zone” – located just north of their failed search, was probably the final location of MH370 and urged future searchers to explore it. In 2018, the 25,000sq km “priority zone” was searched but with no success.
The conscious pilot and a “controlled ditching” theory. The failure of the 2018 search by Ocean Infinity sparked a re-thinking stating that Zaharie was awake and guided the plane in a long glide or “controlled ditching” once it ran out of fuel. But a top ATSB official said evidence refutes this theory.
