MALAYSIA Airlines flight MH370 became one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries when it vanished without a trace in March 2014.
There has been scores of conspiracy theories surrounding the fate of the Boeing 777. Here’s what we know.
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What happened to flight MH370?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur and was heading to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Passengers included Chinese calligraphers, a couple on their way home to their young sons after a long-delayed honeymoon and a construction worker who hadn’t been home in a year.
But at 12.14am on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines lost contact with MH370 close to Phuket island in the Strait of Malacca.
Before that, Malaysian authorities believe the last words heard from the plane, from either the pilot or co-pilot, was “Good night Malaysian three seven zero”.
Investigators thought the most likely location for the jet was in the Indian Ocean after analysing information from the British satellite telecommunications company Immarsat.
The latest theory is that the jet could have been heading towards Kazakhstan.
Likely locations for the airliner could be tracked by knowing the distance from the fixed satellite, but it would also change depending which direction the plane was flying in after its last known position and at what speed it was travelling at.
But if it was flying south possible sites could range from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
While the authorities believe the Indian Ocean is the most likely site Kazakhstan is also a possibility, the Sunday Express reported.
Who were the pilot and co-pilot?
Malaysian captain Zaharie Amad Shah was flying MH370 when it disappeared.
Shah, born July 31, 1961, was described as a veteran pilot who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981.
A father of three, passionate cook and keen fisherman, Shah lived with his wife in a luxury gated community where he was said to have built his own flight simulator.
In the wake of the plane’s disappearance, rumours surfaced claiming his wife had moved out of their home.
The co-pilot was Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, who was on his first flight on a 777 as a fully approved first officer.
He had flown five times before with a “check co-pilot” overseeing him.
But he had 2,763 hours experience flying other jets before moving to the larger aircraft.
Fariq was reportedly planning to marry his girlfriend.
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Has the engine been found?
Five pieces, thought to be from the plane, recently washed up in Madagascar.
Aviation expert Victor Iannello believes one fragment, which appears to be from the interior floorboard, is consistent with a “high-speed impact”.
More than 30 bits of aircraft debris have been collected from various places around the world but only three wing fragments that washed up along the Indian Ocean have been confirmed to be from MH370.
In October 2018, a sleuth claimed he’d spotted an engine in the Cambodian jungle.
Daniel Boyer previously claimed to have found the cockpit and tail, complete with Malaysia Airlines logo, of the missing aircraft.
Boyer told the Daily Star Online that the measurements of the blurry image matched those of the engine perfectly, being 4.3m wide and 2.7m in length.
Boyer’s discovery built off the work of Brit Ian Wilson, who first found what he thinks is an image of the plane on Google Maps.
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