Missing flight MH370: what do we know 11 years on?

In December 2024, Malaysia approved another 'no find, no fee' mission to continue searching for flight MH370, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Cabinet ministers approved Ocean Infinity, a Texas marine robotics firm, to resume seabed searches in a 5,800-square-mile (15,000-square-kilometer) zone, Loke said. Ocean Infinity’s compensation is tied to results, with US$70 million payable for confirmed substantial wreckage, Loke clarified.

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The search for the remains continues -

The search operation began on February 25, 2025, and was expected to last six weeks. Meanwhile the operation was suspended and is expected to resume at the end of the year. This effort is likely the final attempt to locate the missing aircraft. Using advanced autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), the team will continue to scan a massive area in the southern Indian Ocean, where experts believe Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have crashed.

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The mystery remains unsolved -

What do you think happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370?

Sources: (National Post) (TIME Magazine) (Wall Street Journal)

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Take-off - March 8, 2014: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 heading to Beijing departs from the Kuala Lumpur airport.

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On board - In total there were 239 people on board.

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Nationalities - Nationalities on the plane included Chinese, Indonesian, Russian, Dutch, Ukrainian, New Zealander, Malaysian, Australian, Indian, French, American, Canadian, and Iranian.

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Passengers - According to Malaysia Airlines, there were five children among the passengers.

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Nightmare - Forty minutes after take-off, the plane loses contact with all control towers.

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No record - Before they disappeared from the radar, the crew hadn't reported anything wrong with the plane. In the early hours of March 8, the plane disappeared without a trace.

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Searches - Soon after, searches and investigations began.

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Mystery - The plane's automatic system also didn't send a faulty alert.

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Revelations - During the preliminary investigations, an interesting bit of information came about: the plane's loss of contact with the towers may not have been accidental.

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Intentional? - According to the National Post, investigators believe there is evidence someone may have shut off the communication systems and diverted the plane.

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Crash site - The most likely thing, according to investigators, is that the plane fell in a remote area in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

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Solidarity - Australia, Malaysia, and China led the intense searches for the lost plane, but 25 other countries were involved too.

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New hint - Malaysia's air force said the plane was detected flying over the Strait of Malacca after it lost contact with the tower.

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Different route - That was not part of the original route, which raises suspicions.

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Suspects - Authorities found out that two Iranians got on board with fake passports, which raises questions about a terrorist plot.

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Crime - The documents had been stolen from an Italian and a Swiss man months before.

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Terrorism - According to TIME magazine, the airline bosses discarded the possibility of the plane having being overtaken by terrorists.

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Check-in - Another curious fact is that five passengers checked in but never got on the plane.

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Denied theory - Malaysian authorities rejected the theory that the plane detected flying over the Strait of Malacca was the MH370.

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Media - On March 13, 2014, the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming there was a chance the plane flew for another four hours after it lost contact.

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New route - That would be enough time for the plane to make it to distant places like Mongolia or Pakistan.

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Conspiracy theory - But again, Malaysian authorities dismissed that theory.

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Signal - The passengers' relatives contacted their family members through cell phone and claimed they heard some sort of signal.

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Signal - According to them, even three days after the crash, some phones appeared online on the Chinese text message service QQ, according to TIME magazine.

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Verdict - On March 24, the Malaysian Prime Minister confirmed that, without a doubt, the plane had crashed in the Indian Ocean and there were no survivors.

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Mystery continues - So where are the remains?

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Proof - In 2015, a strange object was found on Réunion Island, near Madagascar.

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Wreckage - Authorities reached the conclusion that it was probably part of the wreckage from the plane, but there is still some uncertainty regarding it.

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Explosion - An employee at an oil platform said he saw something in flames over the South China Sea.

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Aliens? - TIME magazine said that some internet forums and blogs claimed the plane was abducted by aliens.

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Reasons - An online conspiracy theory also says the plane was brought down in order to kill Chinese scientists.

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Scientists - According to that theory, the scientists had in their possession a pharmaceutical patent that was considered revolutionary.

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The search for the remains continues -

Getty Images

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The search for the remains continues -

Getty Images

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The mystery remains unsolved -

What do you think happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370?

Sources: (National Post) (TIME Magazine) (Wall Street Journal)

Getty Images

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Missing flight MH370: what do we know 11 years on?

March 8 marked the 11th anniversary of the disappearance

08/03/24 | Eve Molloy

TRAVEL Malaysian airlines

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370's disappearance in 2014 remains one of the most startling aviation tragedies in modern history. Eleven years after the incident, families remain without closure, as neither survivors nor wreckage have been found. Since 2014, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent scouring 274 square miles (710 square km) of the Indian Ocean, but the search has not yielded any results. A total of 227 passengers and 12 crew were on board the Boeing 777 that disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

To learn more about the circumstances surrounding one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history, click through this gallery.