Reminiscing about the unimaginable events that threw the world into suspense on 8 March 2014, this BBC Horizon documentary offers a forensic analysis of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. 26 countries are involved in the search for the missing plane. Based on theories such as a terrorist attack, suicide pilot, colossal technical error, or other event leading to loss of control – get the inside story of a plane crash investigator.
Go behind the scenes of the engineering marvel of the Boeing 777 – a plane with systems so advanced it’s technically capable of flying itself.
Aircraft navigation is pre-programmed by computer. Airlines are like “highways in the sky” and set routes defined by “waypoints”. Waypoints have designations that air traffic controllers and pilots use to describe specific points on a flight path. Within a minute of launch, the crew was told to change their course to a waypoint called Igari. The last automated report for flight MH370 showed it was on the correct route to Beijing.
With an unimaginably large search area, often described as “virtually nowhere to go”, investigators using data recorded via satellite communications found the plane had been flying for seven hours – after disappearing from radar. Further investigation confirmed that the plane did not head north, as hoped, but headed south into the southern Indian Ocean. Why MH370 went so far off course is a question that remains to be answered.
In the race to find the plane’s black box before the batteries powering it die, an Australian Navy support ship has located a ping from the black box. However, it is difficult to find this box in the ocean at a depth of nearly 5 kilometers. Finding the needle in the haystack is easier because at least you have the needle in the haystack and know where to start looking. The hunt for the wreckage of MH370 is an ongoing process, but a few clear thumps from the black box have at least found a “needle in a haystack”.
While we may never know the fate of those on board, the grief and pain of abandoned families is shared around the world. But with the development of new aviation technology, black boxes may no longer be needed on aircraft, which may also eliminate the possibility of aircraft disappearing from radar. Hope this tragic incident doesn’t happen again in the future.
