It’s one of aviation’s greatest mysteries, and there are no answers a year after flight MH370 disappeared, writes Lincoln Tan
On March 8 last year, Suhaili Mustaffa, sister-in-law of the University of Auckland teaching fellow's sister, was one of the 227 passengers to board the Beijing-bound flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The Boeing 777, with New Zealanders Paul Weeks and Ximin Wang on board, disappeared from radar screens en route to China.
After a year of intensive searching nothing has been found, and the jetliner's disappearance remains one of aviation's biggest mysteries.
The search is jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia with a budget of US$93 million ($124.2 million).
"My sister has kind of accepted that the plane could have crashed, but who knows," said Zaidah.
Zaidah said most, including her sister, are upset with the airline's lack of communication since the aircraft went missing.
"My brother-in-law [Suhaili's brother] learns about the latest developments from reporters rather than MAS," she said.
Malaysia's national airline carrier yesterday refused to respond to any of the Herald's queries, saying it was focused on its one-year anniversary observance.
"We are aware of the intense media interest about us at this time," an airline spokeswoman said in a statement. "However, we feel it more appropriate to observe the occasion in our own private reflection and remembrance."
The spokeswoman said the airline was focusing on preparations for a private service of remembrance tomorrow with employees and the loved ones of colleagues who were on board.
MAS lost 12 crew members and one cargo staff.
"The search continues," the statement added.
"We will always remember."
On January 29, the Malaysian government officially declared the disappearance as an accident under international aviation rules.
All on board were presumed to have lost their lives.
This angered relatives of the victims, including the wife of Paul Weeks.
Perth-based Danica Weeks said in an interview with Who Magazine that she wanted the airline to retract the statement.
"Malaysia's Deputy Foreign Minister has sat across the table from me and said, 'Why can't you accept that he has gone?'," Weeks was quoted as saying.
"You have no proof. Until you have proof, I will not accept it. None of us will."
The wife of Ximin Wang, who did not want to be named, believed the announcement was an excuse to stop the search and sweep the incident under the carpet.
"How can they presume they are dead? There is no evidence. There is nothing," Wang's wife said in an interview with the Herald on Sunday.
"They are doing this because they want to stop searching. They want to move on."
Voice370, a non-profit organisation claiming to represent the victims' families, said none of the families had been offered compensation aside from an interim payment.
Quoting Malaysia Airline officials who wished to remain anonymous, Australian news service ABC News reported that only seven had accepted the airline's payment of US$50,000 in January.
The carrier told the Star newspaper in Malaysia that it had provided financial assistance, a dedicated family support centre in the Malaysian capital, family assistance centres in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and other counselling support.
It said this would continue beyond the anniversary.
Australia is leading the search in the Indian Ocean with four ships using sophisticated sonar systems focusing on a 60,000sq km priority zone.
The hunt is scheduled to end in May and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott this week suggested the search would be scaled back.
The mystery of MH370
What happened?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, for Beijing. The plane's transponder was shut down as the aircraft crossed Malaysian air traffic control into Vietnamese airspace over the South China Sea.
After the loss of radar, "handshakes" between the aircraft and a ground station suggested the plane flew towards the remote Southern Indian Ocean. After searches in various locations, it was announced on June 26 that a 60,000sq km search area about 1800km west of Perth would be the new priority search area.
What is the latest developments from the search?
The Australian-led search operation has found nothing yet apart from several shipping containers. Vessels are using sophisticated sonar equipment to scan the sea floor for wreckage. The search is due to be completed in May and it is yet to be decided what will happen if nothing is found by then. Search co-ordinators believe they are looking in the right place.
What are some of the theories about what happened?
Speculations include mechanical failure, pilot suicide, hijacking, terror plot and insurance scam, but so far there has been no evidence to back any of these. Books, documentaries and online postings have suggested other possibilities including alien abduction, and that the plane was commandeered to be used as a "flying bomb" but shot down by the Americans, a theory that was dismissed by the United States. A US aviation expert suggested last month that the plane was taken to a Russian facility in Kazakhstan, possibly on the instruction of President Vladimir Putin to intimidate the West during the Ukraine crisis.
Is this the first time there has been a case like this?
There has been only one other recorded instance where a plane with more than 100 people has vanished without a trace. In 1962, a US military flight, operated by US-based Flying Tiger Line, carrying 107 people from Guam to the Philippines disappeared. Its fate remains unknown.
What impact did the disappearance of MH370 have on aviation practices?
It has spurred efforts to reduce the likelihood of planes disappearing. Australia said it was conducting trials with Malaysia and Indonesia of a system that increases the frequency in which planes are tracked over remote oceans.
A global aviation summit in Montreal has also backed plans requiring real-time tracking of aircraft in distress from next year.
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