Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Google Maps: Solving The Mystery Or Just Random Findings?
Aviation accidents are not very common. According to IATA, or the International Air Transport Association, more than 30 million global passenger flights take off and land safely yearly.
However, that does not mean the aviation industry is without mystery. There have been instances where the entire flight and the passengers have gone missing without any trace.
Such is the case with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, or MH370. This international passenger flight disappeared from the international radar in 2014.
However, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Google Maps has increased suddenly, as there are some experts claiming to locate the flight on Google Maps.
What Exactly Happened on March 8, 2014?
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the passenger flight that vanished with 12 crew members and 227 passengers, took off from Kuala Lumpur and was supposed to land in Beijing.
The flight departed at 00:41 local time (MYT; UTC+08:00) and arrived in Beijing at 06:30 local time (CST; UTC+08:00). Everything was going well before the aircraft disappeared from radar.
38 minutes after takeoff, the plane lost all communication over the South China Sea. According to military radar, the aircraft went off track and west towards the Indian Ocean when it lost all contact with the ATC.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Google Maps coordinates located the flight at 6°56′12″N 103°35′6″E, before it became untraceable.
Disappearance and Initial Search
Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:41 AM. It last communicated with air traffic control at 1:19 AM while flying from Malaysia to Vietnamese airspace over the South China Sea.
ACARS, or the Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System, transmits data about aircraft performance. It sent the last transmission at 1:07 AM and then turned off.
The crew communicated late, at 1:19 AM and 1:21 AM, when the plane’s transponder, which communicates with air traffic control, was turned off.
The search and rescue operation was initially focused on the South China Sea, but nothing was found there. After that, the search area expanded. Moreover, according to satellite data analysis, the plane flew for several more hours.
This implies that the aircraft flew for a while before running out of fuel and coming down in the Southern Indian Ocean. On March 24, Najib Razak, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, announced the flight.
He said that after analyzing the final signals, U.K. AAIB and Inmarsat concluded that the flight crashed in a remote part of the Indian Ocean, 1,500 miles southwest of Australia. So, it is unlikely that any passenger would survive the accident.
Possible Cause Behind MH370’s Disappearance
Just after a week of the flight’s disappearance, various theories were made, ranging from mechanical failure to the pilot’s suicide. There were some speculations about hijacking as the transponder and ACARS lost all signals.
However, no group or individual claimed responsibility for the incident, and it is also unlikely that someone would hijack the plane and fly it to the Southern Indian Ocean.
The switching of the signals suggested suicide by any of the crew members. However, no suspicious behavior was seen by any of the crew members just before getting on the flight.
Moreover, in 2016, New York Magazine reported that the pilot of MH370 flew over the Southern Indian Ocean on his home flight simulator just a month before the plane vanished. The path was similar to the aircraft’s final path.
This indicated that the pilot planned a mass-murder-suicide. However, after the discovery of the debris, some people deduced that the flight could have been shot down, but there was no evidence of shrapnel from any missile.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Google Maps Speculation
The mystery about MH370 has never been solved. There is still no solid information about what happened to the aircraft and why it vanished. However, there have been various speculations about finding the flight on Google Maps.
In 2018, a technology expert named Ian Wilson said that he had found the wreckage of MH370 deep inside the Cambodian forest through Google Maps and had witnessed something.
He said, “Measuring the Google sighting, you’re looking at around 69 metres, but there looks to be a gap between the tail and the back of the plane. It’s just slightly bigger, but there’s a gap that would probably account for that.”
Moreover, he planned to take a helicopter to the site, believing the authorities should take this discovery seriously. He said, “I just thought I’d have a wander through. I work in digital video, so I’m on Google Earth all the time.”
He further added, “So I was on there, a few hours here, a few hours there. If you added it up I spent hours searching for places a plane could have gone down. And in the end, as you can see the place where the plane is. It is literally the greenest, darkest part you can see.”
Finally, he added, “worst case scenario I’m wrong and I’ve wasted my time and some money”.
Recent Findings
In 2024, the British tabloids circulated a report based on Ian Wilson’s statements. However, there is no official source of this information or substantial evidence. Also, a newspaper confirmed that the images he refers to are visible in an image from 2004.
Even though some debris has been found on the island in the Indian Ocean, no other evidence or further wreckage has been found, leaving the mystery unsolved.
In March 2024, a company named Ocean Infinity, based in Texas, revealed a plan to search the southern Indian Ocean, where the aircraft is believed to have crashed. However, the Malaysian government will not take any responsibility for this search.
So, if you are going to rely on the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Google Maps, as people are suggesting, for evidence, then you will be disappointed. The mystery is still one of the most significant ones in the aviation industry.
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