# MH370 went missing on 08 March 2014. Aviation’s biggest mystery continues. Amazing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835 "2023-03-07T14:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/101 "2025-03-25T16:27:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > News flash: The ocean is big. Bigger even than a 777. Yep, bigger than that. Yeah that was written by someone who apparently never flew across the Indian Ocean. Or even simply walked a mile or 3 in a desert. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/102 "2025-03-25T16:49:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > News flash: The ocean is big. Bigger even than a 777. Yep, bigger than that. I thought it was a long way to the corner for a pack of smokes. Bigger than that? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/103 "2025-03-25T17:06:00Z")
I’m guessing the only purpose of finding the wreckage is to see whether it can indeed confirm the original theory that it was indeed pilot suicide by the captain. Although I’m not sure how that could be proven by 11-year old evidence. Also, it might lead to some startling discovery that casts doubt on theories. Such as if, for instance, the 777 is found in some place in the Indian Ocean that is far from where it would have been expected. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/104 "2025-03-25T17:16:34Z")
Yeah. He did it. Just like OJ. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/105 "2025-03-25T19:11:59Z")
But his book did not sell as well. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/106 "2025-03-25T19:55:42Z")
I mean, whenever a plane crashes, you ideally do want to find out why. They’re not supposed to do that, and so when one does, you want to figure out how to prevent it from happening again. And finding the wreckage can certainly help with that. Still doesn’t make it a “mystery” when you can’t, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/107 "2025-03-25T21:13:52Z")
I was thinking it was a reference to the movie Airport '77: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Airport_77_movie_poster.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Airport_77_movie_poster.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/108 "2025-03-25T21:59:51Z")
Now _there_ was a realistic well-researched two hours of _cinema verite_. NOT 😁 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/109 "2025-03-25T22:37:48Z")
Another big aviation (unsolved) mystery: In 2003, two individuals managed to steal a Boeing 727 from Luanda International Airport in Angola. They then took off in the aircraft, which led to a massive international search by various intelligence agencies. However, both the plane and the men who stole it disappeared without a trace. An extensive article published in Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine in September 2010 was unable to draw any conclusions on the fate of the aircraft, despite research and interviews with persons knowledgeable of details surrounding the disappearance [Wiki link.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Angola_Boeing_727_disappearance) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/110 "2025-03-25T23:31:38Z")
It went into the drink or into the bush late at night. End of story. Nothing mysterious about the possibilities. Which specific possibility where is indeterminable. I find the idea that it was loaded with 14,000 gallons of fuel to be unlikely. 14,000 gallons is roughly 98k pounds. Jet fuel is usually measured in pounds or kilograms, not gallons or liters. To a first approximation 14,000 gallons / 98,000 lbs is the max capacity of the tankage. Easy to believe a newspaper writer confused capacity with actual load on board. Less believable is that a nearly dead company owning a jet that had not flown in almost 2 years was somehow completely filled unnoticed with rather costly fuel shortly before a surprise secret departure. So they launched with not much old ratty fuel and not too long after getting out of sight of the airport began to have problems with excess water & gunk in their fuel, or excess air in the tanks (IOW, no fuel at all). Then two people unqualified to fly 727s would be quickly overwhelmed, control is lost, and down they go. Absent wreckage I can’t prove it. But it’s sure the way to bet. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/111 "2025-03-25T23:58:21Z")
They must have ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic in a matter of hours. The motive or plan is still a real head-scratcher though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/112 "2025-03-26T00:01:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Now _there_ was a realistic well-researched two hours of _cinema verite_. > > NOT 😁 🤦‍♂️ Just wait until Airport '79, and firing a flare gun out a cockpit window at Mach 2. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/113 "2025-03-26T00:03:00Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > An extensive article published in Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine in September 2010 was unable to draw any conclusions on the fate of the aircraft, despite research and interviews with persons knowledgeable of details surrounding the disappearance [That article](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/the-727-that-vanished-2371187/) is on A&S’s front page today. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/114 "2025-03-26T00:11:09Z")
No, no, it had a prototype nuclear propulsion system and electrodynamic stealth generator. All the crew and passengers are dead due to depressurization, but _it’s still up there_ on autopilot. A _Flying Flying Dutchman_, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/115 "2025-03-26T00:20:47Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > They must have ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic in a matter of hours. Or in the dense African continental jungle. Lot of difficult terrain there with no people in it. The forest canopy quickly closes over a crash site, especially if the descent angle was steep with little sliding on impact. IMO it’s sort of a toss-up on which is less likely to be found. A water crash usually leaves floating stuff, some of which eventually finds a shore as a statistical certainty. And most shores have population nearby. A jungle crash leaves a single large mess of disturbed earth & twisted aluminum. If somebody happens by, they’ll notice it. But nobody may happen by. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/116 "2025-03-26T01:06:52Z")
Angola has jungle? Mostly forest. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pedro-Beja/publication/264231910/figure/fig1/AS:295957058080769@1447573069151/Map-of-Angola-The-15-WWF-ecoregions-represented-in-Angola-are-displayed-together-with.png](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pedro-Beja/publication/264231910/figure/fig1/AS:295957058080769@1447573069151/Map-of-Angola-The-15-WWF-ecoregions-represented-in-Angola-are-displayed-together-with.png) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/117 "2025-03-26T01:19:22Z")
Jungle is a kind of forest or woodlands. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2025, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/118 "2025-03-26T11:58:04Z")
They took off from Angola. That does not mean they had to crash in Angola. The wiki article has this graphic of the plane’s potential range: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/N844AA_range.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/N844AA_range.png) Yes, there is savannah and forest in there. Also jungle. Per the wiki, the airplane was last sighted by the control tower departing to the southwest with no lights on. That matches the direction of the main runway and aims them out to sea at a shallow angle to the nearby coastline. But even in good visibility, they’d lose sight of the airplane in just a few miles. After which the airplane could go in any direction at all. The wiki does not mention any radar tracking of the airplane. Lots of the raggedier parts of the world don’t have functional radar even now, ~20 years later. Returning to the fuel discussion, the fuel quantity numbers in the article are almost certainly tank capacity, not their actual fuel load. The range cited (1300nm) is consistent with the range map graphic and is also consistent with about a half-load of fuel. So that’s more reasonable all around. My own conclusion is they could be anywhere. But probably did not complete the flight intact. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/119 "2025-07-10T05:16:21Z")
This 1 year old video speculates MH370’s disappearance was caused by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MhkTo9Rk6_4/hqdefault.jpg "What Netflix got WRONG - Malaysian Flight 370") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhkTo9Rk6_4) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2025, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835/120 "2025-07-10T06:14:39Z")
Seems that, from pretty much the very beginning, the leading/most-plausible theory was always captain suicide. And…11 years? My, time went by so fast…it didn’t seem that long ago at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mh370-went-missing-on-08-march-2014-aviation-s-biggest-mystery-continues-amazing/980835.md?page=5)