Possibly the greatest mystery of 2014 was the disappearance of MH370, which disappeared shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
Today the story came out that Malaysia has officially declared MH370 an accident. Via Reuters:
“We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident … and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement.
The announcement is in accordance with standards of annexes 12 and 13 in the International Civil Aviation, said Azharuddin. It will allow families of the passengers to obtain assistance through compensation, he said.
Malaysia Airlines was ready to proceed immediately with the compensation process to the next-of-kin of the passengers on the flight, he said.
A lot of the headlines I’ve seen about this today suggest that the search is over for MH370. I think it’s worth noting that the major implication here is that the families can finally be compensated for the accident, which is good news (not that you can ever be “made whole” for losing a loved one). Many families are distraught over the news, since naturally they wanted to hope for some miracle, unrealistic as it may be. At the same time, it would seem to me that it finally gives some closure.
In practice the search efforts will continue, not that there’s much hope at this point.
What a terribly sad situation all around. And how mysterious that in 2014 one of the most modern jetliners can literally disappear without a trace…
After doing a lot of research, I don't think the pilot did suicide. I mean he was a devote Muslim and I don't think anyone is that psychopathic to kill almost 300 people.
@Lucky - I'm not talking about learning the cause or fate of MH370 event specifically, but rather about the broader discussion that spent months digging into modern aircraft design, international air traffic control procedures, primary and secondary radar limitations, satellite communications, ocean mapping, public relations blunders, search and rescue methods, and the bizarre and confusing world of Malaysian politics.
"We haven’t learned anything here yet…"
I see where you're coming from but I think that depends on your perspective. I'm a huge fan of aircraft documentaries and amazingly enough I've probably learned more from MH370 than most "resolved" aircraft incidents and accidents. Without any obvious method for narrowing down the list of potential causes or outcomes the theories offered were able to go in nearly nearly any direction and cover an extensive range of...
"We haven’t learned anything here yet…"
I see where you're coming from but I think that depends on your perspective. I'm a huge fan of aircraft documentaries and amazingly enough I've probably learned more from MH370 than most "resolved" aircraft incidents and accidents. Without any obvious method for narrowing down the list of potential causes or outcomes the theories offered were able to go in nearly nearly any direction and cover an extensive range of possibilities. By the end of the media's attention span we had been exposed to dozens of potential cause and outcomes along with topics as diverse as satellite communications and ocean mapping. Although I'm sure it's terrible for the families involved I found the whole fiasco truly fascinating. If this event was intentional then you have to admit they've managed to build one of the most amazing mysteries the world has ever witnessed.
@ Dax -- If we've learned something, what has been changed as a result of the accident? Because for almost every other accident I can tell you what changed as a result of it.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/25555056/govt-video-to-explain-why-mh370-is-still-missing/
Please watch the video on the link and you will understand why it's taking so long to find the plane.
The video is released by Australian Government. Lots of people have no idea that part of ocean is that deep, large and complex.
While knowing what happened would be nice, Its not going to change anything. At least the families can get their compo.
@ Olly -- Yes and no. One of the reasons aviation has become so safe is because we've been able to learn from every accident. We haven't learned anything here yet...
Only about 30% of the search area has been covered so far, still a lot to go. They take breaks too, you know ships have to return to port sometimes. The search will continue. There's a page with status updates here:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/mh370.aspx
Oops remote the rescu) above
@Ss - it means it now becomes a rescu) search operation, no longer search and rescue.
I've started to wonder if its possible some third party might find part of the wreckage before official search clues do, and keep its location secret. Highly unlikely considering the location, but it would remind me of the search for Titanic, where Ballard had planned to keep the location of the wreckage a secret.
Lucky - what is your theory on what happened to MH370 ?
@ Mike S. -- Oh, the heck if I know! I mean, I don't want to speculate, but the most realistic theory I've seen is this:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/flight-mh370-captain-killed-himself-4263403
Hopefully we find out eventually!
"In practice the search efforts will continue, not that there’s much hope at this point."
It'll be found eventually ... but how long that takes is anyone's guess. The good news is, the entire ocean floor of the Indian Ocean is going to be mapped, so that's fun.
There for the grace of God go you or I. Very sad. I hope they find it soon for the families.
The headline of your post says "The search for MH370 isn't over" I m wondering you meant to type "is over"? Or am I missing something!
As for your closing line about how mysterious it is in 2014 for a modern jetliner to disappear without a trace.. It's for man to remember his Creator who wants to remind us that how much ever progress we make in this world if He wishes He can just...
The headline of your post says "The search for MH370 isn't over" I m wondering you meant to type "is over"? Or am I missing something!
As for your closing line about how mysterious it is in 2014 for a modern jetliner to disappear without a trace.. It's for man to remember his Creator who wants to remind us that how much ever progress we make in this world if He wishes He can just pull out of the sky such a huge marvel of engineering achievement of man with so many people on board and just disappear it in spite of there being numerous tracking systems transponders and what not. It's for us to introspect and remember to thank Allah for his mercies and blessings upon us at all times. Sometimes in the race to achieve success in this world we forget to thank our Creator and think that this world is eternal!
@ SS -- Nope, meant the title as it is. Nothing is changing with the search, they're just declaring this an accident so that the families can be compensated.