The Disappearance of Flight MH370 and the Development of
Conspiracy Theories
Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared from radar and
everything else on March 8, 2014. Based on the limited
data available (some primary radar tracks, hourly satellite
handshakes, and recovered debris), searches have concentrated on
the so-called "7th arc" in the Southern Indian Ocean, just west
of Perth, Australia. The early searches used deep-water
side-scan sonar vehicles towed behind a surface ship using a
6-mile cable. Controlling sensor depth and making turns
using such a scheme is slow and difficult. The total area
searched over the first three years was 46,000 square miles.
The 2018 search was conducted by Ocean Infinity, a Texas
company who offered a "no-find, no-fee" plan that used eight
autonomous underwater vehicles. They searched new areas
(over 43,000 square miles) with an efficiency many times higher
than the earlier searches. There was no find, and no fee.
Theories of the cause of the disappearance vary from
accidental electrical equipment failure and hypoxia to a
deliberate act by a member of the flight crew (murder-suicide).
Some theories involve plots by the Russians (who used
remote control to fly the aircraft to Kazakhstan where it was
dismantled), or the aircraft being shot down by the Malaysian
government or flown to a remote Indian Ocean island.
Noticeably, as time has gone by with no search results,
the conspiracy theories have become more complicated and harder
to believe.
Recently, even some experts have gone off the rails and are
proposing theories based on no or contrary facts.
Books have been written, blog posts/comments have been
rampant, and detailed research papers have been published. There
are many active twitter threads about the MH370, some involving
heated conversations and name-calling.
Readings:
1.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 - Wikipedia
2. Missing Flight MH370 Conspiracies
Debunked - Video
Questions:
1. What are the ramifications for whoever resumes the
search, now that major efforts have been made searching with no
fee?
2. Why do theories about the disappearance get wilder
over time?
3. Why do people even propose theories that conflict with
known, reliable data?
4. Why is there so much name calling -- or is it just the
"twitter effect"?