MH370 The Plane That Disappeared is now available to stream on Netflix. 9 years have passed since the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished into thin air on its way to Beijing, and even with the documentary being released we're still no closer to knowing what exactly happened in the air that night.
If anything, the 3-episode series gives us less answers and raises even more questions. One of the biggest issues surrounding this mystery is credibility, and Netflix doesn't do audiences any favors in that regard. The interviewees suggest a few different hypotheses, but without solid proof or evidence they simply remain theories.
Pilot Theory
Jeff Wise, amateur pilot and aviation journalist outlines one theory that captain of Flight 370, Zaharie Ahmad Shah purposely steered the plane off course. The map below shows MH370's flight path in yellow. It also shows a path Zaharie flew using his personal flight simulator in red.
Both paths end with the plane running out of fuel and crashing into the South Indian Ocean. Basically a murder/suicide mission.
The Russians Did It
Another theory - albeit far-fetched - concocted by Jeff Wise was that three Russian men had hijacked the plane. As the story goes, two of the men distracted flight attendants, while the third snuck into the Electronic and Equipment bay (E&E) below the cabin.
Having taken complete control of the airplane from the E&E bay, the theory also states the Russians manipulated satellite data making it look like the plane headed south. When in reality the Russians flew all the way north into Kazakhstan.
The Americans Did It
A third theory is proposed by Ghislain Wattrelos whose wife and kids were passengers, and by French journalist Florence de Changy. Florence states that there was precious cargo on Flight 370 that the U.S. government did not want entering China. So they intervened. With all due respect to Ghislain and his family, there's just no substantial evidence to support this theory.
The only solid evidence is the one last satellite ping that the airplane sent out before it ultimately ran out of fuel somewhere over the Indian Ocean. This was supported once the right wing flaperon was discovered in late 2015 on the coast of Reunion Island.
Controversy
In the documentary, many family members/next of kin had been calling passengers' cellphones well after fuel would have run out, and claimed to have heard ringing. Another woman even received an incoming phone call from her father, but when she picked up nobody answered. Neither Malaysia Airlines nor Netflix for that matter, ever followed up on these leads.
Although the most likely scenario is that Zaharie went off route and flew south, his friends, colleagues, and family members state that he would never do anything that he's been accused of. He was a kind and loving man, and it just wouldn't make sense for him to execute a murder/suicide.
Blaine Gibson is also a peculiar character involved in this mystery. Gibson is an explorer/traveler who set off on his own to find the plane's debris. He has found at least 20 pieces that are "highly likely" to be parts of MH370. It just seems awfully convenient that one man has been responsible for the discovery of that much debris, when full crews weren't able to find a shred.
It's a hard concept to grasp that a plane could just vanish out of thin air. It's even harder with Netflix giving lunatic conspiracy theorists a platform to spew their nonsense. As far as the documentary goes, it's worth a watch just to hear from some of the family members. Unfortunately just like the next of kin, we're no closer to solving this mystery.
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