00:00Ten years ago, a plane carrying 239 people simply vanished.
00:05It took off on a clear night, flew for hours,
00:09and then disappeared into the vast emptiness of the ocean,
00:13leaving behind a mystery that continues to haunt the world.
00:18This is the story of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
00:22It was just after midnight, on March 8, 2014,
00:26a Boingi Setasentu Zisatenta Isechi.
00:30One of the most reliable aircraft in the world,
00:33departed from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
00:37Its destination was Beijing, China.
00:40On board were 227 passengers from 14 different nations,
00:45and 12 dedicated crew members.
00:48The flight began like any other.
00:50The captain, Zahari Ahmad Shah, a highly experienced pilot,
00:55and his first officer, Farik Hamid,
00:58who was completing his training on the 777,
01:02were in control.
01:0338 minutes into the flight,
01:06as the plane crossed from Malaysian to Vietnamese airspace
01:09over the South China Sea,
01:11something strange happened.
01:13The last verbal communication came from the cockpit.
01:17Good night, Malaysian 370.
01:19Moments later, the plane's transponder,
01:23the device that communicates its identity and altitude
01:26to air traffic control, was switched off.
01:30MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens.
01:34There was no distress call,
01:36no sign of trouble,
01:37no warning.
01:38It was as if it had simply ceased to exist.
01:41In the first frantic hours and days,
01:44a massive search and rescue operation was launched
01:48in the South China Sea,
01:50the plane's last known location.
01:52Dozens of ships and aircraft from multiple countries
01:55scoured the waters,
01:57desperate for any sign of wreckage,
01:59any clue to what had happened.
02:01The world watched, holding its breath.
02:04But as days turned into weeks,
02:07the search area yielded nothing.
02:09Not a single piece of debris.
02:12It was baffling.
02:13How could a modern jumbo jet
02:15just disappear without a trace?
02:17Then, a breakthrough came from an unexpected source.
02:21A British satellite company in Marsat
02:24had been tracking the plane
02:26through a series of automated handshakes or pings.
02:29These pings were sent between their satellite
02:32and the aircraft's satellite communication system,
02:36even after other systems went dark.
02:38The data was complex,
02:40but what it revealed was shocking.
02:42After disappearing from radar,
02:45MH370 hadn't crashed.
02:47Instead, it had made a sharp turn to the west,
02:51flying back across the Mele Peninsula.
02:54Then, it turned again, heading south,
02:57and continued to fly for at least seven more hours.
03:00The plane was flying on a ghost-like trajectory,
03:04far from its intended path,
03:06deep into the southern Indian Ocean.
03:09This revelation completely changed the search.
03:13The focus shifted from the shallow waters
03:16of the South China Sea
03:17to one of the most remote
03:19and treacherous places on Earth.
03:21The new search area
03:23was a massive arc of ocean west of Australia,
03:26an area known for its deep trenches,
03:29underwater volcanoes,
03:31and savage weather.
03:32It's a place so vast and unexplored
03:35that it's often compared to searching
03:37for a needle in a haystack.
03:39Except the haystack is the size of a country,
03:42and it's thousands of meters underwater.
03:45For nearly three years,
03:47a multinational effort,
03:49led by Australia,
03:51Malaysia,
03:51and China,
03:52conducted one of the most expensive
03:54and technologically advanced
03:56underwater searches in history.
03:59They deployed state-of-the-art
04:01autonomous underwater vehicles
04:03and sonar equipment
04:04to meticulously map
04:06a 120,000 square kilometer patch
04:09of the ocean floor.
04:11They scanned deep canyons
04:13and rugged undersea mountains,
04:15hoping to find the main wreckage
04:17and, crucially,
04:19the planes to black boxes,
04:21the cockpit voice recorder,
04:23and the flight data recorder.
04:25These devices held the key
04:27to understanding what happened
04:28in the final hours of MH370.
04:32But despite this monumental effort,
04:34which cost over $160 million,
04:38the search came up empty.
04:40In January 2017,
04:42the official search was suspended,
04:44leaving the families of the victims
04:46and the world
04:47in a state of suspended grief.
04:49But the ocean wasn't entirely silent.
04:52In July 2015,
04:54more than a year after the disappearance,
04:57a piece of an aircraft wing,
04:59a Farone,
05:00washed up on the shores
05:01of Reunion Island,
05:03thousands of kilometers
05:04from the search zone.
05:06The lack of concrete answers
05:07has created a vacuum,
05:09which has been filled
05:10by a storm of speculation
05:12and countless theories.
05:14Each one tries to make sense
05:16of the senseless.
05:17Was it a catastrophic
05:19mechanical failure?
05:20Perhaps an on-board fire
05:22or rapid decompression
05:24incapacitated the crew,
05:26leaving the plane to fly
05:28on autopilot
05:29until it ran out of fuel?
05:31This is the so-called
05:32ghost flight theory.
05:34Or was it something
05:35more sinister?
05:37Many have focused
05:38on the theory of a hijacking.
05:39But if it was hijacked,
05:41by whom and for what purpose?
05:44No group has ever claimed responsibility
05:46and no demands were ever made.
05:49It seems like a hijacking
05:51without a motive.
05:52Then there is the most
05:53unsettling theory of all,
05:55a deliberate act
05:57of mass murder-suicide
05:58by one of the pilots.
06:00The investigation scrutinized
06:02the lives of Captain Zahari
06:04and First Officer Farrak.
06:06It was discovered
06:08that Captain Zahari
06:09had a flight simulator
06:11at his home
06:12and deleted data
06:13showed a flight path
06:14that closely matched
06:16the one MH370
06:18is believed to have taken.
06:20While this is suspicious,
06:22investigators have stressed
06:23it doesn't prove guilt.
06:25There's no suicide note,
06:27no clear motive,
06:28and those who knew him
06:29describe him
06:30as a kind,
06:31professional man.
06:33Without the black boxes,
06:34this theory,
06:36like all the others,
06:37remains unproven.
06:39For the families
06:40of the 239 people on board,
06:43the past decade
06:44has been an unending nightmare.
06:46They are trapped
06:47in a state of ambiguous loss,
06:49unable to mourn properly,
06:51unable to move on.
06:53They have fought tirelessly
06:54for the search to continue,
06:56refusing to let the world
06:58forget their loved ones.
06:59They hold vigils,
07:01they campaign,
07:02and they live
07:03with the constant hope
07:04that one day
07:05they will have answers.
07:06That one day,
07:08the final resting place
07:09of their mothers,
07:10fathers,
07:11sons,
07:12and daughters
07:12will be found.
07:14The disappearance
07:15of MH370
07:17is a humbling reminder
07:18of the limits
07:19of our technology.
07:21In an age
07:22where we can track
07:22our phones
07:23to within a few meters,
07:25a 200-foot-long airliner
07:27was able to fly
07:28for seven hours,
07:29completely undetected.
07:31The tragedy
07:32has spurred
07:33significant changes
07:34in aviation safety.
07:36New regulations
07:37now require
07:38commercial aircraft
07:39to be tracked
07:40more frequently,
07:41and black boxes
07:43are being designed
07:44to eject
07:45from the plane
07:45upon impact,
07:47making them easier
07:48to find.
07:49But these changes
07:50are little comfort
07:51to those left behind.
07:53The story of MH370
07:55is not just about
07:57a lost plane.
07:58It's about 239
08:00lost lives
08:01and the shattered
08:02families
08:02they left behind.
08:04It's a wound
08:04that cannot heal
08:05until the truth
08:07is known.
08:08Recently,
08:09there has been
08:09renewed hope.
08:10A US-based company,
08:12Ocean Infinity,
08:14which conducted
08:14a private search
08:16in 2018,
08:17believes new technology
08:19and analysis
08:20could finally locate
08:21the wreckage.
08:22They've proposed
08:23a new no-find,
08:25no-fee search,
08:26and the Malaysian government
08:27has said it is open
08:29to considering it.
08:30Until that day comes,
08:32the mystery
08:33of MH370
08:34endures.
08:36The final chapter
08:37of this tragic story
08:38remains unwritten,
08:40locked away
08:41in the cold,
08:42dark depths
08:43of the southern
08:44Indian Ocean.
08:45The search
08:46for truth continues,
08:48driven by the memory
08:49of those on board
08:50and the unwavering hope
08:52that one day
08:53they will be brought home.
08:55Thank you for watching.
08:56If you found this story
08:58compelling,
08:59please consider subscribing
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09:02into the world's
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