On this day eight years ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumper International Airport at 00:42 MYT (16:41 UTC) bound for Beijing, China. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was loaded with 239 people, comprising 227 passengers and 12 crew with an expected flight time of five and a half hours.
At 01:19 MYT, 38 minutes after takeoff, MH370 reached cruising Flight Level 350 (approximately 35,000ft) over the South China Sea. As the aircraft approached the border of the Vietnamese Flight Information Region (FIR), Kuala Lumper air traffic control (ATC) instructed the crew to contact Ho Chi Minh ATC. The captain of MH370 replied “Good night, Malaysia Three Seven Zero”. These were the last words transmitted from the aircraft. Less than 60 seconds later the Boeing 777 disappeared from civilian radar.
As the minutes unfolded with no sign nor sound from MH370, Ho Chi Minh ATC attempted to contact Flight 370, using other aircraft in the vicinity to relay messages. But only a single reply of mumbling and radio static was heard. Malaysia Airlines operations, having been informed of the unfolding events, attempted twice to call the flight deck via satellite link, but the calls went unanswered.
As the elapsed flight time reached 05:48, Flight 370 missed its scheduled arrival into Beijing, and a rescue coordination was activated from Kuala Lumper. With the flight duration approaching seven hours, Malaysia Airlines issued a press release announcing that Flight MH370 was missing. The aircraft had departed with fuel to allow a total flight endurance of 07hr 31min.
At the time, the disappearance the deadliest incident involving a Boeing 777, and what followed was one of the biggest and most expensive multi-national search operations in history. The fact that a modern airliner could simply vanish shook the world, and would set Malaysia Airlines on course for a truly tragic year.
The search
In the hours after the disappearance, the search effort was focused in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand where contact was lost with ATC. However, in the days that followed, the military disclosed that the aircraft had been spotted on military radar and,
