Malaysia Airlines MH370: Still Chance of Survivors?
The Malaysian government said yesterday there is still a chance of finding survivors from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Although it’s now been three weeks since the plane vanished travelling to Beijing, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told the relatives of those onboard that there is a “remote chance” their loved ones are still alive, presumably assuming that new objects seen in the Indian Ocean are unrelated to the downed aircraft.
“Miracles do happen, remote or otherwise, and that is the hope that the families want me to convey,” he said, before describing his time as transport minister since the plane’s disappearance as the hardest part of his life.
Experts in the aviation field now widely believe there is no chance of any of the 239 people (both passengers and crew) being found alive, as it is presumed that the Boeing 777 crashed into the Indian Ocean after it made a U-turn to the northeast of the Malaysian peninsula. Exactly why the plane ended up travelling in the complete opposite direction to where it was supposed to is a mystery, as is the reason why its transponder (which allows it to be picked up by ground radar) was manually disengaged just before crossing over into Vietnamese airspace.
The families affected, who have already begun to file insurance claims against both the airline and Boeing itself, have found themselves disillusioned with Malaysian government official’s handling of the incident. After initially being told the plane had merely been delayed, and then finding out about their loved one’s probable passing via text message, many find themselves struggling to believe any of the scattered chunks of information they are given. With Hishammuddin Hussein now saying there is still a chance of survivors from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, everyone is in desperate need of hard evidence to conclusively deduct what happened on that fateful Saturday morning.
It is not just those directly involved that have been left unimpressed with the investigation. Chinese newspaper China Daily expressed in an article their suspicions that the Malaysian government had been withholding information vital to the international search effort, and the Chinese government has formally voiced its distress to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over his country’s ongoing lack of knowledge regarding the disaster.
Several theories have been posed as to why a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing could have been lost so comprehensively without a single trace, and without any idea as to the location of its final destination. It was found out that two Iranian men aboard the flight were travelling on stolen passports (instantly provoking fears of terrorist activity) but with evidence proving they were headed to Europe from Beijing, it is unlikely they had a hand in the plane’s unfortunate outcome. Attention then turned to the two pilots, amid speculation they may have crashed the Boeing on purpose on account of unknown personal issues such as a suicidal nature or disharmony with Malaysia Airlines bosses. Upon closer inspection, this theory was also deemed doubtful.
As the days and weeks go by it does seem like the world is getting ever closer to revealing exactly why Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 did experience such an odd turn of events, and no matter how unlikely the situation appears to be there is still a chance of survivors from the aircraft being found, a chance relatives of those missing will cling to for as long as they dare.
Opinion by Zachary John