The mystery around Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 continues to deepen, with sparse clues yielding no results. Oil slicks found in the South China Sea have been determined as not belonging to the flight, while more passengers than initially thought are found to have used stolen passports to board the flight.
The flight, which has ostensibly vanished after losing communication with air traffic officials, was labeled an 'unprecedented mystery' by Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Authority. Indeed, not since the Air France flight 447 in 2009 has a crash shrouded in such mystery occurred. With the Air France crash, debris was spotted the next day, though wreckage wasn't recovered for several days, and the crucial 'black boxes' detailing the plane's last moments weren't retrieved until 2011.
However, the case of the Malaysia Airlines flight remains, arguably, more troubling, with no sign of debris or wreckage spotted at the presumed crash site - the Gulf of Thailand, near the coast of Vietnam - as yet. Further, the presence of four currently known passengers carrying stolen passports has sparked additional questions of foul play or organized crime. "All four of the names are with me and have been given to our intelligence agencies," said Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's transport minister, as reported by the Associated Press. "We do not want to target only the four; we are investigating the whole passenger manifest. We are looking at all possibilities." Rahman agreed, emphasizing the need to first find the aircraft. "Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft. As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft. We have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible. We are looking at the possibility of a stolen passport syndicate."
Additionally, while the flight was primarily made up of Chinese and Malaysian nationals, the four with stolen passports have been reported as being of different ethnicities - or 'not of Asian appearance.'
The presence of passengers with stolen passports has also prompted theories of terrorism, though no evidence supporting this has come to light. Nevertheless, with little else to go on, various federal authorities haven't ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack.
More chilling possibilities persist, with relatives of some passengers noting that their cell phones were still active and able to be called; another suggesting that some remained logged in to an instant messaging service in China called QQ, demonstrating that the passengers in question were still present online. "This morning, around 11:40, I called my older brother's number twice, and I got the ringing tone," said Bian Liangwei, the sister of a passenger. Bian called the number again at 2pm, and heard the ringtone again. It's thought that a phone, if still ringing, could lead officials to the crash site - though it's now said to be extremely unlikely to find any passengers alive.
Conditions during the flight are thought to have been optimal, with good weather and no indication of mechanical failure. The pilot had logged some 18,000 flying hours and had been flying for Malaysian Airlines since 1981. However, radar information suggests that the plane attempted to turn back from its designated route, but with no distress signal, communication, or indication as to why this was necessary. "Today's aeroplanes are incredibly reliable and you do not get some sudden structural failure in flight. It just doesn't happen. It just won't happen," said David Learmount, Flight Global's operations and safety editor, to BBC News.
MH370 was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members. The investigation into its disappearance continues.
