Flight MH370 — Boeing 777 With 239 Aboard Vanishes From Radar Without a Trace

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 AM on March 8, 2014 bound for Beijing with 239 people aboard. At 1:19 AM, the co-pilot made the last routine radio contact. Minutes later, the aircraft's transponder was switched off and the plane disappeared from civilian radar. Military radar tracked an aircraft making a sharp turn back over the Malay Peninsula and then heading northwest before eventually diverting south into the Indian Ocean—a course change that has never been fully explained. Satellite data from Inmarsat indicated the plane continued flying for approximately seven hours after its disappearance from radar. A massive multinational search focused on the southern Indian Ocean. In July 2015, a flaperon washed ashore on Réunion Island confirmed to be from MH370—the first physical debris found. Further debris washed up on coasts of the western Indian Ocean over subsequent years, all consistent with MH370's construction. Despite being the most expensive aviation search in history, the main wreckage and the flight data and voice recorders have never been found. The reason for the aircraft's diversion remains unknown. Investigators could not rule out deliberate action by the flight crew. In 2024, a new private search company recommenced operations in a new search zone based on reanalyzed drift modeling.