Previously, in episode 2 of “MH370: The Aircraft That Disappeared,” another conspiracy theory involving a potential terrorist attack arose shortly after another Boeing 777 airliner, MH17, was shot down by Russia. Aviation journalist Jeff Wise started to believe that Russia was responsible for the disappearance of MH370 as well. As the experts totally refuted it, this conspiracy theory didn’t gain much traction. Meanwhile, in 2015, there was a significant revelation: a piece of MH370’s flaperon had been discovered on the island of La Reunion, which is close to French territory in the Indian Ocean. Let’s find out what theories this flaperon might reveal.
Spoilers Ahead
Was The Flaperon Really A Part Of MH370?
In Episode 3, it was stated that the enormous flaperon that had been found close to the Reunion Islands had been positively identified as MH370 wreckage. Many people received the impression that the plane had crashed into the water, while others stated their beliefs that the debris from the wreckage had been planted in the ocean. Blaine Gibson, an explorer, was one of the searchers working independently to find the debris, and he predicted that there would be a lot more wreckage dumped into the ocean. With the assistance of the oceanographers, Blaine was able to learn more about the Mozambique Channel, where he started his search and eventually discovered a drifting piece of debris on the water. The wreckage was confirmed to be a piece of a Boeing 777, which meant that it was very likely to be part of MH370. Piece by piece, Blaine had discovered a great deal of debris close to the Indian Ocean islands. Jeff was amazed by this since he thought they might have been overlooking a bigger picture. If, as claimed by Jeff Wise, MH370’s disappearance was the result of a terrorist attack, it was highly likely that the Russians planted the fake debris to give the impression that the flight had drowned in the Indian Ocean. There have been earlier reports of Russians planting fake wreckage in the seas. Therefore, Jeff Wise started investigating the reason Blaine Gibson was the only person to find all the wreckage in the Indian Ocean. Jeff checked into Blaine’s profile to see if he had any connections to Russians, and it was discovered that Blaine did, in fact, have some connections to the Russians. He had long-standing ties to Russia and spoke the language with ease. Yet, many people, not only Jeff Wise, voiced their skepticism in that regard. The debris discovered by Blaine received no credibility from French journalist Florence De Changy either. Even she had doubts about the flaperon that had overlooked the identification plate. Because the ID plate seemed to be missing, she made the assumption that this flaperon might not be part of MH370, but it still needed to be properly investigated. Yet, according to her, without conducting a thorough study, the government had declared that this flaperon was a component of MH370.
Was Zaharie The Ultimate Culprit?
At this point, we revisited the initial theory, where the pilot was held responsible. It was discovered that he could not be completely cleared of suspicion. We previously knew that Zaharie had a flight simulator where he had rehearsed the same route, but it turned out that in his simulator, he had, surprisingly, practiced the same route as MH370, going straight down to the southern Indian Ocean, where in actual fact the flight is thought to have collapsed into the water. The simulator data Zaharie had previously employed provided compelling proof that Zaharie might have been the perpetrator.
What Was The Theory Of Interception?
The investigation and the claims that the flight had crashed into the ocean had several flaws, as Florence pointed out. She even had dubious thoughts about the satellite data from Inmarsat. She indicated the Butterworth air base, which was commanded by Australia. During a U-turn, MH370 had passed over this air base, which was the most closely watched area. If the aircraft had indeed flown over this area, there would have been data available from this air base, but none was obtained. Florence thought that instead of making a U-turn, the plane flew straight over Vietnam before coming down in the South China Sea. Florence discussed this with the Tomnoder, Cyndi, who had earlier discovered the wreckage in the South China Sea that she thought to be pieces of MH370. Further information about the AWACS, which had the power to entirely jam MH370’s communication system and make it disappear from traffic controllers’ screens, was revealed to Florence. Florence’s later discoveries showed that on the night MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, loads of cargo, including high-functioning electronics from the US, had been brought on board without receiving a full scan. She, therefore, concluded that the US might have been involved in MH370’s disappearance in order to halt the shipment of the cargo to China. Here came the third conspiracy, which unfolded as follows: at 1:19 am in the morning, after MH370 had crossed the border into Malaysia, two US AWACS had arrived to fully block MH370’s communication with the geolocation satellite. The flight made no detours and continued straight ahead to Beijing, although a missile strike could have been used to shoot down the airliner before it reached Beijing. As a result, the plane crashed into the South China Sea.
Following the emergence of this conspiracy theory, aviation expert Mike expressed his disproval. Inmarsat, the company that owned the satellite, became extremely devastated by the conspiracies against it. Mike continued by saying that rather than telling the families the truth, these conspiracy theorists devised strategies to garner massive media attention. As Inmarsat and the government had stated, nothing else but satellite data could be relied upon. The search was finally declared to be over on January 17, 2017, leaving all the next of kin in the dark and unable to learn anything about their loved ones. The safety investigation report was finally made public on July 30, 2018, and it said that the Boeing 777 was qualified to fly and that pilot Zaharie Ahmed had been cleared of any suspicion because he showed no symptoms of stress or any behavioral abnormalities ever before the incident. According to Jeff Wise, the disappearance of Flight MH370 was a premeditated act, but the question was: Who did it? Where did the flight touch down? Jeff Wise acknowledged his curiosity about this situation, which may have driven him to think erratically but made him proud that it had prompted him to consider all the possibilities.
The MH370 was a significant incident in aviation history that has to be discussed for increased safety. Yet, this case may have sparked a number of conspiracies that may have advanced an agenda or assisted the inquiry, but nothing could have consoled the grieving family members. They still had lost loved ones who were never going to come back. The series ended on a positive note that all of the family members will continue to wait for justice and for the real facts to be revealed, even if it takes ten years. At the end of the day, hope had triumphed over the sorrow, disdain, and frustration of all the mourning families. Even though they accepted their fate, they nevertheless grasp onto the hope that motivates them to continue living with their loved ones’ memories.
