Why Planes Vanish

In March 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on a routine flight to Beijing. After about an hour, communication with the plane was cut off. To date the plane's wreckage has not been found, and it is assumed that all 239 passengers and crew are lost. Was this a case of mechanical failure, a quickly moving fire, hijacking, or—even more sinister—a deliberate plan to disappear concocted by someone on the crew? Directed and hosted by aviation expert Miles O'Brien, this PBS-aired NOVA episode reconstructs the airplane's presumed last hours. The pilots were seasoned professionals, and the aircraft, a Boeing 777, was considered a "pilot's plane." At first there were no signs of trouble, but as it was approaching the limits of radar tracking—transferring from one control center to the next—the plane went silent, and then changed direction, heading north, and then possibly south into the vast Indian Ocean. Airline authorities seemed overwhelmed and unresponsive, angering distraught families of passengers. Early reports of unstable lithium batteries on board, and a couple of Iranians traveling on phony passports, were eventually discounted as a possible cause of the disaster. The documentary describes the role of transponders (every plane has two), which help identify and track flight altitude, and the complex web of "handshakes" that relay information between plane and control center, which in this case continued for hours after direct contact was lost. The film also compares Flight 370 to previous disasters (notably a deadly crash off the coast of South America several years ago), but for 370 one researcher says "the dots don't line up,” and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that human intervention was behind the crash. Experts feel that we have the technology (including space-based tracking systems) to make "blind spots" a thing of the past, but for the time being, everyone must wait for the sea to give up its secrets. Buttressed by in-depth scientific research, this timely documentary about a recent aviation tragedy is recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)