The Lost Flight: One Year After MH370 Mysterious Disappearance

A year ago, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from radar screens, less than an hour after takeoff. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board. Experts believe the plane crashed in the southern region of the Indian Ocean, but no trace of the plane has been found so far.

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© East News / Xinhua/Rouelle Umali

A week after the alleged catastrophe, the students of a Filipino school drew 3D graffiti devoted to MH370.

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© AFP 2023 / Hoang Dinh Nam

Australia and Malaysia have financed the search operation, already allocating $80 million; however, broadening the search will require other countries’ assistance.

Above: Crew member checking a map during a search flight some 200 km over the southern Vietnamese waters off Vietnam's island Phu Quoc on March 11, 2014 as part of continued efforts aimed at finding traces of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370.

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© East News / Xinhua/Li Xin

When the information about the delayed arrival of the flight appeared at the Beijing airport, the passengers’ relatives still hoped they would see their families.

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© AP Photo / Binsar Bakkara

Every proceeding hour shattered hopes of a safe return. Nowadays, 100 Chinese families are stil demanding the Malaysian authorities overturn their statement declaring all passengers as dead.

Above: Family members comfort Chrisman Siregar, left, and his wife Herlina Panjaitan, the parents of Firman Siregar, one of the Indonesian citizens registered on the manifest to have boarded the Malaysia Airlines jetliner flight MH370.

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© East News / Polaris

Currently, four research vessels are looking for the traces of the lost plane.

Above: United States Navy Ship (USNS) Cesar Chavez's Super Puma helicopter, conducts a Vertical Replenishment between HMAS Toowoomba, during Operation Southern Indian Ocean, in search of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

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© AP Photo / Rob Griffith

A preliminary report on the investigation results was published on the anniversary of the plane’s disappearance. It found that the crew was prepared for the flight.

Above: The shadow of a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion is seen on low level cloud while the aircraft searches for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, near the coast of Western Australia.

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© AP Photo / Ng Han Guan, File

In January, Malaysian insurance companies said they had paid more than $4,6 million in compensation to the relatives. But many families do not want to start the procedure, as they believe their relatives might still have survived.

Above: Relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines, MH370, turn to journalists to shout their demands for answers after Malaysian government representatives left a briefing in Beijing, China.

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© AP Photo / Wong Maye-E

The relatives and friends have been tirelessly praying for the passengers hoping for a good outcome.

Above: Boys join in prayers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370 in Sepang, Malaysia.

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© AFP 2023 / Asit Kumar

Several versions of the disappearance have been created. They include shooting down the plane by terrorists and even an attempt to assassinate hi-tech specialists who had ties with Edward Snowden.

Above: Beachgoers walk past a sand sculpture made by Indian sand artist Sudersan Pattnaik with a message of prayers for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 at Puri beach, some 65 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar, on March 14, 2014.

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© AP Photo / Joshua Paul

Above: Unidentified Chinese family members of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hold up a placard outside the prime minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

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© East News / Zhao Yingquan

Up to 200,000 square km have been searched off the Australian coast, where the plane is most likely to have fallen. In mid-December, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said the search operation could end by May, 2015.

Above: Members of the Chinese emergency response team on "South China Sea Rescue 101" salvage floating object at the possible crash site of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

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© AP Photo / Joshua Paul

Above: An unidentified woman wearing a mask depicting the flight of the missing Malaysia Airline, MH370, poses in front of the "wall of hope" at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia.

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© AP Photo / Joshua Paul

The representatives of Australia, China and Malaysia have mulled stopping the search, as Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said on March 1.

Above: A man views a fleet of Malaysia Airline planes on the tarmac of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, in Malaysia.