Accidents and Incidents

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Aviation Accidents and Incidents related to the story of MH370

The story of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has no precedent. Yet, in order to understand what may have happened, journalists, authors, video editors and others have referred to past aviation incidents.

Some of those incidents have similarities with flight MH370; others may be quite different. But they provide a context, and broaden the topic of the missing plane by illustrations of other missing aircraft, or other incidents such as an on-board fire.

This Section includes content linked to Wikipedia articles, or includes Wikipedia content embedded within local pages.

Each article in this Section has been included in one or more Categories, so the information about aviation accidents and incidents which may be relevant to MH370 is indexed by category.

Type of Incident Link
Lost Aircraft

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 registered 9M-MRO went missing on Saturday, 8 March 2014. Although debris has been found, neither surface nor sub-surface searches have located the wreckage. The aircraft seems 'lost' in the southern Indian Ocean. Some other aircraft have also been lost, and either never found or, in the case of Air France Flight 447 located after nearly two years of searching.
Pilot Suicide

Flight MH370 was diverted for reasons still unknown. One of the popular theories is that it is an instance of pilot-suicide. However, the stories of other flights which ended with evidence of pilot-suicide are dissimilar. Most ended suddenly. MH370 is different.
Hijacking

Was flight MH370 hijacked? Is that why it was diverted across peninsula Malaysia and headed north-west towards the Andaman Sea? Hijackings became less frequent after security improvements were implemented post 9/11. The cockpit door was more secure, for example. The stories of some hijackings are, however, linked here including the mystery of a hijacker who called himself D.B. Cooper.
Lost Communications

After reaching the area over the south China Sea where air traffic control by Malaysia is handed over to Vietnam, all communications from flight MH370 ceased.

Communication failure has occurred on other aircraft, typically a consequence of electrical systems failure.


Hypoxia

Lack of oxygen can quickly lead to an inability to function then death. Above an altitude of 10,000 feet aircraft cabins are pressurised. A loss of cabin pressure could be rapid or slow. If the flight crew are incapacitated the flight becomes a 'zombie flight' with no-one in control. The aircraft may remain airborne until it runs out of fuel. When the flight crew of MH370 failed to communicate it was theorised that they may have suffered from hypoxia.
Fire

Another cause for a lack of oxygen could be a fire on-board. Smoke inhalation is dangerous. Some aircraft fires have been related to batteries. MH370 was also carrying a quantity of lithium batteries as cargo.
Shot Down

As flight MH370 seemed to have 'disappeared' conjecture included the possibility that it was shot down over the south China Sea during military exercises. However, when it was shown that the aircraft had continued flying, and the search in the Indian Ocean was unsuccessful, it was suggested that it was shot down by Indonesian Military. And after residents in the Maldives reported seeing a large aircraft which supposed may have been MH370 it has been suggested that MH370 was shot down by American military based at Diego Garcia. None of these explanations is likely to be credible, but two facts are true: commercial passenger aircraft have been shot down by military; and in each event the aircraft did not continue flying.
Glided

Engine failure leads to an unpowered flight mode, called gliding. Several commercial flights have glided to an emergency landing, or glided prior to ditching.

End-of-flight scenarios for MH370 are limited to two options: if no-one on the flight deck was conscious then the aircraft would have crashed after it ran out of fuel; or if one of the pilots was capable then the aircraft could have glided a considerable distance before ditching in the ocean.
Ditching

Since MH370 was headed towards the southern Indian Ocean, and likely a 'zombie flight', then it probably crashed. However, it has been suggested that a pilot may have been conscious at the end, and made a controlled landing on the ocean, known as ditching. There have been many successful ditching incidents, most notable the 'Miracle on the Hudson' river in New York.

Categories for Accidents and Incidents also include incidents involving Boeing 777 aircraft, and Malaysia Airlines Accidents and Incidents.

Type of Incident Link
Boeing 777 Incidents

The Boeing 777 had an excellent safety record, until flights MH370 and MH17. There had been previous incidents, some of which are described here.
Malaysia Airlines Accidents and Incidents

As soon as media focussed on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 journalists began referring to previous incidents affecting the airline. And with the spotlight on them, every minor incident involving a Malaysia Airlines plane became newsworthy. Then the MH17 tragedy occurred.
Content in this Section is indexed by Category

Pages or articles which refer to aviation accidents and incidents:-
Accidents and Incidents



Content in this Section is in Sub-pages


Notes

See Also:-

  1. List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, Wikipedia
  2. Aviation Safety Network comprehensive database of aviation accidents, incidents and related investigations.


Aircraft Registration Number for the Boeing 777 used for Flight MH370. More Info

An aircraft is considered airborne when all parts of the aircraft are off the ground. (Source: FAA)

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