Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanishes

2014NotableContested

A Boeing 777 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people turns back, drops off civilian radar and disappears. Satellite signals and drifting debris place its end in the southern Indian Ocean.

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Contested history

Consensus: Satellite data and debris show the plane flew for hours after vanishing from radar and ended in the southern Indian Ocean; searches through 2026 have not found the main wreckage, so the cause is unknown.

Deliberate diversion by someone aboardDebated

Malaysia's 2018 report said the turn back was likely made manually and could not exclude unlawful interference.

Mechanical failure or fireMinority view

Proponents cite lithium batteries in the cargo, but this fits poorly with the plane's deliberate-looking turns.

Shot down or flown to a secret locationUnsupported

Debris from the plane, including a flaperon found on Réunion in 2015, washed up where Indian Ocean drift models predicted.