What brought down flight MH370?

The mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 has led to several theories about what could have caused the plane to go missing. And the biggest fear of all, is terrorism.

Despite the incident not appearing to bear the usual hallmarks of a terrorist attack – most notably a claim of responsibility – it has been suggested that MH370 could have been brought down deliberately.

The theory was given weight following the discovery that two of the passengers initially listed as being onboard – men from Italy and Austria – are both alive and well, having had their passports stolen in Thailand.

Xinhua reported on Saturday that US officials are helping their Malaysian counterparts to investigate the possibility of a terrorist attack. And if terrorism was the cause, could it have been directed at China?

Only last month, China was the victim of a terrorist attack when Uighur separatists from Xinjiang region killed 29 people and injured more than 100 at Kunming Railway Station. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that one of the passengers aboard flight MH370 was an ethnic Uighur (although there is no evidence to suggest he had any involvement with the separatist movement).

But while the group has been implicated in aviation incidents before (a domestic Beijing-bound aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in 2008, when a group of men tried to take control of the plane), bringing down an international flight would mark a significant escalation in the group’s activities.

Another likely cause would be technical failure.

The Boeing 777 aircraft type Malaysia Airlines used to operate flight MH370 was also involved in the Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco Airport last year (albeit a -200 model, rather than a -300).

But far from proving the aircraft to be unsafe, incidents involving this long-haul workhorse are actually extremely rare.
Prior to the Asiana crash (which has been attributed to pilot error rather than any technical malfunction) no passengers had ever died aboard a B777 in its 19-year history. Given the fact that more than 1,100 B777s have been operated by airlines around the globe since it entered service in 1994, this makes the B777 one of the safest aircraft in the history of aviation.

Boeing issued a brief statement in Saturday, saying it is “assembling a team to provide technical assistance” to the Malaysian investigation.

In the absence of terrorism or technical failure, bad weather is the most usual cause of an air crash, but conditions in the area at the time were reported as being fair.

So until the aircraft is discovered and the flight data recorders analysed, the cause of the incident is likely to remain a mystery.

Recent fatal air disasters involving Asia Pacific airlines

6 Jul 2013: Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashes on landing at San Francisco Airport, killing three people
10 Oct 2013: MASwings Twin Otter overshoots runway at Kudat, Malaysia, killing two people
16 Oct 2013: Lao Airlines ATR72-600 crashes into Mekong River near Pakse, Laos, killing 49 people
17 Nov 2013: Tararstan Airlines Boeing 737 crashes near Kazan, Russia, killing 50 people.
25 Nov 2013: Tropicair Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashes in Kibeni, Papua New Guinea, killing three people
16 Feb 2014: Nepal Airlines Twin Otter crashes near Sandhikhark, Nepal, killing all 18 people onboard.