The MH370 Case
A Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard went silent after a last "good night", and for the next seven hours only a satellite heard from it.
Briefing
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. At 1:19 a.m. the crew radioed "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero"; minutes later the transponder went silent, and at around 1:30 a.m. the plane vanished from civilian radar. After that, investigators had no radar contact, only a series of automatic signals between the plane and a satellite. More than a decade and several seabed searches later, the main wreckage has still not been found.
239 people were aboard Flight 370, and their families are still waiting for answers. This case uses only the public record and names no one as responsible.
What happened to Flight 370 after it went dark?
Evidence board
- E1Inmarsat data, March 8, 2014
Seven more hours
With no radar contact, the only trace was a series of automatic "handshakes" between the plane's satellite data unit and an Inmarsat satellite. Malaysia's investigation found the plane flew on for more than seven hours before contact ended.
Source: NBC News - E2Safety report, July 30, 2018
Diverted on purpose
Malaysia's 495-page safety investigation report confirmed that the aircraft's transponder had stopped transmitting and that the plane was deliberately diverted from its route.
Source: NBC News - E3France, July 2019
Sealed. Question a witness to open it.
- E4Réunion, July 29, 2015
A flaperon on Réunion
A beach cleanup crew on the French island of Réunion found a barnacle-encrusted wing part. A serial number matched it to the missing 777, and on September 3, 2015, French officials said they could "state with certainty" it belonged to Flight 370.
Source: NBC News - E5Southern Indian Ocean
Sealed. Question a witness to open it.
- E6Safety report, July 30, 2018
"Unable to determine"
The report's lead, Kok Soo Chon, said the team was "unable to determine the real cause for disappearance of MH370". The report added that "the possibility of intervention by a third party cannot be excluded".
Source: NBC News - E71:19 a.m., March 8, 2014
The last radio call
As the plane was about to leave Malaysian-controlled airspace, the crew radioed "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero". Authorities first reported a more casual sign-off, "All right, good night", before correcting the record.
Source: ABC News (Australia) - E8March 8, 2026
140,000 km² and nothing
Ocean Infinity announced that its latest seabed search had failed to locate the aircraft. Since 2018 it had spent more than 150 days at sea and mapped over 140,000 square kilometers of seafloor.
Source: Ocean Infinity
Witnesses
The controller
Composite characterMalaysian air traffic controller on duty that night (composite)
Flight 370 was still on my screen when the crew said good night.
The search surveyor
Composite characterSeabed search crew in the southern Indian Ocean (composite)
I worked the seabed search along the seventh arc. I can tell you what we found, and what we didn't.