How can a plane with capabilities of holding up to 451 passengers with the ability of flying precisely half way around the world without stopping simply vanish?

This is the current mystery that the world is facing as a Malaysian Airlines flight 370, a Boeing 777, often referred to as a triple 7, went missing on March 8^th.  The pilots conducting the flight were Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, both experienced and respected pilots.

The search for the plane is ongoing with 26 countries aiding in the massive attempt to find the 239 people on board in order to ease the pain and confusion of their loved ones at home.

There are many theories that are being considered during the investigation of the flight that was headed for Beijing nearly two weeks ago.  The most talked about theories to date are the possibility of terrorism of some nature, pilot suicide, or a new developing theory of an electrical fire.

With two passengers on board in possession of stolen passports, terrorism seemed to have taken the first note worthy theory of the jetliners disappearance.  It seems as if the plane could have taken two possible routes after disappearing from all radar systems between 1:07 a.m. and 1:37 a.m. shortly after their take off.  Some theorists believe that it is possible that the jetliner was able to fly low enough to avoid all radar systems, however this would be nearly impossible and would require exceptional skill from the pilot.

It is thought that flight 370 could have been hijacked by a terrorist group in order to keep the plane to execute future terrorism, leaving the fear that this same time of incident could happen again in the future.  The biggest question is whether or not one or both of the pilot’s were involved in this possible scenario.  With data deleted from a homemade flight simulator collected from the home of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, further investigation is being done to observe his possible involvement based upon the deleted data from the simulator.

Ronja Haag, a junior at American International College, said she can’t believe so many people are missing.

“It’s unbelievable how many families and people are being affected by this tragedy.  I hope they are all returned safely home soon,” Haag said.

The possibility of pilot suicide was a theory that was considered heavily at the beginning of the investigation into the missing jetliner.  As details and evidence has begun to emerge over the past two weeks of intensive investigation, this option has slowly been put onto the back burner.  Due to the belief that the navigation and communication systems on the Boeing 777 had been turned off deliberately and a “pre-programed U-turn” was made to take the plane off its track.

It seems as if the actions taken by those flying the plane had been preconceived and planned.  It however, is not believed that the pilots were working together in the efforts to lead the plane off track.  They had not requested to fly with one another and though both were very experienced in the air, they did not have a history or connection to one another in any other aspect of their lives.

There is a developing theory by a pilot from Florida, Chris Goodfellow, who believes that there could have been an electrical fire of some nature on the flight.  This could cause the passengers to pass out from smoke inhalation, solving the mystery of why there had been no cellular or Internet based contact by anyone on board.  He also theorizes that this is why the plane had made such an abrupt U-turn in the air, headed for the closest airport that they could land safely at.

A fire could also cause the navigation and communication devices to turn off.  Since there is evidence that the flight continued in the air for up to 7 hours after loss of communication, it is possible that they were for whatever reason unable to land safely.

Hilary Baker, senior at AIC, voiced her opinion on the tragedy. “I don’t know what exactly happened and I am not sure what to believe.  There are so many theories and so many possibilities,” Baker said.

The search for the Boeing 777 continues in the Indian Ocean, which is up to 30 miles deep in many areas.  The most recent break in the story is satellite visuals on objects about 15,000 miles off of the coast of Perth, Australia, where two pieces of debris have been found.  One piece roughly 80 feet long and the other about 15 feet long.