One of the deepest mysteries of modern aviation literally took to the skies on March 8, 2014. On that date, a Boeing 777 operated by Malaysia Airlines, carrying 239 people on board, flew into history.
For reasons unknown, someone switched the aircraft’s transponders off, flew thousands of miles off course, and -it is believed-, the flight ended up crashing in deep waters somewhere in the vast reaches of the Indian Ocean.
A joint search effort by Australian and Malaysian Navy and Air units has so far yielded nothing. Underwater drones have combed around 23,000 sq. miles of previously uncharted rugged ocean floor, but not a trace of the aircraft has ever been found to this day.
Authorities are now saying that to expand the search further would incur vast costs, as the area of sea is so expansive, remote, and inhospitable, and there isn’t any hard evidence as to where to even begin to look, as the most likely areas where the aircraft might have been have proved otherwise.
Australia and Malaysia have thus far been splitting the search costs, but continuing the fruitless search around an estimated 1.1 sq. km. of ocean might be an insurmountable task in financial terms unless more international help is forthcoming.