Background Information

The Malaysian Airline flight 370 was a Boeing 777 scheduled international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on March 8, 2014. The flight was on its way from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. The crew of the aircraft last communicated with air traffic control about 21 minutes after taking off (around 1:01 am) when the flight was over the Indian Ocean. The aircraft was lost from ATC radar screens just minutes later.

Left: a Boeing 777 Plane

Other Theories

As this is just one theory, it is important to include other possibilities explaining the mysterious disappearance. Other possible theories include aliens, the suicide of the pilots, and suffocation.

Aliens
Because the flight seemed to disappear altogether with seemingly little proof of it crashing at all, some believe it was taken by aliens. This may sound ridiculous, but there is another theory to back it up -- the black box theory. A black box is a piece of equipment that takes messages from the pilot to the radar. Usually theses messages are just coordinates. However, a message thought to come from the black box of the missing flight said “they are not human" in the NATO phonetic alphabet. It then went on to tell everyone to be cautious and evacuate. While this is possibly the most exciting theory, there is not enough evidence to strongly back it up. The most likely situation is that someone made this up to gain fame.

Suicide
It's possible the pilots committed suicide. One was distraught because of a failing marriage and losing his kids. It is said that he could have turned off the oxygen supply to the passengers. Research concludes that passengers on flight MH370 died of oxygen starvation hours before the pilot performed a controlled ditching in the Indian Ocean. An analysis by a veteran air accident investigator shows proof that all 239 people lost consciousness up to four hours before the disappearance. A simple but logical explanation of this situation would be the pilot de-pressurizing the cabin. While this is possible, the chances of the co-pilot or any of the crew not being able to stop this from happening is unlikely. It also does not explain the sudden disappearance off the radar.

Suffocation
The cockpit may have been poisoned, causing the pilots to lose oxygen and suffocate. The theory involves the hacker getting into the electronics bay, gaining access to computers that control the plane. From there, the hacker could have unlocked the cockpit door. However, while this theory would explain how the pilot may have lost control, it does not explain most of the other, stranger parts of the mystery. For example, it does not explain why the aircraft lost contact with the radar and how the aircraft vanished.

Works Cited

Stance & Reasoning

Flight 370 was cyber-hacked. We believe this because there were suspicious passengers on board, vulnerabilities in the system, and the flight disappeared from the radar. This theory comes from a British anti-terrorism expert who stated the possibility of cyber terrorists using a series of codes to hack the plane’s in-flight entertainment system and infiltrate the security software. This could have been done with something as simple as a USB stick or a phone.

Some passengers were suspicious; several even had fake passports. There was a Malaysian aeronautics specialist seated directly under MH370’s Satcom module who potentially had the technical knowledge to hack the plane’s communication systems and alter its route.The plane's system was extremely vulnerable. Evidence supporting the cyber hijack theory comes from the fact that Boeing had previously expressed concern over the security of the plane’s systems, and had even contacted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for permission to change some of the on-board equipment. During the flight, the radar lost signal prior to the crash. The best explanation for the radar suddenly shutting off is a cyber-hijack. Weather was optimal, so the disappearance cannot be blamed on that.

Conclusion

To this day, the plane still has not been found, and people all over the world are still looking for answers. Out of all the possible theories, cyber-hijacking is the most likely. The strongest evidence pointing to this is the flight's sudden disappearance from the radar. With technology rapidly advancing, the plane's security system was also vulnerable, even to simple technology. The multiple sketchy passengers on board, especially the aeronautics specialist, also contribute to the theory. While suffocation, suicide, and even an extraterrestrial abduction are all possible, cyber-hijacking is the most logical theory with the most evidence.