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The aircraft itself: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 9M-MRO at Narita, 2009
The aircraft itself: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 9M-MRO at Narita, 2009. Photo: Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Open cases · Southern Indian Ocean · 8 March 2014 – today

MH370: The Missing Flight

Unresolved2014 CE – 2026 CESouthern Indian Ocean, west of Australia

A Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard vanished in 2014. A new seabed search is planned for November 2026 to April 2027.

Research draft · editor review pending. Every claim below is linked to a checked source, but this dossier has not yet been reviewed by a human editor. Spot an error? Corrections are logged.

On 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, disappeared from air traffic control radar about 40 minutes after takeoff. Military radar showed it turning back across the Malay Peninsula. Hourly automated 'handshakes' between the aircraft's satellite terminal and an Inmarsat satellite continued for about six more hours, and analysis of those signals placed the end of the flight along an arc in the southern Indian Ocean.

Pieces of debris — beginning with a flaperon found on Réunion Island in 2015 — have washed up around the western Indian Ocean, but the main wreckage has never been found. Successive seabed searches by Australia, China and Malaysia, and then by the company Ocean Infinity, have covered well over 100,000 square kilometers. In June 2026 Malaysia extended its 'no find, no fee' contract with Ocean Infinity to June 2027, with the search vessels expected to return between November 2026 and April 2027.

Case log

An open case. Dated developments, oldest first, each with its source.

  1. Flight MH370 disappears from radar en route to Beijing with 239 people aboard.

    Sources: 2

  2. A flaperon from the aircraft is found on Réunion Island, the first confirmed debris.

    Sources: 8

  3. Australia's official underwater search ends after 120,000 km² without finding the aircraft.

    Sources: 9

  4. Safety Investigation Report: 'unable to determine the real cause' of the disappearance.

    Sources: 2

  5. Ocean Infinity's 2025–26 search phase ends; about 7,571 km² surveyed, no wreckage found.

    Sources: 45

  6. Malaysia extends the search contract to June 2027; vessels expected back between November 2026 and April 2027.

    Sources: 67

Why it matters

It is the largest unresolved case in modern aviation, and it changed how airliners are tracked worldwide.

What the evidence says

  1. Established

    Satellite handshake data show the aircraft kept flying for hours after it disappeared from radar.

    Basis: Analysis of Inmarsat signalling data published in the Journal of Navigation (2015).

    Sources: 1
  2. Established

    The official 2018 safety investigation concluded it was 'unable to determine the real cause for the disappearance.'

    Basis: Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team, as reported at release.

    Counterpoint: Investigators said the answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found.

    Sources: 23
  3. Established

    Investigators found the turn back was likely made under manual control, and that third-party intervention could not be excluded.

    Basis: 2018 Safety Investigation Report findings.

    Sources: 32
  4. Established

    The 2025–26 Ocean Infinity search surveyed about 7,571 km² in 28 operating days without finding the wreckage.

    Basis: Malaysian Ministry of Transport update to families (8 March 2026).

    Sources: 4
  5. Established

    Since 2018 Ocean Infinity has spent 151 days at sea and mapped more than 140,000 km² of seafloor looking for MH370.

    Basis: Ocean Infinity statement (March 2026).

    Sources: 5
  6. Established

    Malaysia extended the 'no find, no fee' contract to 30 June 2027; a US$70 million fee is payable only if the wreckage is found.

    Basis: Transport Minister's statement, 29 June 2026.

    Sources: 67

Competing interpretations

Deliberate diversion by someone on board

The aircraft was manually turned back and its communications switched off, then flown south until fuel ran out.

Standing: Consistent with the manual-control finding, but unproven; the report could not determine who flew the aircraft.
Sources: 3

Mechanical or electrical failure

A systems failure disabled communications and the crew became incapacitated.

Standing: Investigators could not identify a plausible failure mode, but lack of evidence prevented ruling it out.
Sources: 3

Third-party intervention

Someone other than the pilots took control.

Standing: Cannot be excluded according to the 2018 report; no evidence supports it.
Sources: 2

Weigh the evidence

Having read the claims and sources, which explanation do you find most convincing?

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Open questions

Connected dossiers

The Discovery of PulsarsSame open question · Signals interpreted from sparse data.The Library of AlexandriaSame open question · What is lost, and what can be recovered.

See MH370 in the discovery universe →

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Sources

  1. Ashton, Shuster Bruce, Colledge et al.. “The Search for MH370.” Journal of Navigation (2014) DOI 10.1017/S037346331400068X
    PEER-REVIEWED · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · CROSSREF DOI METADATA
  2. Jamieson, Alastair. “MH370 safety report "unable to determine the real cause for disappearance".” NBC News (2018) Open source ↗
    JOURNALISM · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · HTTP 200 LINK CHECK
  3. “Full report into MH370 "unable to determine the real cause".” Australian Aviation (2018) Open source ↗
    JOURNALISM · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · HTTP 200 LINK CHECK
  4. “MH370 Search Operation 2025–2026: Update to Families.” Air Accident Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Transport Malaysia (2026) Open source ↗
    PRIMARY SOURCE · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · HTTP 200 LINK CHECK
  5. “Conclusion of the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.” Ocean Infinity (2026) Open source ↗
    INSTITUTION · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · HTTP 200 LINK CHECK
  6. “Malaysia extends search for missing flight MH370 by one year.” Reuters (2026) Open source ↗
    JOURNALISM · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · LIVE; HOST BLOCKS AUTOMATED CHECKS
  7. “Cabinet greenlights MH370 deep-sea search extension with Ocean Infinity for another year.” Malay Mail (2026) Open source ↗
    JOURNALISM · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · HTTP 200 LINK CHECK
  8. “MH370 Operational Search Update, 5 August 2015.” Joint Agency Coordination Centre (Australia) (2015) Open source ↗
    INSTITUTION · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · ORIGINAL OFFLINE; WAYBACK MACHINE ARCHIVED COPY
  9. “The Operational Search for MH370 (AE-2014-054).” Australian Transport Safety Bureau (2017) Open source ↗
    INSTITUTION · CHECKED 2026-10-22 · ORIGINAL OFFLINE; WAYBACK MACHINE ARCHIVED COPY

How to read the labels

EstablishedSupported by strong, converging evidence.
ContestedEvidence exists but qualified scholars disagree.
UnresolvedThe question is open; evidence does not settle it.
LegendComes from myth, literature or tradition, not physical evidence.
SpeculativeA hypothesis with little direct evidence so far.

Hero image: The aircraft itself: Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 9M-MRO at Narita, 2009. Photo: Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons. Evidence labels describe the written claims, not the image. Version 1 · updated 2026-10-22.