Air Travel

A report was published about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flights MH370 earlier this year ,which struggles to reveal conclusions about the final hours of the doomed aircraft.

Aviation in its more than 100 years of existence has had a few such incidences, where authorities and conspiracy theorists have not been able to reveal the true nature of its occurrences.

To excite the inner mystery hunter in you, below we detail 10 of the greatest mysteries in aviation, from the early history of flight to modern day.

1.The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is known as a place where dozens of airplanes and ships have vanished in unusual circumstances, with the disappearances attributed to paranormal or extra-terrestrial activity.

Notable incidents include the disappearance of Flight 19, a US Navy bomber, on December 5, 1945, as well as the aircraft sent to search for it, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft with 32 people on board in 1948 and a mid-air collision between two US Air Force planes in 1963.

Since a long time, the roughly triangular area bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico has been debated upon without any clear conclusion. No one till date knows how or why these incidents occurred.

2.Trans World Airways Flight 800

TWA flight 800, a Boeing 747, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, resulting in the deaths of all 230 people on board.

While many speculated that terrorists were to blame, no evidence of a criminal act was discovered by the FBI following a 16-month investigation.

Others suggested that a US Navy vessel blew up the plane with a missile strike, and that the US Government has since instigated a cover-up.

A report published on August 23, 2000, however, concluded that a short circuit was the most likely cause of the explosion and the case was hurriedly closed.

3.Air France Flight 447

In the early hours of June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went missing, along with 216 passengers and 12crew members.

The Airbus A330-200 disappeared in the middle of the ocean,beyond radar coverage and in darkness. For several days no trace of it was found. Even when wreckage was discovered, the tragedy was no less confusing for the bewildered and shocked Air France authorities.

The aircraft had flown through a thunderstorm, but there was no distress signal, and the jet was state-of-the-art, a type that had never before been involved in a fatal accident. The aircraft’s black boxes were recovered nearly two years later, at the bottom of the ocean.

4.The Disappearance Of Amelia Earhart

The pioneering aviator vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe.

Various reasons have been given for her disappearance. The theory that she was captured by Japanese forces has been suggested while others believe she faked her own death. A few oddballs even claim she was abducted byaliens

However, a photograph discovered last year was said to prove that Amelia Earhart did not die in a plane crash but was captured by the Japanese.

The photo, found in a former “top secret” file at the US National Archives, and thought to have been taken in 1937, has been subjected to facial-recognition and other forensic testing.

The theory was somewhat disproved, after a new similar image was said to have appeared in a Japanese travel brochure published years before Earhart disappeared.

5.Helios Airways Flight 552

In August 2005, air traffic controllers in Greece lost contact with Helios Airways Flight 522, but the airplane remained on the ATC radars of the Athens Airport for more than an hour.

At one point, a Greek fighter jet was sent to search the airplane and spotted that the pilot was passed out over the controls.

Around half an hour later the plane started to descend, crashing into the hills near Grammatiko, killing all 121 passengers and crew (the deadliest air disaster in Greek history).

According to the report released, a gradual loss of cabin pressure had left the crew incapacitated, but many people feel that this was just a coverup.

6.D.B.Cooper

In 1971, an unidentified man travelling under the name of “Dan Cooper” managed to hijack a Boeing 727, extort a $200,000 ransom and leap from the rear exit on the aircraft (with a parachute), never to be seen again.

No conclusive evidence has emerged confirming his true identity or subsequent whereabouts, but FBI investigators claimed he would not have survived the jump.

A year after the incident “Cooper vanes” were installed to disable aircraft doors while the landing gear is up.

7.EgyptAir Flight 990

In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990 from New York to Cairo plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean around 60 miles off the US coast.

All 217 people died in the crash, but mystery still surrounds its cause. The Egyptian Flight Officer controlling the plane was recorded repeatedly saying “I rely on God” moments before the disaster.

A colleague claimed he crashed the jet as an act of revenge, however an investigation concluded he did not deliberately cause the accident.

8.The Wright Brothers Weren’t The 1^st To Fly An Airplane

Some believe the Wright brothers did not build the world’s first successful airplane.

German-born Gustav Whitehead should get the credit, they say, as evidence suggests he took to the sky two years earlier.

They add that US institutions did not accept Whitehead’s role in the birth of aviation because of their indebtedness to the Wrights’ legacy.

A contract between Orville Wright and the Smithsonian museum was signed in 1948 where it legally obliged to call the Wright brothers the first to fly.

9.British South American Airlines Disappearance

In August 1947, a British South American Airways airliner vanished as it flew between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santiago,Chile, via Mendoza.

No wreckage was discovered for over 50 years, provoking conspiracy theories about sabotage and abduction by aliens.

A Rolls Royce engine and the remains of nine of the eleven victims were eventually found at the foot of a glacier in the Andes.

10.Malaysian Airlines Flight 370

Since Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished in March 2014,while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia, to its destination, Beijing Capital International Airport in China, many speculations have come up.

Theories like the airplane was shot down, hijacked by Russia or  landed on an island have come up. Infact, outlandish theories like the airplane was switched and some other airplane all together was shot down as a cover up have been pondered upon.

But, despite all those theories, the reality is certainly more mundane. According to aviation expert David Learmount , whatever happened to the airplane was “a deliberate act by someone on board, probably the captain”.

He went on to say that journalists in search of weirdstories have made up their conclusions, however it was probably a carefully planned suicide and revenge attack but we’ll never be able to prove it.