The mystery plane

  Iftekhar A Khan
The problem with conspiracy theories is that their proponents blame each other for being conspiracy theorists. Such theorists become active whenever an unexplainable event occurs. The missing Malaysian airliner MH370, with 239 passengers on board, is one such event.

Theories abound since the plane went missing but none seems plausible. The statements by the Malaysian prime minister and defence minister are inconclusive. The Malaysian government has asked 26 countries to help locate the plane, which, we are told, had continued to emit signals even when it had lost contact with the radar systems. But why there wasn’t a mayday call from the crew baffles everyone.

The Malaysian police even searched the homes of both the pilots and questioned their families to determine if they had any links with any terror group. The possibility of either of the pilots committing suicide was also considered, which in fact meant going too far in doubting the intentions of the commercial flyers who are always a select group among professionals.

However, look at the diverse opinions offered by various sources. While Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said, “The more information we get, the more we're inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident”, UK-based Independent and Telegraph claimed that the plane had been steered to the tribal belt adjoining Pakistan and Afghanistan and landed there by the Taliban. How the Taliban managed to land a passenger jet 74 meters long with 61 meters wingspan beats all other theories.

Assuming that the Taliban had managed to land the plane, how would they meet the daily requirements of 239 passengers and keep the plane hidden from the world’s electronic surveillance system? The Independent and Telegraph might have compromised their credibility by devising such an outlandish theory.

When all this went on, former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott didn’t stay behind. He speculated: “...fuel load and range now lead some to suspect hijacker planned a 9/11-type attack on an Indian city.” Rajeev Sherma writing in Firstpost said nobody would have paid any attention to such an outrageous theory had it not come from Talbott. The theory, however, was not believable, analyst Sherma said. It seems everyone is fishing in troubled waters.

Some sources have compared Flight MH 370 with the hijacked planes that collided with the Twin Towers in New York, following which the world was not to remain the same. But passengers in those flights were able to use their cell phones and talk to their families and friends. Why didn’t the passengers aboard the Malaysian plane try contacting their families? Did events in the plane take place so suddenly that the passengers didn’t have time to use their cell phones?

Nevertheless, whenever the crew faces serious technical problems, it would immediately transmit an SOS call. The Air France flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro carrying 228 passengers on board crashed into the ocean in June 2009. Before it plunged into the water, the crew tried hard to gain control and prevent the plane’s descent but to no avail. In the case of the Malaysian plane, no such effort by the crew has come forward as evidence.

The possibility one would hesitate to proffer is that the plane suffered from structural damage and plunged into the sea. Not many seem to point in this direction since a powerful and influential group – the manufacturers of Boeing – would not agree that easily to bear the compensation for loss of precious lives. Even though a judicial investigation in France had charged Air France and Airbus Industrie for manslaughter and ordered them to pay 1,20,000 pounds to each passenger’s family.

The writer is a freelancecolumnist based in Lahore.