Product Review

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which was carrying 239 passengers and a crew of 12, disappeared without a trace on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The airline lost contact with the plane about two hours after takeoff and was unable to pinpoint its location. Within days and weeks after the jet vanished, the mysteries only deepened. Two passengers were traveling with stolen passports. The plane had not made a distress call, and no cellphone calls were made by passengers. Despite an intensive international search in the vast Indian Ocean, there were no confirmed sightings of wreckage. In addition, the flight path on the plane’s computer was likely diverted by someone in the cockpit who understood the workings of the jet’s communications and tracking systems. One of the biggest problems was with Malaysia Airlines, which made many errors, including withholding or presenting conflicting information, which frustrated and enraged the grieving families of passengers. This e-single, compiled from articles in The New York Times, recounts the search for the missing plane, which still continues to this day.