Early Saturday morning a jet departing from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 239 people aboard disappeared without a trace. Since then, the eyes of the world – and GSU students – have been on the efforts to find out what became of the flight.
Since the disappearance of the Boeing 777, dozens of ships and planes have been sent out in search of Flight 370. Not much progress has been made since then, with different leads resulting in an ever-widening search area.
“I feel like the situation is a confusing one,” said Cedric Provost, a senior criminal justice major from Riverside, Calif. “I don’t see how a plane just disappears. The news reporters said terrorism may have something to do with it.”
Speculations of terrorism arose shortly after officials found that two passengers on the plane boarded with stolen passports. Authorities later said the two bought tickets to Europe, where they hoped to live, but suspicion remains.
“I think it has to do with terrorism,” said Daryl Riley II, a freshman mass communication major from Monroe. “With the (black) box missing, harmless people are being harmed in this situation.”
All planes come with a black box, which is a flight recorder in an aircraft. Until Flight 370’s black box is discovered, the chances of finding the plane are lessened, and the search continues.
Other speculations about the plane’s disappearance include engine failure, an explosion, pilot error or even being hijacked by passengers or crew members because of psychological or personal problems. Airline officials say they are looking into all the passengers’ backgrounds.
“I don’t think it was a terrorism plot, just a missing jet,” said Claudia Brunson, a freshman mass communication major from Jackson, Miss.
The last confirmed signal from the plane was received at about approximately 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Military radar picked up a signal at 2:40 a.m., but the signal was several hundred miles west of its intended flight plan and could not be confirmed as coming from the missing plane.
“There is a possibility of an air turn back,” said Malaysia’s civilian aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman on Wednesday. “We are still investigating and looking at the radar readings.”
None of the theories on what happened to Flight 370 have been ruled out.