In a world where resources such as Google Earth and Google Maps are available to almost everyone, there is precious little left of this world to be discovered. When something new and unusual is found, the world population reacts with surprise – and when something unusual is lost, the planet tends to react the same.
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 has been lost for nearly four weeks and people across the globe are baffled. How does one lose a Boeing 777, the world’s largest twin jet plane? Scarce details are being released by the very private Malaysian government.
The public knows little more than roughly where the plane crashed, that it inexplicably turned off course during its flight, and the vague and probably incorrect final words from the plane.
The disappearance is an extremely hot topic right now, especially in a world where satellites have mapped out so much of the planet.
Kelsey Huber, a senior, frequent flyer, and avid follower of current events, described the conundrum in her own words: “Air traffic controllers have full details of almost exactly where the aircraft was at the moment it vanished. They know the location, elevation, and air speed– three pieces of information which can readily be used to estimate the likely location of debris…and yet, even armed with all this experience and information, [experienced air safety investigators] are totally baffled by what happened to Flight 370. It’s super weird,” said Huber.
Was the disappearance the result of an accident? Or was it intentional? A common opinion points to the idea of a terrorist hijacking.
Mughda Mokashi, who was awarded Best Delegate at the last Model UN conference and who has been following the case on the news, said the idea of terrorists is “very likely, considering the fact the communications shut off abruptly and flight appeared to take an unknown course without warning.”
However, considering there’s no solid proof, she also believed there is no need to jump to conclusions.
“Without any evidence whatsoever and even the Malaysian transcript being full of miscommunications and uncertainty, it’s unnecessary to raise fear as of now…Any possible scenario is still on the table,” said Mokashi.
Regardless of the reasoning behind its disappearance, the time to find the flight is rapidly running low. The homing device within the plane only has a battery life of 30 days; after that, the homing signal will die, leaving the families and loved ones of the 239 passengers devoid of answers concerning the people they care about. Countries are rallying together to prevent this unfortunate ending.
“Being a member of Model UN, where we represent countries with a myriad of interests that are trying to work towards a common goal,” said Mokashi, “it is really amazing to see how other countries such as Australia, China, India, and the UK are collaborating with the Malaysian government to solve this mystery.”
Hopefully, this collaborative effort will result in the plane being found and the question on everyone’s mind being answered before time runs out.
