Deep Dive: MH370, Remastered

The First Law of MH370 is that the closer you look at it, the weirder it gets. A good example of this principle can be found in today’s episode, in which we explore how exactly the satellite communications system, or satcom, came to be turned off and back on again after the plane disappeared from radar. At first, most observers assumed that an inattentive hijacker must simply have left they system...

As they studied the data that Inmarsat collected from the missing plane, Inmarsat scientists quickly realized that they could use it to narrow down the plane’s location to seven successive arcs. With a little more analysis, they found that these arcs implied that the plane took one of two routes to its end point. One route headed north, and the other south — but which is correct? This is a public...

The mystery deepens as, in the days after MH370's disappearance, the Malaysian authorities first deny, then confirm that their military radar detected the missing 777 as it turned back from its planned route to Beijing just a few seconds after it passed the final waypoint in Malaysian airspace. The plane reversed course, flew back over the Malayan Peninsula, then flew up the middle of the Malacca...

The mystery begins. Shortly after midnight on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and headed to the northeast, towards Beijing. For the first 40 minutes of the flight, everything was absolutely routine. But then, at 1.21am local time, the plane vanished from the radar screens of air traffic control. In today's episode, I discuss what it means for a civi...

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is a mystery unlike any other — stranger, more intricate, and more technically arcane. To grapple with it, we need to approach it with patience and an open mind. In Episode 1, I lay out my own experience with the case and lay out the expert-centric approach that this podcast will follow. The show’s first guest is Peter Waring, who was a lieutenant...

Today’s mid-week special content for paid subscribers: a remastered edition of Season One episode 3. The mystery deepens as, in the days after MH370's disappearance, the Malaysian authorities first deny, then confirm that their military radar detected the missing 777 as it turned back from its planned route to Beijing just a few seconds after it passed the final waypoint in Malaysian airspace. The...