Recently a big item in the news has been the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Flying from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to Beijing China, the Boeing 777 airliner went missing on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board. How can such a thing happen some may be asking? If history tells us anything, more often than you may think. Here are a few unexplained aircraft disappearances:
The most famous disappearance was that of Amelia Earhart when she vanished in the Pacific Ocean along with her co-pilot Fred Noonan in 1937 while trying to fly around the world in a Lockheed Electra. Despite many searches over the years, no definitive proof of Amelia or her airplane has ever been found.
In December of 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers disappeared during a training flight off of the East coast of Florida in an area known as the “Bermuda Triangle”. The flight was designated “Flight 19” and no trace of the five planes or any of the crew members were ever found. During the search for Flight 19, a PBM flying boat also vanished along with its 13 crew members.
On June 23, 1950, Northwest Airlines flight 2501, a DC-4 flying from New York City to Seattle disappeared while flying over Lake Michigan. A total of 58 passengers and crew were on board. Despite extensive searches, the wreckage of the airplane has never been found. The search for flight 2501 continues to this day with yearly sonar searches of Lake Michigan by a non-profit organization funded by author Clive Cussler.
In July of 1951, a Canadian Pacific DC-4 vanished over the Pacific Ocean while on a flight for the United Nations from Vancouver Canada to Tokyo Japan. An extensive search was carried out to no avail.
A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-97 went missing while on a flight from Travis Air Force Base in California to Japan in March of 1957. No trace of the plane or the 67 servicemen on board was ever found.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 was a Lockheed Super Constellation airliner that vanished while under charter by the U.S. Military in March of 1962. On-board were 93 U.S. Soldiers en-route from Travis Air Force Base in California to Vietnam. After refueling on the Island of Guam, Flight 739 vanished, prompting one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific Ocean. Aircraft and surface ships from the US military searched more than 200,000 square miles, but no trace of the plane or its occupants was ever found.
An executive DC-4 vanished over the Pacific Ocean while on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles in March 1964. No trace of it was found despite an extensive search.
In January 1979, a Varig Airlines Boeing 707 disappeared while en-route from Tokyo Japan to Los Angeles California. No trace of the plane or its occupants has ever been found. Also on-board as cargo was a collection of paintings valued at 1.2 million dollars.
These are just a few examples and keep in mind that hundreds of military aircraft and their crews went missing during the World Wars and other conflicts such as the Vietnam War. Hopefully by the time this article is published, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been found and the uncertainty put to rest.
