7 Flights that Went Missing in the Ocean
What could make a craft as massive as a Boeing 747 vanishes into thin air?
Here are 7 missing flights that vanished over the ocean!
7. Amelia Earhart
In 1932, Earhart became the first woman and second only to Charles Lindbergh, who would make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic, from Canada to Ireland. In July of 1937, the fearless female announced another solo voyage, this time to circumnavigate the entire globe. What occurred in the midst of her expedition, however, will forever remain a mystery.
After departing, Earhart and her twin-engine Lockheed Electra subsequently vanished without a trace, somewhere high in the sky over the looming Pacific. While the pilot and her plane never surfaced among the treacherous waters.
6. Glenn Miller
When the world lost one of the greatest big-band leaders and innovator of the swing genre, the American music industry and its steadfast fanbase were devastated. Glenn Miller was a trombonist, arranger, composer, and bandleader who inspired music enthusiasts in the midst of a war-stricken world.
He was the best-selling recording artist from 1939 to 1943, so when the plane he boarded was never seen again, rumors ran wild. All that is known of the venture lies in speculation that the craft crashed into the English Channel after ice-covered wings led to subsequent engine failure.
5. British South American Star Tiger & Star Ariel
January 30th, 1948, a British South American Airways plane named Star Tiger took off from Azores archipelago in order to complete the last leg of a flight from London to Bermuda.
The pilot swiftly reported problems with the plane’s heater and navigational instruments moments before takeoff, so to ensure extra precautions, the airliner was to follow a fellow Lancastrian plane.
In addition to this, the vessel was ordered to fly at a dangerously low-level of 2000 feet, which would keep the plane at a warmer temperature during the voyageWhen the Lancastrian plane landed with no Star Tiger in sight, ground control began to worry.
While rescue crews searched the areas in between, all twenty-five of the people on board as well as six crew members were never seen again. Recent investigations blame the unreliable design of the plane, strong gales of wind to propel the plane toward the sea, and the irresponsible decision to fly so low.
4. Air France Flight 447
Around the early hours of June 1st, 2009, Air France Flight 447 went missing en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris while carrying 216 passengers and twelve crewmen. The mighty liner disappeared in the middle of the ocean, seemingly shrouded in darkness far beyond the reach of radar coverage.
Air France officials, feeling shocked and stumped on what could have happened, spent the next six hours attempting to concede the loss; yet for several days to follow, not a trace of the vessel could be found.
When the wreckage was finally discovered floating in the vast expanse of the Atlantic, investigators determined the plane had crashed belly-first while traveling at a speed of 152 knots.
According to findings, the craft had flown into the thicket of a thunderstorm, despite no sign of a distress signal and the jet being in a state-of-art condition at the time.
3. Flying Tiger Flight 739
In March 1962, during the beginning stages of the Vietnam War, United States Army Flying Tiger Flight 739, disappeared into the sky. Investigators soon linked the explosion to the perplexities surrounding the vanished vessel.
As no distress calls were received, it was challenging for air-traffic control centers to pinpoint the time when things began to go haywire for those onboard. An eight-day search party including 1,300 people, 48 aircrafts, and 8 surface combatants covered over 144,000 square miles of the open sea.
2. Flight 19 over the Bermuda Triangle.
Conspiracy theorists love the bizarre area connecting Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, especially considering the region has long been a hotspot for aviation disappearance. As dozens of aircrafts have vanished without a trace over this strange zone of land and sea, the most popular accusations point to paranormal activity and extraterrestrials.
1. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
One of the most popular missing aircraft cases and conspiracies in aviation involve the case of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. In a book titled Flight MH370:
The Mystery, a UK writer by the name of Nigel Cawthorne, depicts the plane’s disappearance as— “The greatest mystery since the Mary Celeste.” Celeste forever stands as a culprit for paranormal theory after she was discovered adrift and deserted, perfectly intact with every lifeboat yet not a single soul on board.
Yet neither Flight 370 nor its passengers were ever found.