While the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 continues in the Southern Indian Ocean with no success, new theories and updates continue to emerge on what might have happened to the ill fated plane, which disappeared in March 2014.
Hijacked by Russians to Kazakhstan
Though these conspiracy theories have made news before, a science writer and author has just rejuvenated the possibility that the plane could have been a subject of a highly secret Russian hijack mission. Jeff Wise, who is a member of the aviation experts, the Independent Group, posted his theory on the possible hijacking this week.
He states that the idea that MH370 was hijacked to Kazakhstan is not new and in the days following MH370's disappearance, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had personally appealed to the president of the country, the Soviet-era strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev, to allow Malaysia to carry out a search operation in the country.
Kazakhstan never responded to the request and when scientists, citing Inmarsat pings, concluded that the plane could have gone south, the matter was ultimately dropped, he said.
"If Russia has the savvy to plan an insanely complex special operation, they also have a track record of implementing such schemes," Wise wrote, adding that alleged hijackers only need to "spoof" or falsify satellite data from Flight MH370.
"Kazakhstan lacks the means and technical savvy to carry out a sophisticated hijack, the same is not true of Russia. Russia is (arguably) the only country that stands apart from the West and yet is as technically advanced in the aerospace industry as the United States," Wise says.
Explosion of Lithium Batteries
According to another theory that is doing the rounds online this week, nearly 10 months after MH370's disappearance, there are some possibilities that the lithium batteries being carried by missing Boeing 777 may have led to an explosion.
This theory was supported by a dramatic US government test video released recently. Federal Aviation Administration reportedly sought to show how passenger planes are susceptible to fires and explosions from rechargeable lithium.
A cargo container was packed with 5,000 lithium-ion batteries and a cartridge heater was added to simulate a single battery experiencing overheating, according to ABC 10 News. The heat sparked a chain overheating in nearby batteries and the temperature rose to about 1,100 degrees, which ultimately led to a massive explosion.
This experiment raised new questions about the role of the batteries on board the missing Malaysian flight. In the weeks after the plane disappeared, Malaysian authorities had said that the flight was carrying 440 pounds of lithium-ion batteries and the cargo manifest papers had warned: "This package must be handled with care and that flammability hazards exist if the package is damaged," reported ABC 10 News.
Although the batteries could have resulted in explosion, one part of the theory is that the fumes from the battery fire could have overcome the crew, resulting in the plane flying for hours on autopilot before crashing into the ocean.
