Malaysia Airlines News: Disgruntled Families Threatening Hunger Strike

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Malaysia’s handling of its missing aircraft has drawn criticism from around the world. The biggest complaint by experts and families alike has been the lack of information provided by the Malaysian government. Now, several Chinese families of the people missing on the plane are threatening to go on a hunger strike if the government doesn’t open up and share more information with them.

This is just the latest of a long line of embarrassments plaguing the government and it’s poor handling of the missing airplane. The Chinese government itself has already slammed their Malaysian counterparts of mishandling the situation and not working more closely with other governments. Aviation experts in the United States have also been highly critical of Malaysia’s efforts.

153 Chinese citizens were aboard the now missing aircraft. While the Malaysian government has flown numerous families to Malaysia and is paying for their lodging, many families are venting their anger against the government. Some family members are now accusing the government of not being forthright with information.

Malaysia Airlines’ plane still missing

In one of the most complex and confusion crisis situations in history, Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 remains missing after more than a week of intense searching. The airplane’s transponders were somehow disabled, causing the plane to lose contact with secondary radar stations.

Meanwhile, the plane appears to have largely slipped through Malaysia and/or surrounding countries primary radar stations, which do not rely on communications from the plane. Originally, it was believed that the plane likely disappeared somewhere in the South China Seas, but an extensive search of the area found nothing.

As of now, Malaysia is unsure of where the plane may have gone and the search area for the missing aircraft has now expanded to include the Indian Ocean and Strait of Malacca

Malaysia’s military radar suggests that the plane flew into the Strait of Malacca, which is off the West coast of Malaysia. The airplane may have then turned either north or south. which has now become the focus of search efforts. As of now, some 25 different countries are actively searching for the plane. So far, however, no clues have yet been discovered.

Numerous theories behind disappearance

Unsurprisingly, numerous theories have now been floated to explain the plane’s disappearance. It is believed now that the airplane was intentionally diverted off course, but who changed the plane’s course of flight and why remain a mystery.

One popular theory has been that the airplane was hijacked. So far, however, there is no evidence to support his theory. Extensive examinations of the people onboard have found no individuals with links or ties to terrorist organizations. A few of the passengers, however, did appear to have some flight experience and two individuals were traveling with fake passports.

Besides terrorism, some suspect that potential hijackers could have been after valuable cargo, or trying to kidnap wealthy individuals on the plane. There is speculation that some of the people on board could have been exceptionally wealthy, but again these claims remain unsubstantiated.

Another theory is that one of the pilots decided to commit suicide. Apparently, the pilot could have turned off the transponders on the plane and then crashed it into the ocean. So far, however, detailed studies of the pilots have not found any evidence that any of the pilots had the motive to commit suicide.

Another theory is that a fire knocked out the transponders on the plane and the pilots then decided to divert to Langkawi, a resort island with a  large runway. Langkawi was closer than Kuala Lumpur when the plane appears to have turned around and the flight path would have gone over less difficult terrain.

So far, however, no theory has proven conclusive, and there are gaps in essentially every theory put forward thus far.

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