March 9, 2014

Thoughts on MH370

I debated yesterday on whether to post anything related to Malaysian Airlines flight 370, the Boeing 777-200 that went missing on Friday.  I woke up several times last night thinking about the incident and found myself checking my phone to see if there was any news on the cause, location of the plane, etc...this morning I decided I need to write something about it.

I'm not an aviation expert but I do understand that this situation (modern jetliner goes missing) is highly unusual.  An accident of this magnitude with this type of aircraft would also be highly unusual given the impeccable safety record of the Boeing 777 series.  But until we know more actual facts on what happened, theories and rumors are just pure speculation.

The specifics surrounding the disappearance of MH 370 are LOST like.  The track of the plane put it over the Gulf of Thailand which is heavily populated with fishing boats and also fairly close to land.  The fact that no traces of the plane have been located over 48 hours into the search is disturbing and disheartening.

I can't even imagine the grief that the friends and families of the passengers and crew must be experiencing when all they can really do at this point is hope for the best.  At the end of the day, flying enables us to reach far away places and explore them which enriches our lives.  Flying is incredibly safe and I won't change my flying/traveling habits because of an incident like this.  But it does put things into perspective and the next credit card, mistake fare or premium cabin trip really doesn't matter in the scheme of things.

My thoughts go out to the passengers, crew, their friends and families and I hope the search turns up some evidence of the aircraft very soon.

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