Tanya | Week 13 | Lost in the Sky
Planes, which are incredibly complex inventions themselves, are meticulously tracked by a whole complex system of satellites and radar communication. Because of that, the idea that we can have entire planes disappearing seems to be (almost) impossible. And yet, about 12 years ago, on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished off the face of the Earth with a total of 239 people onboard.
Now, after all of this time, the world is still searching for some kind of closure. We are still searching for any sign of where the plane went, and any explanation that could somehow make sense of an event so genuinely inexplicable.
One of my favorite shows, Manifest, also explores this idea, but more through a fictional perspective. In the show, a plane with 191 passengers and crew mysteriously disappears, and five years later, those who were onboard return exactly the same, only now they have the ability to receive psychic visions of things they have no logical way of knowing. However, none of these people have any idea that they were missing for an entire five years until they arrive at the airport and are embraced by their loved ones.
In Manifest, these passengers return to their old lives prior to the plane’s disappearance, and are forced to adjust to the way that those lives have moved on without them. In the absence of their loved ones who were aboard the plane, everyone else has spent those five years adapting to their loss. They moved forward with their lives with only the memory of those they lost to hold onto. In a similar way, the disappearance of flight MH370 left families and the rest of the world with only their memories of everyone onboard, as obviously, nobody knew this would be the last time they saw each other.
But the two stories are different in how they treat this passage of time. In Manifest, the missing passengers do eventually return, and the years that were lost in between are rebuilt through the new, adventurous experiences, as well as the catching up after being reunited, that the characters have afterward. Their stories get to continue. But in the case of MH370, the disappearance of the plane is where everything we know for certain essentially stops. The final confirmed moments of the flight that were documented remain the last clear memories that anyone has of it. Everything after that is only speculation, and investigation.
For those who were onboard MH370, it is difficult to imagine what they were thinking or experiencing during the disappearance, because it is so difficult to determine what actually happened. We will likely never know exactly what they went through, just like it is unlikely that we will ever truly understand why the plane disappeared.
Even after twelve years, MH370 will always be remembered. The world will always remember this flight, for both the 239 lives that were lost, and for those back home who were never given the closure and answers that they deserve.
Hi Tanya! I would just to like to preface this comment by saying how much I love Manifest, and how I just recently rewatched it around 2 weeks ago. Just the concept behind the show is fascinating, and was concluded by the people on the flight being “chosen” due to divine intervention, definitley less realistic compared to MH370. I remember after first watching the show, I was intrigued to learn that there was a similar story of MH370, yet that plane never resurfaced. This also reminds me of the recent incident of the plane crashing into a firetruck at the New York airport, and the 2 pilots whose lives were lost yet the passengers who are miraculously alive. Stories similar to the case of the MH370 have readers like me absorbed by the “What ifs?” behind the situation. What if the plane did land or crash but a class behind the complex and intricate system of aerospace covered this story up? I have read upon similar cases, such as billionaires related to the Epstein class funding Meta advertisements during the 2024 US Election, in support of President Trump, particularly towards women in swing states (including Michigan and Wisconsin) on abortion views; the organization behind so has been so meticulously covered up through the influence of the elite that they have even let little to no trace on the Internet. Anyways, that is extremely off topic, but I too will forever remember the flight and the lives which were lost, in addition to the recent crash. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello Tanya, as usual, you have impeccable taste in shows. Your blog stuck with me, to be frank, the idea that, in today's modern world, even with such advanced technology, we are still somewhat powerless to the whims of Mother Nature (assuming weather played some role in the plane's disappearance). I found both the case and Manifest somewhat haunting. It demonstrated the human emphasis on closure. This is what makes the case and the show so incredibly disturbing. In the show, however, everything continues, and the world moves onward, leaving the people who returned after five years behind. But the timeline does not continue in real life. The people and families crippled by the loss of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 must deal every day with the lack of closure. I remember watching an interview once of a relative of one of the passengers on flight 370, and he said how every day when he remembers his niece, it's like she dies every day again and again in his head. As he ruminates over what her fate is, he feels like an executioner sending the plane crashing and her to a watery grave, IF he actually knew that was what happened to her. I appreciated your commentary on both the case and Manifest, and frankly, your blog has convinced me to rewatch it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI believe I have heard of Malaysia 370 before; I likely watched a documentary on it a few years ago when I was into learning about real-life tragedies. It really is an absurd and horrifying way to disappear, more akin to the exaggerated stories about the Bermuda Triangle than something that actually happened, as if all 239 of the people on board had disappeared into a rift in reality. It puts into perspective how much of our planet is unknown to us, since the plane has not been found to this day (I remember seeing somewhere that this flight was found on Google Maps at some point in 2018 and yes, the “sighting” has apparently still not been disproved, but it is probably hard to disprove a handful of blurry pixels found on satellite view).
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog, I went looking into this flight, the real one, more closely and it’s a way more unsettling situation than I remembered. Allegedly the pilot methodically planned the disappearance of the plane beforehand, topping up on the maximum amount of fuel, as well as extra oxygen specifically for the cockpit and not for the main body—meaning the passengers may have been already dead long before the flight crashed…unsettling. Not surprising that the creators of Manifest decided to add supernatural elements to the story. Intriguing blog this week, good job!
I remember watching Manifest with my friend group a while ago and I kind of forgot about it until you brought it up. Even in our world filled with advanced technology and tracking, they were unable to find this one flight carrying 239 people. In the grand scheme of things, one flight out of thousands everyday seems insignificant. However, each person had their own lives, fears, hopes, and aspirations and it all disappeared. Truly terrifying. Doing a little extra research, there was debris found on the east African coast and Indian Ocean. I could only imagine what the passengers on that flight were thinking. Maybe they hoped that they would be found and brought some peace. Sadly, that will never be true for any of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.