On March 8, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while en route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. The flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, representing 15 nations. The flight was reported missing after all radar, voice contact and other data transmission failed. Since the loss of the plane, search crews have conducted an extensive search and rescue process. The search has been conducted by six nations, other than Malaysia: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States, according to the BBC. According to NPR, it is the largest multinational air and sea search to date. The search is primarily looking for “floating objects, oil slicks, floating parts of the external layer of the plane and people that may have fallen into the water,” according to Dong Yan, commander of the Chinese arm of the search effort.
China, Malaysia and Australia have all announced finding “debris” or “objects” since the search process has begun, either through air and sea searches or through satellite surveillance. None of the objects have been positively identified as pieces related to the missing flight, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Experts, journalists, pilots and celebrities theorized about the fate of the flight and those on board; theories included mechanical or electrical failure, mental health issues of the flight crew, terrorism, hijacking or sabotage, according to CBC.
Phil Wood, 50, was one of three passengers with American passports on the flight. Wood, an executive at IBM, lived in Beijing and was planning to move to Malaysia, according to NY Daily News. Wood was a 1985 graduate of Oklahoma Christian University. Chuck Monan, minister at Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock, was a classmate of Wood’s at Oklahoma Christian. Monan said his wife has known Wood since they were children, having grown up across the street from him. Monan said that although the ordeal has been rough on the family and friends of Wood, it has spotlighted their faith.
“It is apparent from watching (the family’s) response to the media crush that their deep, abiding faith in God has sustained them through the pain of this tragedy,” Monan said. “What is clear is that the Christian need not fear death, as he serves the one who holds the keys to death and Hades.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced to the media on March 24 that the flight, and all passengers and crew, was assumed by the Malaysian government to be lost, due to its assumed final position and the lack of any possible landing sites within a reasonable distance, according to The Guardian.
