It has been nearly a month since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar, and its ultimate whereabouts remain unclear. The complex international effort of searching for the plane in a remote stretch of the South Indian Ocean raises the question of what would happen if a plane were to go down in the Arctic: who would coordinate the necessary search and rescue teams, and where should they be based? Geographer Mia Bennett tried to answer this question on her blog, Cryopolitics.
In a news conference on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 today, Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that the plane was deliberately diverted from its prescribed route to Beijing, flying up to seven hours after takeoff, says The New York Times. Malaysian authorities have released a map plotting the plane’s last satellite signals somewhere along two large arcs crossing Asia.
With no leads for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight after six days, more satellite imaging companies are pitching in to aid the search.
The Pacific Ocean is very, very big. Airplanes are big, too—but, compared to the Pacific Ocean, they are almost comically small. So, as rescuers finish up a week of searching unsuccessfully for Malaysia Air Flight 370, it’s worth taking a second to marvel at what an impossible a task it is to find one little plane in that very big ocean.
The Boeing 777 that seemed to disappear into thin air