They say fact is stranger than fiction. It often is; and never more so than in the case of airplanes that seem to simply fall off the earth! Mystery novels always reveal the mystery in the end, but these are the whodunits, or rather the ‘what’dunits that have not yet been solved! Here are a list of some of the most mysterious flight disappearances that have never been satisfactorily explained.
1. Amelia Earhart
One of the most celebrated female pilots of all time fittingly met her end while trying to set the record for circling the globe by air. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She and her co-pilot disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Her story, particularly her disappearance still fascinates historians, aviation enthusiasts and crazies the world over. Theories range from espionage to crab attacks!
2. The Bermuda Triangle Disappearances
The Bermuda Triangle was thought to have been responsible for many ships disappearing without trace. In the case of the famous Flight 19 in 1945, pilots of Navy Avenger planes reported to becoming disoriented and not recognizing the landmarks they saw below them. Apparently the compasses were not functioning and the weather turned dangerous… all 14 airmen and crew perished. These planes as well as the plane that went in search of them disappeared; never to be heard of again! Star Tiger, Star Angel, Douglas DC-3, KC-135 Stratotankers were other aircraft that the Bermuda Triangle presumably gobbled up!
3. The Flight-191 Jinx
Flights with the 191 number are thought to be jinxed: 6 aircraft bearing this number have either disappeared or had other problems. Between 1967 to 2012 commercial aircraft and test planes bearing this number have killed one, five, 273, 137 and 49 people in separate instances.
4. Flight 571 (the Andes Flight disaster)
This Uruguayan Air Force plane crashed in the icy Andes, remaining undetected for two months after the crash. Miraculously, there were 16 survivors who survived by feeding on the dead passengers!
5. Malaysian Airlines flight MH370
This is the great unsolved modern aviation mystery. 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 15 nations were never heard of again after 14 March 2014; no conclusive wreckage was ever found!
Author: Reena Daruwalla
