What happened to Flight MH370 and when did it disappear?

Netflix has dropped a gripping new series that recalls the true story of an aircraft that went missing almost ten years ago. Released on Wednesday (March 8) to coincide with the ninth anniversary, MH370: The Plane That Disappeared explores the disappearance, and the aftermath, of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

There have been countless theories around the plane’s disappearance, with Netflix describing it as a “great modern mystery”. Using powerful archives to reconstruct the night of the disappearance, the docuseries gives viewers the chance to explore three of the most contentious theories about the tragic event.

It also features interviews with family members, scientists, journalists, and the ordinary people around the world who refuse to give up hope of an explanation. But what exactly happened to MH370 and when did it disappear?

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Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing mid-flight in the early hours of March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport in China. At 1.22am – around 40 minutes after takeoff – the Boeing 777 suddenly disappeared from Air Traffic Control radar.

It was tracked by military radar turning sharply from its planned northeastern course and heading west, until it left the range of the military radar at 2.22am while over the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean. The aircraft, presumed crashed, sparked a huge search that became the most expensive in aviation history.

It focused initially on the South China Sea and Andaman Sea before analysis of the plane’s automated communications indicated a potential