What happened to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and was it ever found?

It's the greatest unsolved mystery in aviation. Almost a decade ago, a passenger plane went missing mid-flight with more than 200 people on board. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 suddenly disappeared from radar around 40 minutes after take-off on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport in China.

The flight, 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 – in the northeastern Indian Ocean – before analysis of the plane’s automated communications indicated a potential crash site somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

Despite a costly and lengthy search involving government agencies and private contractors, MH370 was never found, and its whereabouts remain a mystery to this day. Now, the BBC is releasing a documentary exploring new radio technology that may finally help locate the missing aircraft. Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 airs at 8pm on Wednesday March 6 on BBC One.

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The documentary hears from scientists at the University of Liverpool who are undertaking a major new study to verify how viable the technology is, and what this could mean for locating the aircraft. The documentary features interviews with relatives of the missing, aviation experts, former Malaysian Airlines employees, as well as current and former pilots and unpicks other commercial aviation incidents to try and piece together what may have really happened to MH370.

The wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has never been found, despite a lengthy and costly search