I helped search for the missing MH370 flight
‘It was just a lot of looking’
Malaysian flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The plane had 239 passengers and crew on board when it went missing. Over 25 countries aided in the search for the plane by investigating or by lending vessels and expertise.
This summer a piece of a wing was finally found on an island in the Indian Ocean, which was later said to have come from the plane.
At the time the plane went missing, Film & TV major and BU freshman Sanjeev M, 20, (and yes, M is his last name) was working for the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
Why were you in the Singaporean Air Force?
When you turn 18 in Singapore, you have to join the military. You then get drafted to one of the armed services for about two years.
What would be your most memorable experience during your time in the Air Force?
Helping look for the missing Malaysian flight would be the obvious story. When it went missing I felt like I had to sign up to help look for it and they were asking for volunteers. I asked around, and a lot of people were trying to help, but I was able to get a seat on one of the planes. We had 10 hour shifts and just stared out the window. Any time we thought we saw something we would go closer to the water, but it was just a lot of looking.
How did you get involved in the search?
When the plane went missing, they were looking for people to help look and they wanted people in the military. I spoke to my commanding officer and he helped hook me up.
Did you personally see any signs of the plane (or what you thought was)?
A couple of times we thought we saw something, but it was really just waves or something and we would fly a bit lower and then realize it wasn’t actually anything.
How did it feel to be part of the rescue operation?
It felt like I was doing something which had a lot of merit, something important. Actually being a part of something with real world applications was really cool.
How long were you involved in the search for?
Just one mission. We searched the South China Sea and when they realized it actually wasn’t there, they stopped sending guys out.
Where do you think it is?
Ummmmmm… I’m really not sure, to be honest. I could make an Indian Jones type reference, but I won’t.
Did anything else interesting happen?
One thing we noticed, which wasn’t necessarily good, was how there were a lot of dead birds. You’d be surprised at how many bird strikes we get every day. It seemed like every time a plane took off from the run way, a bird would fly right into it. We would see something fall down and we would take out our binoculars and see a bird just lying there.
Another time we spotted a big snake on the runway and we didn’t know how to deal with it. We called it in and asked for help. They sent a guy who took a car and ran over it, a few times.