Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Why It Disappeared—and Why It's Only a Matter of Time Before This Happens Again

by David Soucie

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 loaded 227 passengers and fifteen crew members and took off from its Kuala Lumpur airport for what should have been a six-hour flight to Beijing. A year after its take-off, the plane and its passengers and crew are still missing.

This detailed, true-story of the search for the missing aircraft features interviews with leading diplomats, militiamen, and family members of the missing passengers and crew members. It draws from the author’s thirty-year experience as an aviation safety inspector and accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration—working in the cockpit, as a mechanic, and as a first-responder—and a media correspondent covering plane malfunctions, hijackings, and crashes.

Comprehensive in scope, personal and empathetic in voice, Soucie’s riveting narrative offers an unparalleled history of what diplomats and investigators around the world hypothesized about why and where the plane crashed. He explains what the experts were correct in investigating and what was overlooked, and the result is a clear, persuasive proclamation of the mostly likely reason for the crash, and where the plane most likely resides.

The disappearance of Flight 370 has been called “the mystery that baffled the world” (CNN); the plane that “simply vanished” (FOX); the search for it is likely to cost “hundreds of millions of dollars” (ABC). It’s been the subject of intense media, diplomatic, and public scrutiny. But until now, no book has given a thorough account of the search for the plane—or a riveting, page-turning narrative that answers the mystery the rest of the world just couldn't solve.

Genres: Nonfiction, Aviation, Audiobook

188 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

David B Soucie is now a CNN Safety Analyst, on air throughout the day: New Day, Ashley Banfield, Newsroom, Jake Tapper Show, Piers Morgan, Anderson Cooper.

He's worked in the cockpit, on the hanger floor, crash sites, within the aviation boardroom, and inside the Washington D.C. beltway. He's seen death up close and personal. Author of "WHY PLANES CRASH" An Accident Investigator's Fight for Safe Skies a memoir of crashes and near-misses, pain and redemption by a former Federal Agent Aviation Executive and FAA Accident Inspector.

Reviews

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tres y media, pero lo dejo en tres. Relato de las posibles causas de la desaparición del vuelo MH370 de Malaysian Airlines en 2014. El autor, que es investigador de accidentes aéreos y tiene otro libro que quiero leer, expone sus hipótesis y acaba decidiéndose por una fallo en la electrónica del avión que causa iun incendio en cabina que incapacita a la tripulación y además apaga los transponders. Al contrario que algunos periodistas, que se decantan por la versión del suicidio del piloto (el artículo está muy bien, lo recomiendo), el autor le da a esta hipótesis solo el cuarto lugar más probable.
Hay demasiada parte del libro dedicada a explicarnos una fórmula bayesiana de 198 variables en la que el autor mete hechos ponderados por la veracidad/confiabilidad de la fuente para sacar sus numerinchis, que la verdad tienen poco interés.

Del libro me queda como aprovechable la explicación de la hipótesis del accidente, pero el relato de los fallidos intentos de búsqueda y rescate y el "qué listo soy, mira qué tochofórmula" aportan bastante menos, la verdad.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of what happened but no new news, sadly. I did like his common sense theory. He also debunked alot of stories from the internet.

[Toby Seppings · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading a number of books and on-line articles in relation to MH370 to gain an understanding of what happened or what rather possibly happened, simply because I was like most people I was curious. There was no particular reason I decided to read David Soucie's book other than it was reasonably cheap and available. If you are like me and are curious about what happened then don't bother reading this book. Like most books about this subject I have found the author just wants to offer up their view on what happened without having the available evidence to draw the inference they have.

Further to this I was wanting the author to explore unanswered questions and lines of inquiry that would be useful to at least know that someone has asked the question and if the question can't be answered, at least we know its been asked. For example I would like to know what the service and mechanical history of the aircraft was, I would have thought this would be of fundamental interest to know when considering the scenario that the aircraft suffered some sort of mechanical failure. The information on this is scant to non existent, I would like to know - is Malaysian airlines refusing to provide this information or is it available and there is nothing of interest in it?

I also found the author's use of the Bayesian formula, at best strange and at worst fundamentally flawed and therefore completely pointless. For example using the same information multiple times repeated by different people does not add extra validity and therefore should only be used once in the formula. Hearsay should also be ignored.

Like a lot of 'investigators' I think the author has come up with a view about what has happened and then searched for information to support this view (confirmation bias). As any investigator will tell you, let the evidence lead you to an inference, don't make assumptions about what has happened. In the case of MH370 there is simply just not enough evidence available to support a conclusion.

The simple truth of the matter is that there is not sufficient evidence or information that allows anyone, expert or otherwise, to draw a reasonable inference as to what happened to MH 370. So really what I'm saying is don't waste your time and money reading about it yet. Hopefully soon the aircraft will be found and the evidence of the wreck will speak for itself.

The book promised loots but didn't deliver what I was looking for.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something about this tragic story that has always terrified and fascinated me. While I always loved to travel, I've always been somewhat afraid of flying - I've had enough very vivid nightmares of being in a plane crash to be naturally paranoid it might one day happen for real. Therefore, the case of MH370 was a close to a real life horror story as you could get. The eerie fact that it just seems to have been wiped out of existence, and nearly ten years later, remains unfound, just adds to the mystery. But of course, none of this is to sensationalise or - worse - celebrate the incident. I cannot imagine the pain those families went through, are still going through; and God knows how those people actually inside the ill-fated plane felt once they realised something was going seriously wrong - whatever on earth that was.

On that last question, Soucie provides a convincing enough hypothesis, but it hardly conclusive as of yet. Just one of the more rational ideas, much more likely if not quite as intriguing as extraterrestrial interception.

If you want a well-researched, well-executed, highly accessible and also appropriately humane book about the disappearance of MH370, I can easily recommend this one.

[Michael J Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read. Author is well versed in the study and investigation of airline accidents and crashes. The book is presented in a well laid out progression of facts and occurrences. Ultimately a conclusion on the cause is reached by the author. The reader can choose to agree or not. Common sense recommendations for future improvements in flight tracking and aircraft management are made. Sadly as I read this book another major airliner crash is in the news again with more examples of how profiteering and an unwillingness by the industry to react in a timely manner continue to this date.

[ZzZ · Rating 1 out of 5]

So this American 🇺🇸 “CNN Aviation Analyst” who is also a former “Federal Agent Aviation Executive” and an “FAA Accident Inspector” skips some very basic important questions in his “investigation”. The biggest RED FLAG 🚩 is when he didn’t mention the Diego Garcia angle, you know, the highly secretive USA airbase based very very nearby. The fact that there was a mobile/cell phone communication from that location of one of the passengers in a message to his girlfriend, and he doesn’t even mention it. Zero stars ✨

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short, very good scientific approach to what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It discusses the failed approach to airline safety as well as debunking the conspiracy theories on the internet which if summed up are that the jetliner is on the dark side of the moon and used as part of a casino run by Elvis. Conspiracy theorists must cringe when their theories are so succinctly rebuffed.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's experience with the FAA and aviation inspection and safety provides a scientific angle towards what could have happened with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.  He tries not to point any blame, just lay out the facts, but its like reading an episode of Air Disasters.  Absolutely shocking to hear how long airlines have to rectify known issues.  If there is a safety or emission issue for a car, recalls happen right away despite the expense to the automaker (granted not well regulated since their fix can actually detreminent car performance), but 20 years for airlines for the example he provided! Ridiculous the disregard for human life compared to the bottom line when they are at the same time risking their own airline going defunct.

[Mule Shoe Outfitters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Infomational

Information is good about possible causes. Very helpful in understanding safety issues and problems associated therein for future reference. Sad for this accident and the families.

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read if you’re looking for a quick non technical book on the case of Fight 370 disappearance. Doesn’t include the updates after 2015.

[Marsilla Dewi-Baruch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compromising the aviation safety by placing incompetent macaques into positions they are not supposed to hold.

[Sav]

Not typically the type of book I would read, so I'm choosing not to rate it. Overall it was interesting but also frightening.

[lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but also didn’t say all that much

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you watched the CNN coverage of this event faithfully, as I did, then some of this book is a review of the information presented by David and others in those panel discussions. (If you didn't and want to know about the missing flight in a clear and concise way, this is for you.) Other chapters and sections present great insight on David's logical thinking, processes, and analyses of this crash and others. I appreciate his detailing many of the points in his Bayesian formula. I got the most from his personal stories: his basement approach to problem solving, and the locator invention he was introduced to (another basement!). I wish they'd included a line-art map of the assumed flight path. David comes across in the book as the same professional, fair, and likeable guy he was on all those CNN segments. (As an aside, this Goodreads listing says something around 250 pp, but my copy is 155 pp. at 8" by 5")

[Shelby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not remember much of this book to give a fair, full coverage review. I do remember it was mostly statistics. I find this mystery very interesting and was hoping the book would help educate me more on the subject, but I felt like I was just staring at numbers the whole time. Just not my kind of book.
I ended up giving it to a super cool high school teacher who taught sociology and a 9/11 class, I hope someone else enjoys it more than I did.

{~* Want to follow me? https://linktr.ee/shelbyyyyyyrrrr *~}

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly brief book that focuses on the known facts and does not give too much time to the conspiracy theories. This book reinforces the fact that the world is huge and despite modern technology, it is possible for a whole plane to disappear in the blink of an eye. The author offers reasons of how and why such a thing can happen - part human error, part technological limitations.

[Jeff Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Air accident investigator Soucie takes us through what ppl already know of the event on march 8. He also presents his view of what he think happened -- a fire. An easy read. Nothing new.

[Carol Hammal (Carol’s Bookery) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed analysis by a trustworthy source. It still doesn't solve any mysteries about this tragedy but helps understand what went wrong & why.

[Jen Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and balanced - no alarmist theories - no hidden agenda

[Andreas Porwanto · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this, albeit it was a page-turner. :(

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting because I never have a chance to follow up on news stories. Guess I'll just have to read books about them...