Q: Have any other airplanes the size of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, or with this many passengers, ever gone missing for this long?
— Martha Hunt, Hoschton
A: Several airplanes of various sizes have gone missing for years or decades, or have never been found, but most had fewer than 100 people on board. Air France Flight 447, with 228 people on board, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, and was missing for five days before the Brazilian Navy found its debris. The plane's black box wasn't found until 2011. Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 is among the many smaller planes that have never been found. It disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on March 16, 1962, with 107 people on board, including 93 U.S. Army personnel. Two British South American Airways planes disappeared without a trace in what is known as the Bermuda Triangle within a year of each other. The Star Tiger was lost with 31 people on board on Jan. 30, 1948, and the Star Ariel went down with 20 people on Jan. 17, 1949. The 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had 45 passengers and crew, were found after 72 days, during which they resorted to eating the dead who had been frozen by the snow. The flight disappeared on Oct. 13, 1972, and the survivors were found on Dec. 23. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said March 24 that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed in the Indian Ocean earlier this month, but authorities are struggling to find the plane's wreckage. There were 239 people on board the flight.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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