Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Aviation mysteries that have puzzled the world.
The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has confounded aviation experts and spawned a raft of theories about the fate of the missing plane.
Dozens of aircraft and ships from 10 countries are hunting for any sign of the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER passenger jet, which went missing on Saturday with 239 people - including six Australians - on board.
The search zone has been expanded several times in the days since the flight vanished from radar, and now encompasses parts of the Strait of Malacca, west of Malaysia's main island, and the South China Sea to the east.
The Boeing 777 is the plane maker's most popular wide-body aircraft, and has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service.
But until the aircraft is found, the flight joins a list of other aviation mysteries.
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Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
American aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan set out from Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937, during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
Several hours later she reported "cloudy" conditions to a United States Coast Guard ship, but in a faint message from over the Pacific Ocean a short time later, she said: "Fuel is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet."
Earhart, Noonan and the plane, Lockheed Electra, were never sighted again. After a two-week, $US4 million search which scoured 250,000 square miles of ocean, the US government abandoned a rescue mission. They were declared dead two years later.
The disappearance spawned many theories about their fate, with many believing the plane dived into the ocean near Kiribati, vanishing without a trace.
In July 2012, a team trying to solve the mystery searched the remote Nikumaroro Island after remnants of a 1930s era anti-freckle cream bottle, bits of clothing and human bone fragments were located, leading some to believe Earhart and Noonan may have been marooned on the island.
However, the $US2.2 million mission ended without any sign of the aircraft after equipment malfunctions.
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British South American Airways jets vanish near Bermuda
Two passenger planes operated by the British South American Airways (BSAA) vanished without a trace while flying in the Caribbean in the late 1940s.
Star Tiger was carrying 31 people on a flight from Portugal to Bermuda on January 30, 1948, when it disappeared from radars over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after a fuel stop in Santa Maria.
While it took off into heavy rain and strong winds, the plane - which had come into service only two months earlier - stayed in radio contact behind another plane travelling the same route in fine weather.
However, it failed to arrive in Bermuda. A British investigation into the disappearance concluded "the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery".
Less than a year later on January 17, 1949, another BSAA plane Star Ariel went missing with 20 people on board while flying from Bermuda to Jamaica in perfect conditions.
An investigation into that disappearance concluded: "through lack of evidence due to no wreckage having been found, the cause of the accident is unknown".
The two disappearances have fuelled speculation about the Bermuda Triangle being a place where ships and aircraft go missing.
The former British government-owned airline closed in 1949 after the high-profile disappearances.
News From ABC
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