It's been 24 hours since they last had contact with the missing MH370 plane operating on a Boeing 777-200. Prayers are said, tears are shed... Worry for my missing kinsmen cloud my thoughts this whole night and any information retrieving from the Internet is just very confusing.
The plane, headed for a direct course from Malaysia to Beijing, lost contact with the air traffic control tower around 2.40am local time and, to my knowledge, is yet to be found. According to a press conference, at the time of the last contact, the plane has an estimated 7.5 hours of fuel left.
Which leaves with this question: it's been 24 hours. Where could they be now?
My friends and I (we are scattered in different parts of the globe as of now for our studies) are shocked by the news, and have been following the news as closely as we could despite our schedules (I had exams to prepare for, my friends had classes and work).
So while we prayed and continually hope for the best for every passenger and crew in the flight, we searched the Internet for more news and hope to share between our circle to ease our frayed nerves.
Then out of nowhere there came one tweet, one post and one chain message after another saying "RIP MH370".
This got me angry.
Who the fuck do you think you are to tweet such things? There is no wreckage to be found, therefore it is not announced to be a crash. And have you assholes heard of a miracle? The pilot is bloody 57 years old with almost 20k hours of flight experience; who, I might add, joined the airline in the 1980s - oh and he has a co-pilot with 2, almost 3k hours of flight experience. Basically, that's more than most of us out there.
I know that the RIP thing probably stemmed from the rumour, and I quote from a news website:
Adding to the confusion were rumours that started early on Saturday morning, first saying the plane had landed safely in Vietnam, then that it had landed in the southern city of Nanning in China.
Later came reports that it had crashed in the waters off Vietnam.
But have you no feelings? What of the families and friends of the passenger and crew? What would they feel? What would they think?! I know hope is fading with each passing hour, minute or second; but who are we to diminute theirs?
The authorities are claiming that they are doing all they can in the search and rescue effort for the missing plane. I only wish by the time they're found, all of them are safe and sound; minus a few scratches here and there. Well... I mean it is an ordeal to go through.
A huge kudos to the International Search and Rescue team for doing what they do best, despite the current lack of result.
And a huge thanks and gratitude to China, Vietnam, Philippines, United States of America, and Singapore for helping us in search of the missing plane and the people in it.
To the families and friends of the passengers and crews of MH370, you have my deepest and sincerest regards. My prayers are with you.
... and a friend who's boarding a plane tomorrow.