The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370 by Florence de Changy

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with all its 239 passengers and 12 crew, is one of the strangest aviation mysteries of modern times. How could a modern airliner vanish from thin air? The mystery is both jaw-dropping, and in a world where air travel is ubiquitous and something we all take for granted (at least prior to COVID-19, and hopefully in the future too) disconcerting and horrifying. It’s never really been explained, though there is an official narrative of sorts after various inquiries.

In this book, Florence de Changy, a French journalist and foreign corespondent for Le Monde, painstakingly challenges the official narrative of pilot suicide (along with various conspiracy theories) and claims instead the plane was shot down. It’s a great piece of investigative work, and she sources her claims with endnotes in every chapter. 

The problem I have with her work is there is an equally convincing long form article in The Atlantic by William Langewiesche, which argues precisely and convincingly for the suicide theory. Similarly, Blaine Gibson, a man who has found over half the verified pieces of MH370 wreckage to be recovered so far, supports the suicide theory and dismisses this book as a conspiracy theory.

So, as often happens in a world of information at our fingertips, unless the reader conducts the investigation for themselves (and I don't mean reading random Facebook posts and watching Youtube videos, but actually doing the investigative work that Florence de Changy and William Langewiesche presumably have), they’re left unsure who to believe. The two conflicting, and to a layperson, equally convincing, theories about the fate of MH370, are perfect analogies of our times. As someone old enough to remember the dawn of the digital age, I recall being told the internet and social media would empower us with information. In fact, the reverse has happened, and we suffer information overload.

I literally do not know who to believe, Florence de Changy or William Langewiesche; the narrative put forward in this impressively crafted book, that the plane was shot down, or that in the equally impressive Atlantic article, that the pilot or co-pilot committed suicide with all on board. 

4 out of 5 stars