Learn from these three tragedies to avoid another one

SOUTH-EAST Asia was hit with two tragic aviation incidents in 2014, both involving Malaysia's state carrier, Malaysia Airlines (MAS). Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, after it was asked to contact the Ho Chi Minh Air Traffic Control Centre. MAS subsequently confirmed that MH370 lost contact with Subang ATC at 2.40am.

A complex search operation involving more than 26 countries in an extensive land and sea search ensued over several weeks, to no avail. On March 24, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that, "according to new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean". Search-and-rescue operations were narrowed to the southern part of the Indian Ocean, southwest of Australia. In April, search vessels picked up signals matching those of the aircraft's underwater locator beacon, but no plane was found. Visual searches have been suspended, but the underwater search continues.

In addition to a transponder, the plane was equipped with an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking system. Unfortunately, both the transponder and the ADS-B can be manually switched off in the cockpit.