Malaysian Airlines’ Flight MH370 disappeared last night with over 250 people on board. It seems to have crashed over the southern coast of Vietnam. It had been headed from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Obviously, this is a terrible tragedy that is so far unexplained. The plane did not issue any distress calls. However, at least two passengers on the manifest were not actually on the plane, both of whom had had their passports stolen in recent years while staying in Thailand.
Meanwhile, questions surfaced about the identities of two of the passengers on board after evidence emerged that they could have been traveling with stolen passports.
Italian media had initially listed Luigi Maraldi among the passengers. But the 37-year-old reportedly phoned his parents on Saturday to say he was safe in Thailand. His passport had been stolen there last year, and he was later issued with new documents.
“One hypothesis therefore is that he was listed because someone boarded the plane using his stolen passport,” the Corriere della Serra reported.
Similarly, Austrian media reported that an Austrian citizen had been listed as among the passengers but had subsequently been found to be safe. His passport had been stolen in Thailand two years before, the Austrian foreign ministry said.
I don’t know how common it is for people to use stolen passports for air travel. With the watch lists, some people may do it simply to get around. But it is certainly suspicious.
It may take a long time to find the wreckage. It took two years to locate Air France’s Flight 447 after it crashed in Brazilian waters in 2009.
My condolences to the bereaved.
