10架神祕消失的航班(下)

5 Star Ariel

5 星羚號

Star Ariel was lost on January 17, 1949. Very little is known about what caused the loss of the British South American Airways (BSAA) aircraft and its 20 crew and passengers. Weather was excellent, visibility was good, and the pilots were experienced. The captain chose a high-altitude flight path to best take advantage of the excellent conditions. The flight was between Bermuda and Kingston, Jamaica.

星羚號失蹤於1949年1月17日。至今爲止，導致這架英國南美航空公司（BSAA）的飛機及20名機組成員和乘客失蹤的原因依然所知甚少。天氣非常好，能見度高，飛行員經驗豐富，機長選擇了高海拔的飛行路線，充分利用了當時卓越的飛行環境。飛機從百慕大飛往牙買加金斯敦區。

Last contact with Star Ariel was made at 9:42 AM. Despite a large search operation headed by a US Navy task force, no traces of wreckage, fuel, debris, or bodies was ever found. As stated by the head of the inquiry tasked with finding a cause for the loss of the aircraft: "Through lack of evidence due to no wreckage having been found, the cause of the accident is unknown."

地面控制塔與星羚號的最後一次聯絡是上午9:42時。儘管美國海軍特遣隊展開了大規模搜索，依然沒有找到任何一絲殘骸、燃油、碎片或者遺體的痕跡。調查小組的負責人表示，因爲沒有找到殘骸，缺少證據，事故的原因還未查明。

4 Star Tiger

4 星虎號

In the early hours of January 30, 1948, another BSAA craft, Star Tiger, disappeared between Santa Maria and Bermuda. All 31 passengers and crew aboard are believed to have perished, and the cause remains unsolved to this day. The Star Tiger was flown by two experienced pilots in strong winds and rain at an unusually low cruising altitude.

1948年1月30日清晨，另一架英國南美航空公司（BSAA）的飛機，星虎號，消失在了聖馬利亞市和百慕大之間。據推測，機上31名乘客和機組成員已經遇難，事故原因至今未能查明。星虎號由兩名經驗豐富的飛行員駕駛，在強風大雨中走了罕見的超低空航線。

Flying at 600 meters (2,000 ft) during strong winds is inherently dangerous, but the pilots were highly experienced and likely very aware of their surroundings. It is suggested that a sudden, strong gust of wind could have forced the plane into the ocean or that altimeter failure could have made the pilots gently pitch the plane into the water. No distress call was made, and no wreckage or debris has ever been found.

在強風中飛行在600米（2,000英尺）的高度是非常危險的，但是飛行員都是經驗豐富的老手，並且應該非常清楚自己的處境。有推斷認爲，一股突然而來的強風把飛機吹到了海洋中，或者是高度計的失常讓飛行員錯誤地把飛機開到了水裏。沒有求救信號，也沒有找到任何碎片或殘骸。

3 2016 Indian Air Force Disappearance

3 2016印度空軍失蹤事件

On July 22, 2016, an Antonov An-32 twin-engine transport aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force disappeared while flying over the Bay of Bengal. There were 29 people on board at the time: 23 passengers and six crew members.

2016年7月22日，印度空軍一架安-32雙擎運輸機在孟加拉灣附近失蹤。機上有29人，包括23名乘客和六名機組成員。

Radar contact was lost at 9:12 AM, and the ensuing search and rescue operation would become the largest in Indian history. Sixteen ships, a submarine, and six aircraft were deployed to aid in the search in and around the Bay of Bengal. On September 15, 2016, the mission was called off, and all aboard were presumed dead.

雷達信號於上午9:12時失去聯繫，隨後展開了印度歷史上規模最大的搜索和救援行動。十六艘船、一艘潛艇和六架飛機被調動，在孟加拉灣附近進行搜救。在2016年9月15日，搜救行動被叫停，所有機上人員被推測已遇難。

2 N844AA

2 N844AA號

On May 25, 2003, a Boeing 727, registered as N844AA, was stolen from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Angola. Shortly before sunset, two men boarded the aircraft: American pilot Ben Padilla and mechanic John Mutantu. Neither were certified to fly the 727, which normally flies with a flight crew of three. It is believed that Padilla was the one at the controls. The aircraft made its way onto the runway without clearance and without communicating with the control tower. With its lights switched off and a few erratic maneuvers, the plane thundered down the runway and took off, heading southwest over the ocean.

2003年5月25日，一架註冊編號爲N844AA的波音727飛機，在安哥拉的奎特羅機場被偷。日落之前，兩名男性登上了飛機：美籍飛行員本·帕迪拉（Ben Padilla）和機械師約翰·穆坦圖（John Mutantu）。727通常要求3名機組成員共同駕駛，而這兩人都沒有經過批准。調查組認爲，帕迪拉是兩人中負責主導的，駕着飛機在沒有清障的情況下就上了跑道，也沒有跟地面控制塔聯繫。飛機就在信號燈關閉以及一些不合常規的操作後，轟鳴着從跑道衝向天空，朝着西南方的大西洋飛去。

Since then, neither the two men nor the aircraft have been seen. The disappearance of N844AA prompted a worldwide search by the FBI and the CIA. Despite this, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found.

此後，再也沒有關於它和飛機上兩人的消息。FBI和CIA聯手發動了一場全球範圍的調查，但依然沒有找到一絲它的蹤跡。

1 MH370

1 馬航370

Malaysian Airlines flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. A total of 227 passengers and 12 crew members were aboard the Boeing 777, and the most expensive search operation in aviation history ($130–160 million) failed to turn up any evidence of the large aircraft. Some small pieces of the wings have washed up on various islands since the crash as well as a damaged briefcase believed to be related to the incident. At present, however, the plane has not been found, and the cause of the crash is unknown.

馬來西亞航空的370航班失蹤於2014年3月8日，當時飛機正從馬來西亞首都吉隆坡飛往北京。這架波音777飛機上共有227名乘客和12名機組成員。隨後，航空史上最昂貴的搜救行動，花費大概1.3億至1.6億美元，但是一無所獲。飛機失事後，一些機翼碎片被衝到世界各地的海岸邊，還有一個應該是與事故有關的破損行李箱。但直到今天，飛機都還沒有找到，失事原因也未查明。

Verbal communication with the aircraft's two experienced pilots was lost at 1:19 AM. At 1:21 AM, the aircraft's transponder ceased to function. The transponder allows the plane to be tracked on radar by air traffic control. Despite the lack of a functioning transponder, the plane was still tracked by military radar, turning right and then left at an erratic altitude. Once it had left the airspace trackable by Malaysian military radar, the aircraft automatically responded to hourly status update requests from a satellite communication system. Two phone calls to the cockpit at 2:39 AM and 7:13 AM went unanswered. The final status update, which took place at 8:10 AM (almost two hours after MH370 was meant to land in Beijing) was initiated by the aircraft, as opposed to the ground station.

與該航班兩名飛行員的最後一次聯繫是在凌晨1:21時，此時飛機上的應答器停止工作。應答器的功能是讓航空管控單位通過雷達信號追蹤飛機。儘管應答器無法工作，軍用雷達上還能追蹤到該飛機，雷達信號顯示，飛機在高空中上上下下，忽左忽右。在離開馬來西亞軍方雷達可探測的空域範圍之後，飛機上的發動機監測系統還曾定時向地面控制塔發送飛行狀態的數據。凌晨2:39時和早上7:13時撥到駕駛艙的兩個電話都無人應答。早上8:10時最後一次狀態更新（幾乎是計劃抵達北京的時間的2小時之後）是飛機主動發出的，而通常情況應該是由地面接收站主動的。

There are only a few reasons the plane would initiate this communication itself: power failure, critical component failure, loss of altitude, or fuel exhaustion. (The latter is the most likely scenario.) The status update would be the last communication from MH370, before it is presumed to have crashed at high speed into the Indian Ocean.

僅僅在某些條件下，飛機纔會主動使用這個通訊系統：電源故障，關鍵部件失靈，高度升降異常、或者是燃油耗盡（這是最有可能的情況）。這次狀態更新是馬航370與地面的最後一次聯絡。之後，它應該是高速墜入了印度洋。