Plane suddenly vanishes over large body of water in ‘new MH370’ mystery

The small plane was carrying two passengers, including an experienced’ pilot and his partner, when it suddenly vanished in the middle of a journey over the Bass Strait

An urgent wide-range search has been sparked following the mysterious disappearance of light aircraft.

No distress signal or radio contact was given beforehand, in a scenario that echoes the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 more than a decade ago. The two-seater plane was flying over the Bass Strait on a journey from Tasmania to New South Wales (NSW) in Australia on August 2.

The pilot, 72-year-old Gregory Vaughan and his partner Kim Warner, 66, were onboard with their dog, Molly. They took off from George Town Airport around 12:45pm on that day with their itinerary including a stop in Victoria before ending at Hillston Airport near Condobolin, NSW.

However, alarm bells rang at 5pm when they failed to arrive and no communication was received from the couple. A multi-agency search operation, involving air, sea and land resources, has been launched by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) across northern Tasmania, the Bass Strait, and southern Victoria, reports the Daily Star.

A helicopter, jet, a ferry and police boats have been deployed in the effort to locate the missing plane. George Town flight instructor Eugene Reid expressed his confusion over the disappearance.

He told ABC: “You have to do scheduled reporting. On leaving the coast, they should have called up air services.” Local airports like George Town don’t always keep tabs on individual flight plans.

As Eugene put it: “If someone took their plane out of the hangar and flew away, well, you wouldn’t know.” The aircraft was reportedly fitted with an emergency satellite beacon which should have activated when something went awry, but no signal was picked up.

Tasmania Police said it was “providing support” to the search effort. It added: “The plane did not reach its destination as scheduled and authorities were notified by concerned family members that it was overdue. As a result, a search operation involving plane, helicopter and marine resources was activated.”

Inspector Nick Clark said that the pilot was “very experienced” and a well-known figure in the local flying club. However, he noted that the plane was “new to him,” having been bought just three to four months prior.

He stated: “We believe he has had several flights prior to this incident. Any body of water is difficult to search. The main thing is, though, that this is still a search operation.”

While Inspector Craig Fox said the the helicopter sweeps did not show up any wreckage or debris that could give a clue as to where the plane was. He added that Tasmania Police would review the search operations “daily” and that no decision had been made yet to suspend the search.

Meanwhile, an aviation expert made the shock claim that flight MH370 was hijacked by Russia who planted its flaperon on a remote island to conceal their involvement. Jeff Wise alleges that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin authorised the hijacking to divert attention from his country’s annexation of Crimea.

The Boeing 777, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, known as Flight MH370, disappeared with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, sparking one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history. It remains the deadliest single case of an aircraft disappearance.