The latest programming on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, “60 minutes: The Situation Room” that aired on Sunday, the 13th May 2018, is a sham and a shame.

As far as I could tell, there was nothing in the 40-odd minutes that was new evidence, or fresh thinking, analysis or insight. Without exception, every single thread in the story as told had been laid out by people ranging from ‘armchair’ industry experts/analysts, to amateur aviation enthusiasts in the four years since MH370 disappeared. These threads had been analysed threadbare, hotly contested, and mostly shredded when used to explain the totality of events surrounding the disappearance.

Few facts have survived to offer a credible and coherent explanation of what likely happened to the flight, why it appeared to go off course, fly for hours without being tracked, and then eventually disappear. Under these circumstances, for the gentlemen-experts featured in the program to suggest that they ‘know’ and have it all wrapped up, was dramatic. Actually, there was nothing more than theatre, slick production, crisp (and I suspect biased) editing, and a presentation where the experts appeared larger than life in a way, apparently in discussion – serious men, whose stances were largely in accord with one another – parroting prepared lines and accompanied by visuals and references that were stale.

I wonder if those experts who hold views other than pilot-mediated suicide or mass murder were kept out or chose to stay away knowing the preferred editorial line of the show’s producer. We were left with a believers’ congregation, more or less, with Dr Charitha, the oceanographer, being the odd man out on the margins, and Martin Dolan, the former head of the Australian Transportation Safety Board, appearing unsure where he stood, prevaricating for the most part, until towards the end when he announced himself in line with the ‘consensus’ that MH370’s disappearance was a planned, deliberate act.

If anything, the show was careful to edit out any alternative hypotheses, keep away evidence that may challenge the conclusions the wise gentlemen were keen to emphasise. Lest doubt mar impact, the show sought the aggressive confidence of the panelists to make the case rather than conclusive evidence.

Lately, I have tended to lean on the possibility that the MH370’s fate was influenced by criminal acts of one or more persons on board. There are many manoeuvres of the aircraft that together hints at such a possibility. I am aware there are other theories too. I am aware that even after more than four years, it has been hard to declare a consensus on the facts surrounding the disappearance of MH370, much less about what or who caused it, and where we might find it. Under the circumstances, the show’s claim of an emerging consensus is baseless, unless there is a belief that consensus can be manufactured by repetition or decree.

I am left wondering: whose purpose is served by such a production? The show is neither convincing nor even remotely persuasive. It is a disservice to those who are committed to more evidence-based investigation, and to the general public who may swallow its content unsuspectingly, because they have long lost the thread of continuity with the facts and circumstances of MH370, and the search and investigation over the last four years and more.

Image is a screenshot from the documentary, 60 minutes: The Situation Room, found here. 

This post originally appeared on my Facebook page.