The Case of Malaysian Flight 370 Through 2 Different Lenses

I'm at the airport waiting for my 17-hour flight. I’m not happy about it, but I just got YouTube Premium, so I downloaded 15–20 hours of that good YouTube fear-mongering documentary content. Among my recommendations was a video by a creator named Green Dot Aviation titled "What Netflix Got Wrong." Given my interest in aviation mysteries and my past disappointment with "MH370: The Plane That Disappeared," I was intrigued. I watched Netflix’s documentary when it was released in March 2023, and while I initially had high hopes, I was left unimpressed. It felt like an overlong, sensationalist attempt to capitalize on a real tragedy rather than a serious investigation. But watching Green Dot Aviation’s video, I realized just how much more could be achieved with less—one dedicated creator, a deep understanding of aviation, and a well-structured, evidence-based approach made all the difference.

I was around 12 years old when the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 dominated the news. On March 8, 2014, a plane carrying 239 passengers vanished en route from Malaysia to Beijing. No distress call was sent, and radar and satellite data suggested that the aircraft deviated from its route before disappearing over the Indian Ocean. Years of extensive searches uncovered only a few pieces of debris, but no definitive answers. Despite a multinational search costing $150m, no wreckage has been found beyond a few aircraft components, and those efforts ended in 2017. How does a Boeing 777 vanish without a trace in an age of advanced radar and satellite tracking? That question alone made MH370 one of the most baffling and tragic aviation mysteries in history.

Naturally, the mystery attracted speculation, and Netflix seized the opportunity to release a documentary about the case. Unfortunately, the series wound up sensationalizing the event with conspiracy theories and dramatic storytelling rather than offering a well-researched and analytical perspective. Green Dot Aviation’s video, by contrast, made me feel like it was trying to masterfully unpack a mystery without hyperbole.

From the very beginning, it poses the simple core question: How did this plane disappear? Green Dot Aviation immediately dismisses the claims that lack tangible evidence by meticulously reconstructing the timeline using flight data, radio transmissions, and expert analysis. Within minutes, it's clear that this is an informed breakdown of the incident rather than an attempt to exploit the mystery for dramatic effect. In comparison, Netflix stretches its nearly three-hour runtime by diving into every theory imaginable—many already debunked by aviation experts. Rather than prioritizing facts, the documentary focuses on shock value, giving equal weight to theories ranging from plausible to outright absurd.

One of the most frustrating aspects of "MH370: The Plane That Disappeared" was its reliance on speculative narratives rather than expert testimony. The documentary features various talking heads with little aviation expertise, including news commentators and distant connections to those involved, creating a misleading and unfocused narrative. As aviation expert Richard Godfrey pointed out, the documentary is "full of misinformation," pushing a cover-up theory instead of a factual analysis of the available evidence.

This becomes even more apparent when examining how both the Netflix doc and the YouTube video address an incident during the flight. A routine report to air traffic control about the plane's cruising altitude is presented as suspicious because Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah repeated this command twice. While unusual, not necessarily out of the ordinary, as such a mistake could stem from tiredness or forgetfulness. Netflix, however, interprets this as evidence of a deliberate effort to send secret messages to ATC, a theory I found not only incorrect but also incredibly funny. It felt as if they had a quota for how much time they needed to dedicate to each dubious theory and simply ran with it.

Another controversial aspect of the Netflix documentary is its reliance on figures like Jeff Wise and Florence de Changy, who promote highly speculative theories. Wise argues that Russian agents hijacked the plane and flew it to Kazakhstan, while de Changy suggests that the U.S. military intercepted and shot it down, even claiming that key evidence was fabricated.

These theories, while intriguing to some, lack substantial proof and are widely dismissed by aviation experts. Not only that, but it feels incredibly disrespectful to speculate on an international tragedy just to push some form of political agenda. The documentary also misrepresents individuals involved in the actual investigation, such as Mark Dickinson and Blaine Gibson, by implying that they manipulated or planted evidence. Even when given a chance to refute these claims, their voices are overshadowed by the documentary’s broader sensationalist narrative.

Green Dot Aviation takes an evidence-based approach instead, using Occam’s Razor—the principle that the simplest explanation is most likely correct—as a guiding framework. Instead of indulging in fantastical theories, it focuses on the flight’s final moments, the satellite tracking data, and the recovered debris. The video also presents logical explanations for the loss of communication and the plane’s erratic flight path, offering a more research-driven perspective.

One compelling element was the focus on 52-year-old Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Unlike Netflix, which speculated on a baseless mental health crisis theory, GVA presented evidence from Shah's flight simulator, where he duplicated an eerily similar flight path over the Indian Ocean months before the event. Notably, Shah had deleted the flight simulator from his computer and disconnected the drive prior to the flight. This piece of information left me exponentially more alarmed than any of the conjectured theories Netflix had stirred up about sea vortexes, aliens and black holes.

A particularly compelling moment in the video is when it corrects Netflix's misrepresentation of the Inmarsat satellite data. The documentary briefly mentions the satellite "pings" that helped investigators determine the plane’s possible crash site but fails to explain how these pings work. Green Dot Aviation corrects this by breaking down the Burst Frequency Offset (BFO) and Burst Timing Offset (BTO) in a simple yet detailed manner, demonstrating how investigators calculated the plane’s trajectory. This segment is especially valuable because it educates the audience on one of the most crucial pieces of evidence in the case—something Netflix glosses over in favour of more melodrama. Even more surprisingly, this detailed explanation actually got me researching ATC plane transmissions and aviation engineering–: an interest I didn't even know I had.

Watching Green Dot Aviation’s video right before my flight probably wasn’t the best idea for my nerves, but I was completely captivated. Having already seen Netflix’s version, I finally felt like I was learning something valuable within the first few minutes of Green Dot’s video. It made me question why a single YouTube creator, with a fraction of the resources, was able to produce a more compelling, well-researched, and intellectually honest examination of the event.

I’m not here to say that all Netflix documentaries are bad or that YouTube videos are always superior. I’ve seen some high-quality Netflix documentaries, just as I’ve come across plenty of misleading or conspiratorial YouTube videos. However, this comparison highlights an ongoing issue with mainstream documentary filmmaking: the prioritization of engagement over accuracy. Ironically, I found well-researched accuracy more engaging than sensationalism but to watch their own. Streaming services like Netflix often rely on sensationalism to capture viewers’ attention, and while this can be entertaining, it becomes problematic when dealing with real-world tragedies. Meanwhile, independent creators like Green Dot Aviation have the freedom to focus purely on the facts, and when done right, this can result in a more informative and valuable experience for the audience.

Interestingly, The Hollywood Reporter recently reported on this very phenomenon, discussing how younger audiences increasingly gravitate towards social media and creator-driven content, rather than traditional TV and films. Deloitte’s latest digital media survey reveals that Gen Z and millennials feel a stronger bond with social media creators than with actors, with many trusting influencer endorsements over traditional ads. This shift in viewing habits pressures studios and streaming platforms to compete with tech companies offering AI-powered recommendations tailored to niche interests.

Ultimately, my experience watching both the Netflix documentary and Green Dot Aviation’s video reinforced an important lesson: the source of information matters. Just because something is produced by a major streaming platform doesn’t automatically make it more credible. Independent creators, driven by expertise rather than sensationalism, can sometimes provide better insights than big-budget productions. In the case of MH370, Green Dot Aviation succeeded by prioritizing facts over fiction, whereas Netflix failed by prioritizing speculation over-analysis. Just recently, as of March 2025, another search has been greenlit in hopes of finding more aircraft wreckage and giving closure to the grieving families somehow.

As my flight was called for boarding, I couldn’t help but think about the irony of watching an MH370 documentary before stepping onto a plane. I’m pretty sure one of the security people saw what I was watching and thought I must have some sort of masochistic kink. But instead of being consumed by fear, I was left with something else—an appreciation for genuine investigative work, a deeper skepticism of flashy but hollow storytelling, and, most importantly, the realization that sometimes, the best documentaries don’t come from Hollywood but from passionate individuals who simply want to uncover the truth.

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