Authors try to unravel the mystery

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said during his visit to Malaysia over the weekend that the new phase of searching for the missing plane would start in about two weeks.

Countries have come together to mount one of the largest search-and-rescue (SAR) operations the world has ever seen, but they seem no closer to finding answers as to how a Boeing 777 could vanish without a trace.

As the search goes on, at least six books on MH370 have already hit the bookstores and some said they have some clues. 

Two are foreign while the other four are Malaysian. And it looks like all want to cash in on the moment and the mystery. The “depth” and “quality” of these books vary drastically.

Of the Malaysian books, the most “comprehensive” seems to be “Membongkar di Sebalik Misteri MH370” (Unravelling the Mystery of MH370) written by Mohammad Qayyum A Badaruddin.

In the book, he gives information on KLIA, its air traffic control tower, which is the second highest in the world, details on how the flight data recorder, the cockpit data recorder and the radar system work as well as the assets deployed by countries for the SAR mission, such as the Bluefin-21 and the towed pinger locator.

Another book that’s somewhat unusual is “Tragedi MH370: Solat Ghaib, Mafqud dan Pelbagai Hukum” (The MH370 Tragedy: Prayer for the Invisible, Missing and Other Laws). The author, Dr Zulfikli Mohamad Al-Bakri, looks at the disappearance of MH370 from a religious perspective.

The other two Malaysian-published books are “MH370 Diselubungi Misteri, Spekulasi dan Konspirasi” (MH370 Shrouded by Mystery, Speculation and Conspiracy) by Abu Mufizul Izzi and “MH370 Misteri, Teori, Tragedi” (MH370, Mystery, Theory and Tragedy). 

One of the two foreign books, “Good Night Malaysian 370: The Truth Behind the Loss of Flight 370”, does not seem to be available in Malaysian bookstores just yet.