Goodnight MH370 - The Truth Behind the Loss of Flight 370
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The Truth Behind the Loss of Flight 370
PROLOGUE
Wednesday afternoon, July 24, 2014. Eindhoven, Holland.
The planes barely made any noise as they approached the airforce base - a number of people commented on it. Two big military aircraft - a Royal Netherlands Air Force Hercules and a Royal Australian Air Force C-17. They seemed to glide soundlessly in, as if in deference to the occasion. It added to the eerie feel as those first bodies arrived at Eindhoven Airbase in Holland from the flight from Ukraine. Australian freelance writer Daniel Hatch described how it would have been utter silence but for the tinkling sound of the flags flying at half-mast, clattering against poles in the wind. The flags represented the countries which had passengers aboard MH17 - 298 people senselessly murdered near a village in Eastern Ukraine a week before.
Earlier in the day, the coffins had been loaded on to the planes by a military guard of honour at Kharkiv Airport in eastern Ukraine. A nice gesture but too little, too late for many. Churches around the Netherlands rang their bells for five minutes before the planes landed. The coffins were met by members of the Dutch royal family, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and hundreds of victims' relatives protected from photographers by a line of black hoardings.
The aircraft came to a stop on the tarmac. Dutch soldiers formed an honour guard and a bugler played the Last Post, after which there was a minute’s silence. Hearses, parked in a line waiting for their sad cargo, got the signal and started moving slowly in a line onto the airfield. They pulled up alongside the guard of honour. Perfectly synchronised, the drivers opened their doors, got out and then opened the rear doors.
One by one, pall bearers unloaded the coffins off the planes. Eight soldiers carried each coffin and lowered them into the hearses with extreme care. Those watching held their breath. It was as if all clocks had stopped. When finally the cortege moved off, led by a motorcade,
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