MH370: Husband of wife who disappeared on missing Malaysian Airlines flight opens up on being haunted
The husband of a wife who disappeared on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 on March 8, 2014 has spoken out about his “pain” since she vanished.
Prahlad Shirsat was working as a social worker in North Korea when he learned his wife Kranti was on the ill-fated flight which was due to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard.
“I was getting ready to pick her up from the airport when I saw news on the TV that a plane had disappeared. I checked the flight number and it matched,” Shirsat said.
He immediately travelled by road to China with assistance from Chinese and North Korean authorities.
After spending a week between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur without any news, Shirsat returned to India to be with his sons.
Nearly 11 years after the disappearance, Malaysia’s government announced in December 2024 a potential new search for MH370.
The agreement in principle involves US exploration firm Ocean Infinity, but Shirsat, whose wife Kranti was among the passengers, remains skeptical.
“These news reports keep coming but unless and until something happens on the ground, this can’t be trusted. And personally I have lost trust in the Malaysian government,” he says.
“Not knowing (what happened) is very painful,” Shirsat adds. “I meet people, and when they find out that my wife was on board on that flight, they ask me what had happened. But unfortunately I have no answers.”
The initial search for MH370 was launched in 2014 by Malaysia, Australia and China as a joint operation.
The search covered 120,000 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean but was called off in 2017 without success.
US exploration firm Ocean Infinity conducted another search attempt in 2018, which also proved unsuccessful.
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Following the failed searches, Shirsat, who had been meticulously following news about the search efforts, stopped receiving updates from the Malaysian government.
For the first three years, he maintained contact with other passengers’ families, including five Indian nationals, and participated in annual gatherings in Malaysia.
Under the new agreement announced in December 2024, Ocean Infinity would receive $70 million if it finds substantial wreckage of MH370.
Shirsat, however, remains deeply distrustful of such initiatives.
“For the next three years nearly, I was hoping there will be something positive. I think within the first month itself the authorities had declared that everyone on board was presumed dead. Hopes were limited after that, most of the hope came from conspiracy theories,” he said.
Shirsat criticises the Malaysian authorities’ handling of the incident, particularly their response time.
“The plane took off at midnight and took a U-turn soon after, but the government only found out about it in the morning,” he alleges.
He questions the lack of detection across multiple countries’ airspace. “We have systems in every country, to detect even missiles coming towards the country. A plane passed through the airspace of many countries and nobody knows?”
Shirsat also expressed disappointment with India’s response: “The only expectation was that the Indian government would put pressure on the Malaysian government. Five Indian nationals were there. They might have put some pressure, but it was not substantial.”
Despite the ongoing uncertainty, Shirsat said his family has found a way forward.
“I would definitely say we have moved on. We have accepted the situation. Acceptance is the best thing,” he said.
His elder son has recently completed an MBA from Canada, while his younger son is pursuing Chartered Accountancy.
Yet the emotional burden remains uniquely his to bear. “People come and sit with you and talk to you. But after we’re done, the topic is finished for those people. But I carry it, I live it. And you cannot explain it in words,” Shirsat added.