Malaysian Flight 370 Plane For Sale On Craigslist, Only $70

Malaysia Airlines 777 pops up on Craigslist, and for just $70

Although it's clearly a gag, it might be worth putting together 70 bucks to try to buy this, just in case we live in a computer simulation that's just been infected with a crazy virus.

by Eric Mack

 March 16, 2014 10:30 AM PDT

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When converted from Vietnamese dong, the most sought after plane in the world is advertised on Craigslist for $70.

(Credit: Craigslist / Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)

Leave it to the Internet to yet again capitalize on a mysterious tragedy for the sake of a scam, a punchline, or both. Reporting on the bizarre disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has bounced all over the place over the course of the past several days, with theories on the fate of the Boeing 777 airliner ranging from a hijacking or terrorism to pilot error and an even wider range of conspiratorial hypotheses.

Fortunately, Crave has tracked down the plane. It's currently for sale on the VietnamCraigslist for $15 million.

Actually, it should go without saying that the "Slightly used Boeing 777-300" offered with "not much fuel" and including "all the snacks in the plane" is just a rather insensitive joke. If you don't think that's immediately obvious, I'd also point out that the poster didn't seem to realize that there's a difference between US dollars and Vietnam's currency, the Dong. The listing headline asks for just 1.5 million dong for the plane. That's about $70.

Then again, maybe it would be worth putting together 70 bucks for the one in a billion chance that it gets us the most sought-after plane in the world. After all, there's a chance we're all just part of a computer simulation anyway, and what if that simulation has a serious bug in it centered somewhere in southeast Asia?

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Alas, a phone number is omitted from the ad.

But it does highlight the rather ridiculous media treatment this story has been getting, with mainstream outlets jumping all over each and every thin hypothesis put forward by supposed experts or officials, only to be rebuked time and again.

This is what happens with a big story that keeps rotating through the 24-hour news cycle within a near total fact vacuum.

I've heard normally reputable journalists discussing the possibility that the plane landedseveral days ago, without addressing the clear lack of contact that the hundreds of passengers on board have had with the wider world for the past week, or how an isolated island big enough for a 777 to land on it has been missed amid all the search efforts.

As the old saying goes, if you'll believe that story, I've got a Boeing 777 in Vietnam I can sell you.

Topics:

Internet

Tags:

Malaysia Airlines,

Craigslist

Eric Mack

Crave freelancer Eric Mack is a writer, radio producer, and podcaster based in Taos, N.M., but he lives in Google+. He has written e-books on both Alaska and Android. E-mail Eric.

Fixxer's pick of the day, "Why would wanting a Nazi uniform be flagged, sounds a bit like the Nazi party to me."

min Why is my ad being flagged /removed? < mm06 > 05/23/11 07:11  -3
      : . . You Godwinned yourself. < geeThatSucks > 05/23/11 07:14  +8
      : . . Are you fucking kidding? < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 07:14  -12+2
      : . . : . . I feel the lack of price drew way more flags < than-his-supposed > 05/23/11 07:29  -13
      : . . : . . : . . When it comes to items like this < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 07:33  -2+2
      : . . : . . : . . : . . ...or a political rally § < - > 05/23/11 07:34  +5
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . The replublican national convention isn't til § < _next_year > 05/23/11 07:35  -5+8
      : . . Its a community moderated site. Looks < - > 05/23/11 07:15  
      : . . While I think the fact that it was < - > 05/23/11 07:34  +1
      : . . : . . I dont agree with these reasons. < mm06 > 05/23/11 07:55  -8
      : . . : . . : . . $1 as a price will get you flagged all < day-long-regardless > 05/23/11 07:58  
      : . . : . . : . . Your expection of this site is incorrect. < geeThatSucks > 05/23/11 07:58  
      : . . : . . : . . They dont have to be against the ToU < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 08:01  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . Youre telling me how to write an ad? < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:11  -2
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . You asked why your ad was flagged. We took < - > 05/23/11 08:14  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . So, no answer is an answer. < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:17  -1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Hey, if you had read the directions you < TheFixxer > 05/23/11 08:22  +2  pic
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . You seem to be confused... < Darlin1111 > 05/23/11 08:30  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . You also are a "flagger"... < Darlin1111 > 05/23/11 08:26  
      : . . : . . : . . Then you can stop using craigslist. < NADA-CHANCE > 05/23/11 08:02  
      : . . Ok here is the truth about your item. < nada-chance > 05/23/11 07:46  
      : . . : . . Offensive? < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:02  -3
      : . . : . . : . . I'm calling Troll right now < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 08:05  +1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . Troll? < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:13  -2
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Odds are that of all the people in your < - > 05/23/11 08:15  
      : . . : . . : . . This IS CRAIGSLIST your readers have flags < -- > 05/23/11 08:05  
      : . . : . . : . . You are this worked up over a free ad? < Nada-Chance > 05/23/11 08:06  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . My ad. < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:16  -5
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Users agree to flag any ad they < - > 05/23/11 08:17  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . The watering down of C/L. < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:22  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Offensive little trolls do too. § < - > 05/23/11 08:23  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . your $1 price is against the TOU < correctly-flagged > 05/23/11 08:21  
      : . . : . . : . . How ironic can you be. < TheFixxer > 05/23/11 08:19  +6  pic
      : . . : . . : . . : . . Funny stuff. < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:27  -2
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . It also defends Craig's right to set up < - > 05/23/11 08:30  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Whatever. Your community didnt like your ad < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 08:30  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . I thought you called troll. Why feed? § < - > 05/23/11 08:32  +1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Yep, < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:34  -1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Gross mistake on my part < Dragon_Keeper > 05/23/11 08:41  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Do any of you people have jobs? < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:37  -1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . WHY? § < Ignorance-is-Bliss > 05/23/11 08:38  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . ...are you feeding it? § < - > 05/23/11 08:39  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Do you know how to READ? < - > 05/23/11 08:41  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . I do see a correlation here. < TheFixxer > 05/23/11 08:41  +10
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Rules < mm06 > 05/23/11 08:57  -1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Perhaps, but it's Craig's daycare and he < - > 05/23/11 09:01  
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . No, here is the correlation; < mm06 > 05/23/11 09:04  -9
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . You clicked "agree" in order to use this site. < TheFixxer > 05/23/11 09:20  +5
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Goddamit, fixx < - > 05/23/11 09:23  -5
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . The wheels of progress move slowly. < mm06 > 05/23/11 10:11  -1
      : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . : . . Oh, please do repost. I would love to see that. < - > 05/23/11 10:22  
      : . . Knew this was going to turn into a troll-fest by § < the-OP--- > 05/23/11 09:25