(CNN) The puzzling disappearance of a Malaysian jetliner last year is not the first time a plane has vanished without a trace.

As investigators analyze new debris from an Indian Ocean island to determine whether it's wreckage from the missing MH370, here are nine cases of plane disappearances and disasters, some of which remain unsolved decades later.

2014: MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT 370

The Boeing 777 passenger jet vanished in March last year -- about an hour into its flight from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Beijing . There was no distress call before it lost contact over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.

International search teams combed the Indian Ocean for months, but found no clues. This week, plane debris washed up on Reunion Island, and it's undergoing tests to determine whether it's linked to the missing jetliner. Aviation experts and government officials remain baffled over the mystery of the jet and the fate of the 239 people aboard.

2009: AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447

Pieces of Air France Flight 447 were recovered from the Atlantic in June 2009.

The passenger jet, an Airbus A330, took off from Rio de Janeiro headed to Paris on May 31 of that year. A few hours later, as it crossed the Atlantic, it told control center its position.

That was the last contact with the plane. Its last known position -- two to four days by ship from the nearest ports -- made the search more complex.

It took almost two years before the bulk of the wreckage, the majority of bodies, and the voice and data recorders were recovered. All 228 people aboard died.

French authorities said ice crystals disrupted the system used to determine the plane's airspeed, causing the autopilot to disconnect. The plane plunged into the ocean.

2003: BOEING 727

Photos: Recent major plane crashes Photos: Recent major plane crashes Pakistan International Airlines flight Flight PK-661 crashed near Abbottabad, Pakistan, killing all 47 people on board, according to the airline. The airline said the flight was carrying 42 passengers and five crew members when it lost contact with a control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad. It crashed into the mountains near Abbottabad and Havelian. Hide Caption 1 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A charter airplane with 77 people on board, including players from the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, crashed near Rionegro, Colombia, outside Medellin, on Monday, November 28. At least 71 people were killed, officials said. Six survived. Hide Caption 2 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes EgyptAir Flight 804 disappeared from radar on a flight from Paris to Cairo on May 19. Searchers recovered parts of the plane wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea, including passengers' personal belongings, life vests, aircraft chairs and even body parts. The plane was carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members. The flight data recorder indicated possible lavatory and avionics smoke before the plane plummeted into the sea. Hide Caption 3 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Russian investigators work at the wreckage of the flydubai passenger jet that crashed on March 19, killing all 62 people on board as it tried to land in bad weather in Rostov-on-Don. Hide Caption 4 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Tara Air plane crashed on February 24 in mountainous northern Nepal. It was midway through what should have been a 19-minute flight. Twenty-three people were killed. Hide Caption 5 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after breaking apart in midair in October 2015. All 224 people on board the plane were killed. The plane was en route to St. Petersburg, Russia, from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Hide Caption 6 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Wreckage is seen at the crash site of Germanwings Flight 9525 on March 24, 2015. The Airbus A320 was carrying at least 150 people when it crashed in the French Alps. The plane was en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany. Hide Caption 7 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes In this still image taken from video, TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 clips a bridge in Taipei, Taiwan, shortly after takeoff on February 4, 2015. There were 58 passengers on board the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop airplane that plunged into the Keelung River. Hide Caption 8 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A portion of the tail section of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 appears on the deck of a rescue ship after its recovery from the Java Sea on January 10, 2015. The Airbus A320-200 lost contact with air traffic control Sunday, December 28, 2014, shortly after the pilot requested permission to turn and climb to a higher altitude because of bad weather, according to Indonesian officials. Hide Caption 9 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes The crash site of Air Algerie Flight AH 5017 in Mali is visible from above on July 26, 2014. After the crash, French President François Hollande said the jet was found in a "disintegrated state." He said there were no survivors. Hide Caption 10 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes 48 people were killed when TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 crashed in Taiwan's Penghu island chain, on July 23, 2014. Hide Caption 11 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in a field in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. U.S. intelligence concluded the passenger jet carrying 298 people was shot down. Ukrainian officials accused pro-Russian rebels of downing the jet, but Russia pointed the finger back at Ukraine, blaming its military operations against separatists. Hide Caption 12 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over Southeast Asia on March 8, 2014. Australian officials said they believe the plane was on autopilot throughout its journey over the Indian Ocean until it ran out of fuel. In August 2015, authorities confirmed that a piece of debris found on Reunion Island was from the jet. Hide Caption 13 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013. The South Korean airline's Boeing 777 fell short of its approach and crash-landed on the runway. Three people were killed and more than 180 were injured. Hide Caption 14 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Dana Air MD-83 carrying 153 people crashed on June 3, 2012, in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city. No one on the plane survived, and 10 people on the ground were killed. Hide Caption 15 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Indonesian relatives mourn at the airport in Jakarta after a Russian Sukhoi Superjet slammed into the side of a volcano on May 9, 2012. Russia's newest civilian airliner was on its second demonstration flight when the incident occurred, killing all 45 people on board. Hide Caption 16 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A plane crash on April 20, 2012, in Islamabad, Pakistan, killed 127 people. The Bhoja Air Boeing 737 was en route from Karachi to the Pakistani capital. Hide Caption 17 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A plane carrying dozens of hockey players crashed on September 7, 2011, outside the Russian city of Yaroslavl, about 160 miles northeast of Moscow. Forty-three people were killed. One of two survivors later died of his injuries. Hide Caption 18 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Hewa Bora Airways plane crashed on July 8, 2011, while trying to land in bad weather at the airport in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 74 of the 118 people on board were killed. Hide Caption 19 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A survivor of an Iran Air Boeing 727 crash lies in a hospital on January 10, 2011. The plane went down a day earlier near the city of Orumiyeh, killing 77 of 105 passengers and crew members. Hide Caption 20 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An Airblue flight carrying 152 people crashed into a hillside on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on July 28, 2010. No one survived. Hide Caption 21 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An Air India plane crash killed 158 people on May 22, 2010, after the jet overshot a runway in Mangalore, in southwestern India, crashed into a ravine and burst into flames. Hide Caption 22 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A 9-year-old Dutch boy was the lone survivor of a plane crash on Afriqiyah Airways that killed 103 people near Tripoli, Libya, on May 12, 2010. His mother, father and older brother died in the crash. Hide Caption 23 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski crashed as it tried to land at an airport near the Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. Kaczynski was among the 97 people killed. Hide Caption 24 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed into the sea, killing all 90 people aboard shortly after taking off from Beirut, Lebanon, on January 25, 2010. Hide Caption 25 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Caspian Airlines plane went down in a field near the north-central Iranian city of Qazvin, on July 15, 2009, killing all 168 people on board and leaving a huge, smoldering crater. Hide Caption 26 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Yemenia Airways plane carrying more than 150 people crashed in the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros on June 30, 2009. The Airbus A310 was en route to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, from Yemen's capital, Sanaa. Hide Caption 27 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An Air France flight carrying 228 people disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009. The Airbus A330 took off from Rio de Janeiro bound for Paris and sent out an automatic signal warning of electrical problems. Hide Caption 28 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes Colgan Air Flight 3407 (a connector flight with Continental Airlines) crashed into a house outside Buffalo, New York, on February 13, 2009, killing all 49 aboard the plane and one on the ground. Two occupants of the house survived. Hide Caption 29 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A TAM Airlines jet skidded off the runway into a gas station and burst into flames on July 17, 2007, after landing at the airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. All 199 people on board were killed. Hide Caption 30 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Comair flight crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, while attempting to take off from the wrong runway on August 27, 2006. The plane ran off the end of the runway, drove through a fence and crashed into trees on an adjacent horse farm. Forty-nine of 50 people aboard were killed. Hide Caption 31 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes A Sudan Airways Boeing 737 crashed just after takeoff on July 8, 2003, killing 116 people. A 3-year-old boy was the only survivor. Hide Caption 32 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An American Airlines plane crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Airport on November 12, 2001. The crash killed 265 people, including five people on the ground. Hide Caption 33 of 34 Photos: Recent major plane crashes An Air France Concorde, en route to New York, crashed into a Paris hotel shortly after takeoff on July 25, 2000. All 109 passengers and crew members died. Four people on the ground were also killed. Hide Caption 34 of 34

The company jet vanished in the Angolan capital of Luanda.

It took off from the main international airport in the city on May 25 of that year, headed for Burkina Faso. It departed with its lights off and a dysfunctional transponder .

There are conflicting reports on the number of people in the jet, but flight engineer Ben Charles Padilla is believed to be one of them . Some reports say he was alone, while others say three people were aboard.

The plane has not been heard from since. Its whereabouts are unknown to this day.

1999: EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 990

Journalists photograph possible EgyptAir Flight 990 debris in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in November 1999.

The Boeing 767, en route to Cairo from New York City, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Massachusetts coast in October of that year.

Though its debris was later found, speculation remains on the cause of the crash that killed all 217 people on board.

Theories included a possible suicide by the pilot or co-pilot, complete with tales of a chaotic struggle for controls in the cockpit. Egyptian authorities have said a mechanical failure was the cause.

1996: TWA FLIGHT 800

A wing section of TWA Flight 800 floats in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, New York, in July 1996.

The Paris-bound plane exploded in midair shortly after takeoff from New York City, killing all 230 people aboard.

Witnesses said they saw a streak of light and a fireball, leading to suspicions that terrorists struck the plane with a rocket. Others blamed a meteor or a missile.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit, which detonated the fuel tank and caused the Boeing 747 to break into pieces in the waters off Long Island.

1947: BRITISH STARDUST

The British aircraft vanished after takeoff from Buenos Aires, headed to Chile.

Stardust's final Morse code transmission was the word "STENDEC." The meaning of the word remains a mystery.

1945: FLIGHT 19 NAVY BOMBERS

Members of the Navy pose in front of one of the Flight 19 planes that disappeared in 1945.

Flight 19 refers to five Navy bombers that disappeared off the Florida coast on December 5 of that year.

A flight instructor flew one plane, and qualified pilots with 350 to 400 hours of flight time were in the others, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command

Radio transmissions indicated that the instructor got lost when compasses malfunctioned. Radio contact was lost before the exact problem was determined, and no traces of the planes were ever found.

Adding to the mystery, a search aircraft sent to look for Flight 19 also disappeared. The patrol plane, which took off later that day, has not been seen or heard from since.

Flight 19 was reported in the area informally known as the Bermuda Triangle.

1942: BRITISH FIGHTER

A Royal Air Force P-40 Kittyhawk sits in the Egyptian Sahara. The plane crashed in 1942, and was found in 2012.

A stray Royal Air Force fighter crashed in the blistering sands of the Egyptian Sahara on June 28, 1942.

Its pilot was never heard from again, and the damaged P-40 Kittyhawk was presumed lost forever.

But in 2012, an oil company worker discovered it seven decades after the accident. Surprisingly, it was extraordinarily well-preserved, and most of its fuselage, wings, tail and cockpit instruments were intact.

1937: AMELIA EARHART

In a photo taken in the 1930s, Amelia Earhart looks trough the cockpit window of her plane.

The groundbreaking aviator was on her most ambitious flight, vying to become the first woman to fly around the world.

In 1937, she attempted the voyage in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra. With about 7,000 miles left to go, she made a challenging landing at Howland Island in the mid-Pacific .

Her radio transmissions became unclear, and the last thing she reported over her radio was, "We are running north and south," according to an online biography.

After spending $4 million and searching 250,000 square miles of ocean, the United States called off its search.