While I had known the outline of this story, I had not fully understood the fiendishness of the crime.

Even the Germanwings murder, whom I shan't name, wasn't so evil as to deliberately murder all his passengers and crew, and then fly on for hours with an airplane full of corpses.

Was there some organic failure in his brain? Was he always this way and finally executed his plan?

These things are imponderable and luckily rare.

One idea you mention, that it was entirely to cause an artistic or conjuring effect, the disappearance of an airplane, is truly appalling. It's like the ultimate magic trick at a truly large scale, with completely disregard for the consequences.