Mysteriously Missing Planes: How Often Do Planes Go Missing? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Before the advent and proliferation of technology like wireless communication, GPS and the kind of navigation systems that are standard in airplanes today, planes used to take off, never to be seen again, quite often.

In 1944, a time when commercial flights still weren’t commonplace, a total of 24 planes went missing, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network, -- and to this date, no one knows what happened to those aircrafts.

Private aircraft, often carrying just a single person -- the pilot -- tend to disappear far more often than large commercial airplanes.

And when large commercial airplanes do crash, they’re almost always found within days of the incident.

Which is why it’s so very strange that investigators still haven’t been able to determine the whereabouts of the Malaysia Airline plane that went missing on March 7.

Here’s an infographic that shows the number of planes, including private aircraft, that have gone missing over the years, and highlights a few particularly interesting disappearances.