MH370 is within reach
Experts calling for a new search predict resolution could come in a matter of days
The mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 could be solved in a matter of “days” if there was a new search, experts have revealed.
Flight MH370 disappeared about 38 minutes after leaving Kuala Lumpur airport in southern Malaysia en route to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Despite a frantic search by governments and private companies, the plane was never found and the fate of its 237 passengers – including six Australians – remains unknown.
In September, aerospace expert Jean-Luc Marchand and pilot Patrick Blelly called for a new search based on revelations about the fate of the flight.
During a lecture before the Royal Aeronautical Society, the pair said that the new search area could be canvassed in just 10 days in an open call for help.
“We have done our homework. We have a proposal … the area is small and considering new capabilities it will take 10 days,” Mr Marchand said.
“It could be a quick thing.
Until the wreck of MH370 is found, nobody knows (what happened). But, this is a plausible trajectory.”
The pair called on the Australian Transport Safety Authority, Malaysian government, and exploration company Ocean Infinity to begin a new search. Last year, Ocean Infinity revealed it was interested in restarting its search, having canvassed swathes of Indian Ocean on a “no find, no fee” basis.
Mr Marchand said the “swift” search could be a good proving ground for the company’s new unmanned subnautical search technology.
Importantly, the pair told the RAS the new search area was based on the belief the plane was hijacked and downed in deep ocean.
Mr Marchand described it as an “atrocious one-way journey”, which he believed was likely carried out by an experienced aeroplane pilot.
“We think, and the study that we’ve done has shown us, that the hijacking was probably performed by an experienced pilot,” Mr Marchand said.
“The cabin was depressurised … and it was a soft control ditching to produce minimal debris. It was performed as to not be trapped or found.
“Certainly, the aircraft was not visible except for military. The guy knew that if search and rescue would be triggered it would be on the flight path.”
The bold claim comes after a separate new report into the missing aeroplane posited a new search area off the Australian coast, sparking new interest in a search.
The 229-page report suggests the missing wreckage could be located about 1560km west of Perth, and was based off “groundbreaking” radio technology. Researchers Richard Godfrey, Dr Hannes Coetzee, and Professor Simon Maskell used weak signal propagation reporter or WSPR, to track the plane.
“This technology has been developed over the past three years and the results represent credible new evidence,” the researchers stated. “It aligns with analyses by Boeing (...) and drift analyses by University of Western Australia of debris recovered around the Indian Ocean.”