Modern Mysteries

Has the location of MH370 finally been found ?

By T.K. Randall
December 5, 2021 ·  3 comments

Could the mystery of MH370 finally be solved ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Olivier Cleynen Exactly what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8, 2014 still remains one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history.

Numerous theories have arisen over the years, however it seems increasingly likely that the plane did not befall an accident, but was instead flown intentionally to its doom by its pilot for reasons unknown.

Locating the wreckage, however, has proven almost impossible, with extensive search efforts conducted over several years failing to locate the whereabouts of the plane.

Now though, British aeronautical engineer Richard Godfrey believes that he has been able to pinpoint the final resting place of MH370 to a part of the Indian Ocean 2,000km west of Perth, Australia.

To find it, he combined multiple datasets from several different sources.

"No one had the idea before to combine Inmarsat satellite data, with Boeing performance data, with Oceanographic floating debris drift data, with WSPR net data," he said."[We hope] we'll be able to give closure to the next of kin and answers to the flying public and the aviation industry on exactly what happened with MH370 and how we prevent that in the future."

Godfrey's findings indicate that the wreck lies up to 4,000ft down in a specific area covering 40 nautical miles, which is a far smaller radius than any previous search has covered.

"The wreckage could be behind a cliff or in a canyon on the ocean floor," he said. "And you need maybe three or four passes before you start to pick things up."

Actually getting out there to look, however, is proving to be a challenge.

"The funding of the new search will be the issue," he said.

"Realistically we want to be in the Southern Ocean in the southern summer - which is about now. So quite when the search will be, it may start again in 12 months, because you can't get the assets together and on site in a short period of time."

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, he uncovers at this location when the search finally does go ahead.

Who knows, perhaps he really can put the mystery of MH370 to bed once and for all.

Source: BBC News | Comments (3)

Tags: MH370