An Australian scientist has claimed he has found the “perfect hiding place” for the missing plane MH370.
The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared from radar after taking off from Kuala Lumpur in 2014. This March marked the tenth anniversary of the disappearance.
There were 239 people on board, including six Australians.
Now Tasmanian researcher Vincent Lyne believes he has figured out where the plane is; one of his 2021 research papers was published in the Journal of Navigation.
Mr Lyne shared the news on LinkedIn, claiming the plane was deliberately crashed.
“This work changes the story of the MH370 disappearance from a case of no blame, a case of fuel starvation on the 7th arc and a high-speed dive, to a case of a mastermind pilot who nearly engineered an incredible perfect disappearance in the southern Indian Ocean,” he wrote.
“In fact, it would have worked if MH370 had not ploughed through a wave with its right wing and Inmarsat had not detected regular interrogation satellite communications – a brilliant discovery also announced in the Journal of Navigation.”
Lyne, who works at the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, said damage to the plane’s wings, flaps and flaperon suggested it was a “controlled ditching” similar to that of Captain Sully on the Hudson River in 2009.
“This clearly vindicates the original claim of the distinguished former Canadian air crash investigator Larry Vance, based on brilliant, expert and very careful analysis of the wreckage damage, that MH370 was carrying fuel and engines when it made its masterful ‘controlled ditching’, rather than a high-speed, fuel-starved crash,” he wrote.
He added that MH370 is located “where the longitude of Penang Airport (and indeed the runway) intersects the flight path of the Pilot-in-Command home simulator, which was discovered by the FBI and authorities and discarded as ‘irrelevant.'”
“This deliberately created iconic site is home to a very deep 6000m deep hole at the eastern end of the Broken Ridge in a very rugged and dangerous marine environment known for its wild fishing grounds and new deep sea species. With narrow, steep sides surrounded by massive ridges and other deep holes, it is filled with fine sediment – a perfect ‘hiding place’,” he continued, claiming the area needed to be confirmed as a ‘high priority’.
“Whether to search for it or not is a matter for the authorities and search companies to decide, but as far as science is concerned, we know why the previous searches failed and science also clearly indicates where MH370 is. In short, the mystery of MH370 has been comprehensively solved by science!” he added.
The researcher’s claims come months after a US-based deep-sea exploration company said it was capable of conducting the most comprehensive search yet for the missing aircraft.