Australian scientist Vincent Lyne has reignited interest in the decade-old mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, claiming to have identified its final resting place in the southern Indian Ocean.

Lyne, an associate researcher at the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, announced his findings in a LinkedIn post titled “MH370 mystery solved by science,” in which he describes what he believes to be the final location of the missing plane.

The scientist’s theory is based on a 20,000-foot-deep “hole” in Broken Ridge, a high plateau in the southeastern Indian Ocean. He argues that the plane, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, was deliberately flown into this remote and rugged underwater area by its pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah. According to Lyne, the site’s challenging underwater landscape, characterized by steep ridges and deep gorges, provided the “perfect ‘hiding place'” for the plane.

“This work changes the story of the disappearance of MH370,” Lyne said, claiming that the plane’s final moments were not the result of a crash due to fuel starvation, but rather a calculated, controlled ditching. He further claimed that the plane’s location is determined by the intersection of Penang airport’s longitude with a flight path from the pilot’s home simulator – a route previously dismissed by the FBI and other investigators as “irrelevant,” Lyne said.

“This location needs to be verified as a top priority,” Lyne wrote. “Whether or not it is searched is a decision for the authorities and search companies, but as far as the science is concerned, we know why the previous searches failed,” Lyne explained. He stressed that previous searches did not consider this specific area and that “the science clearly points to where MH370 is.”

The potential significance of this location was highlighted by Lyne’s comparison to US Airways Flight 1549, which was crash-landed in the Hudson River by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in 2009. Lyne suggested that the wreckage of MH370 showed similar signs of a controlled ditching, supporting his theory that the plane was intentionally flown to its final resting place.

Newsweek has contacted Lyne for further details on his investigation into the flight disappearance.

Lyne’s claims come ten years after MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite intensive search efforts covering a vast area of ​​120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean, no definitive wreckage was found, leading to the suspension of the official search in 2017. The mystery surrounding the plane’s disappearance has since been the subject of numerous theories, but none of them has provided conclusive evidence.

While the credibility of Lyne’s claims remains to be tested, his theory has attracted considerable attention and may prompt further exploration in the southern Indian Ocean. While the search for answers continues, the mystery surrounding MH370 remains one of the most intractable puzzles in modern aviation history.

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