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An Australian scientist claimed to have discovered the “perfect hiding place” for the MH370 passenger plane that disappeared without a trace a decade ago.
Vincent Lyne, an adjunct researcher at the University of Tasmania, believed that the Malaysian plane was deliberately plunged into a 20,000ft-deep "hole" in the Broken Ridge – an oceanic plateau in the south-eastern Indian Ocean.
The Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 239 people on board disappeared on 8 March 2014 as it flew over Vietnamese airspace during its flight to Beijing. Since its disappearance, it has become the biggest mystery in aviation history and theories of what happened to the passengers and crew have been extensively evaluated.
Satellite data analysis showed the plane likely crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, off the coast of western Australia. However, two major searches failed to come up with any significant findings.
Mr Lyne said the deep hole in the Indian Ocean with underwater plateaus, volcanoes and deep ravines could be the perfect hiding spot for the missing flight, according to his LinkedIn post.
He said the pilot of the doomed flight, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, plunged the plane deliberately into that place, knowing the area.
"This work changes the narrative of MH370’s disappearance from one of no-blame, fuel-starvation at the 7th arc, high-speed dive, to a mastermind pilot almost executing an incredible perfect disappearance in the Southern Indian Ocean."
"With narrow steep sides, surrounded by massive ridges and other deep holes, it is filled with fine sediments – a perfect hiding place."
He said the damage to the plane suggested that it was a case of “controlled ditching”.
“This justifies beyond doubt the original claim, based on brilliant, skilled, and very careful debris-damage analyses, by decorated ex-Chief Canadian Air-crash Investigator Larry Vance, that MH370 had fuel and running engines when it underwent a masterful ‘controlled ditching’ and not a high-speed fuel-starved crash.”
He said the precise location of the missing MH-370 was known at the point where the longitude of Penang airport in Malaysia intersected with a flight path from the home simulator of the plane’s pilot-in-command.
This flight path was previously discovered but dismissed as irrelevant by the FBI and other officials investigating the disappearance, he said.
"That premeditated iconic location harbours a very deep, 6,000m hole at the eastern end of the Broken Ridge within a rugged and dangerous ocean environment renowned for its wild fisheries and new deep-water species."
“Whether it will be searched or not is up to officials and search companies, but as far as science is concerned, we know why the previous searches failed and likewise science unmistakably points to where MH370 lies. In short, the MH370 mystery has been comprehensively solved in science!” he said.
Researchers from Cardiff University also pointed out that the aircraft was in the southern Indian Ocean during the final stage of its journey and believe they identified a signal from a hydrophone (underwater microphone).
Dr Usama Kadri, a reader at Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics, said: “Our analysis shows clear pressure signals from previous aircraft crashes were detected on hydrophones, even at distances exceeding 3,000km.
“In the case of MH370, official investigations concluded the aircraft must have crashed near the 7th arc – the point at which the last communication between the plane and INMARSAT [the satellite telecommunications company] occurred.”
More than 30 pieces of suspected aircraft debris have been collected along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean, but only three wing fragments were confirmed to be from MH370.
Most of the debris was used in drift pattern analysis in the hopes of narrowing down the aircraft’s possible location. A 495-page report into MH370’s disappearance, published in July 2018, said the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course, but investigators could not determine who was responsible.
The report also highlighted mistakes made by the Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control centres and issued recommendations to avoid a repeat incident.
Shah is said to have used an elaborate home-made flight simulator to trial run paths out into the remote southern Indian Ocean before his plane vanished under very similar circumstances.
The confidential document was obtained by New York magazine, and is part of a Malaysian police investigation into the pilot’s final days.
It provides strong evidence to suggest the disappearance of MH370 was not an accident, but premeditated mass murder-suicide, the publication reported.
Additional reporting by agencies
