An aviation expert has come forward with a startling claim that the decade-old mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could be a 'perfect crime' that is still solvable, as a new high-tech search for the missing airliner gets underway.
A Fresh Search and a New Theory
American marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity, famed for locating Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance in 2022, has relaunched its hunt for the vanished Boeing 777. The company's vessel, equipped with two autonomous underwater vehicles, has begun an intermittent 55-day search in a designated area of the Indian Ocean. This follows a previous unsuccessful attempt by the same company in 2018.
The disappearance of MH370 on 8 March 2014 remains aviation's most profound mystery. The aircraft, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, vanished from radar during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It is believed to have flown for hours after deviating from its course, with satellites receiving signals until it presumably ran out of fuel over the Indian Ocean.
The Overlooked Clue: Magnetic Compass Deviation
Ismail Hamad, chief engineer at Egypt Air, has presented a detailed theory he believes has been neglected by investigators. While he does not rule out the possibility of a deliberate act leading to the plane landing on an abandoned airstrip or lake in the Philippine archipelago, he argues the current search focus is misplaced.
Hamad asserts that authorities must account for the deviation between the aircraft's magnetic compass and true north. He calculates that this deviation over the estimated seven-hour flight from the Malacca Strait would trace a logical arc southward, but not into the deep waters off Perth or the Broken Ridge area that have been extensively searched.
"Relying solely on Inmarsat satellite signals has trapped the investigators in a decade of confusion," Hamad stated. He proposes that if a hijacker flew the plane manually using only the magnetic compass to evade detection, the final location would be different.
A New Search Corridor Proposed
Based on his calculations combining compass drift, fuel consumption, and satellite data, Hamad predicts the wreckage lies in a shallower corridor offshore near the western Australian coast. He claims this would narrow the official search area to nearly 10% of its current radius.
"This is not guesswork, but it is an engineering inevitability if we follow the aviation fundamentals," Hamad explained. He further pointed to debris found on the East Coast of Africa, noting a lack of damage consistent with a high-impact ocean crash and fuel tank explosion, suggesting a different end scenario.
The renewed search effort brings a fragile hope to the families of the victims, who, like Jiang Hui's mother, have waited over a decade for answers. Whether Ocean Infinity's technology or Hamad's revised calculations will finally solve this 'perfect crime' remains the urgent question of this new chapter in the investigation.
