Summary
- Vincent Lyne’s theory assumes that the pilot of MH370 deliberately flew into an underwater “hole” in the southern Indian Ocean, which changes the narrative of the disappearance.
- The final resting place of the aircraft was determined by the intersection of the longitude of Penang Airport with the pilot’s flight path in the home simulator.
- Previous search efforts have not included this particular area. The challenging underwater landscape at Broken Ridge makes it the “perfect ‘hideout'” for the aircraft.
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar en route between Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport in China. Its disappearance has not been explained to date. The airline also prefers not to reveal any specific details.
The missing plane in December 2011
Vincent Lyne, an associate researcher at the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, recently reignited interest in the decade-old mystery by claiming he knew the plane’s final resting place in the southern Indian Ocean.
The claim
In a LinkedIn post titled “Science Solves MH370 Mystery,” he offers his take on the fate of the missing plane, based on a manuscript accepted by the Journal of Navigation.
Lyne’s theory is that the plane’s pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, deliberately flew into a 20,000-foot-deep “hole” in the Broken Ridge, a high plateau in the southeastern Indian Ocean. The site’s challenging underwater landscape of steep ridges and deep gorges was the “perfect ‘hiding place'” for the plane.
“This work changes the narrative of the disappearance of MH370,” Lyne said, reiterating that the plane’s final moments were not the result of a crash due to lack of fuel, but of a calculated, controlled ditching.
The location
The intersection of Penang Airport’s longitude with a flight path from the pilot’s home simulator determines the plane’s position. Lyne said the FBI and other investigators had previously dismissed that path as “irrelevant.”
“Verification of this location must be done with the highest priority,” Lyne wrote, stressing that previous search efforts had not considered this specific area and that “the science clearly indicates where MH370 is.”
