# Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 > A Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard vanished from air traffic control over the Gulf of Thailand on 8 March 2014, turned back across the Malay Peninsula… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370 Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:49+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CWY6Y4Y36PN·Mystery · disappearance # Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=mh370) Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 ![Photograph: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/mh370-lead) Kentaro Iemoto from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0 Aircraft Boeing 777-200ER, registration 9M-MRO⁠[[1]] Aboard 227 passengers and 12 crew⁠[[1]] Departed Kuala Lumpur 00:42 local, 8 March 2014, for Beijing⁠[[1]] Last contact Voice 01:19; transponder ceased 01:21 near waypoint IGARI⁠[[1]] Last signal Satellite log-on request 08:19 local (00:19 UTC), defining the seventh arc⁠[[2]] Confirmed debris Three pieces identified by part numbers; several more almost certain⁠[[5]] Searched About 120,000 km² (2014–17), 112,000 km² (2018), 7,571 km² of a 15,000 km² target (2025–26)⁠[[4]] Status Partly explained Questions 0 of 4 answered People [**Anthony Loke** Malaysian Minister of Transport](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/people/FIG0CWY703E750S/anthony-loke)[**Zaharie Ahmad Shah** Captain](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/people/FIG0CWY6ZVM0E39/zaharie-ahmad-shah) Catalog key**MYS** 0CWY6Y4Y36PN Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 00:42 local time on 8 March 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew⁠[[1]]. At 01:19 the captain acknowledged a handover to Ho Chi Minh control with "Good night, Malaysian three seven zero." Two minutes later, as the aircraft crossed waypoint IGARI at the edge of Malaysian airspace, its transponder stopped, and it never contacted Vietnamese control⁠[[1]]. Malaysian military radar showed it turning back to the south-west, crossing the peninsula near Penang and flying north-west up the Strait of Malacca until 02:22, when it left radar coverage⁠[[1]]. It did not disappear entirely. Its satellite communications unit logged back on to an Inmarsat satellite at 02:25 and answered hourly handshakes until a final, incomplete log-on request at 08:19, by which time the aircraft would have exhausted its fuel⁠[[2]]. Each exchange recorded a timing offset, which gives the aircraft's distance from the satellite, and a frequency offset, which gives its speed along the line of sight. Together they show that the aircraft flew for six hours, almost certainly south, and ended somewhere along an arc in the southern Indian Ocean about 1,800 km west of Perth⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. No distress call, no cockpit voice recorder, no reason. Australia led a seabed search of 120,000 km² along the arc from 2014 to January 2017 and found nothing⁠[[4]]. A flaperon washed up on Réunion in July 2015, a right outboard flap on Pemba Island off Tanzania in June 2016, and some thirty other pieces on African shores; three carry part numbers that identify the aircraft⁠[[5]]. Drift modelling of those finds, and a review of the handshake analysis, pointed to an unsearched stretch of the arc near 35°S, which Ocean Infinity searched in 2018 without result⁠[[6]]⁠[[4]]. The Malaysian safety investigation reported in 2018 that it could not determine the cause, that the turn-back was flown manually, and that interference by a third party could not be excluded⁠[[1]]. In 2025 Malaysia contracted Ocean Infinity again, on the same no-find, no-fee terms, for a 15,000 km² target; the search ran for a few days in March 2025 and from 31 December 2025 to 23 January 2026, covered about half the target, and found nothing⁠[[7]]⁠[[8]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “Where is the wreckage?”, not yet confirmed: close to the seventh arc (within about 25 nautical miles) in an unsearched stretch north of about 33°S. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Where is the wreckage?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY74ZP4V5Z/where-is-the-wreckage)Most likely: close to the seventh arc (within about 25 nautical miles) in an unsearched stretch north of about 33°S [**Who turned the aircraft, and why?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY757G2DPC/who-turned-the-aircraft-and-why)No answer ahead yet [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=mh370) ## What is known The first hour is documented by air traffic control recordings, the aircraft's ACARS reports (the last at 01:07), and civil and military radar⁠[[1]]. The turn-back began within two minutes of the transponder stopping and took the aircraft through a sequence of turns and a route along airway waypoints that the investigators judged was flown by hand or with the autopilot deliberately directed, not by a system failure⁠[[1]]. The investigation found no fault in the aircraft or its maintenance, nothing in the cargo, nothing in the passengers' backgrounds, and no evidence that resolved the crew's state of mind; the captain's home flight simulator held a deleted route into the southern Indian Ocean, which the report noted without drawing a conclusion⁠[[1]]. [![The aircraft, Boeing 777-200ER 9M-MRO](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/eb24c19c9c1af15a09a3997f571af2e3ef17c846291f29d7b0f174be609d1d79/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HE46TH2/the-aircraft-boeing-777-200er-9m-mro) The aircraft, Boeing 777-200ER 9M-MROPaul Rowbotham, 2013. CC BY-SA 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HE46TH2/the-aircraft-boeing-777-200er-9m-mro) [![First page of Transcript of MH370's radio exchanges with air traffic control](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/00988614d3fde3185fcd74f2962213e00ccca39e5fdd6e0708ddc203d26e0c73/p1)2 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HXR7VFV/transcript-of-mh370s-radio-exchanges-with-air-traffic) Transcript of MH370's radio exchanges with air traffic controlGovernment of Malaysia (as published by CNN), 2014. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HXR7VFV/transcript-of-mh370s-radio-exchanges-with-air-traffic) The six hours after radar are documented only by the Inmarsat log. The satellite data unit's handshakes at 02:25, 03:41, 04:41, 05:41, 06:41, 08:11 and 08:19 each carry a burst timing offset (BTO) and a burst frequency offset (BFO). The BTO fixes a ring of positions on the Earth for each handshake; the BFO, corrected for the satellite's own motion, constrains the aircraft's velocity component toward the satellite and distinguishes a northern from a southern route⁠[[2]]. Inmarsat's engineers validated the method against other aircraft flying known routes that night⁠[[2]]. Malaysia released the log, 47 pages, on 27 May 2014⁠[[9]]. The last two signals, 08:11 and 08:19, are read as the aircraft running out of fuel on one engine and then the other, the auxiliary power unit starting and the SATCOM rebooting, which places the end of flight within a few tens of kilometres of the seventh arc⁠[[4]]⁠[[3]]. The debris is the physical record. The flaperon found on Réunion on 29 July 2015 was identified by French investigators from its internal serial plates; the outboard flap from Pemba carried a part number and Malaysia Airlines' stencilling; a third piece was likewise matched⁠[[5]]. Examination of the flap and flaperon found that the flaps were not extended at the time of separation, which argues against a controlled ditching with flaps down⁠[[5]]. Marine growth on the flaperon and the timing of the finds, compared with drifting buoys and with replica flaperons tracked by CSIRO, were used to back-calculate where the pieces entered the water⁠[[6]]. **Map of the continent** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/map) [Region][Continent] [+][−] 1 **Kuala Lumpur International Airport** Airport Within 1 km 2 **The seventh arc, southern Indian Ocean (searched stretch)** Sea area A region 3 **CSIRO's most likely site (35.6°S 92.8°E)** Sea area (estimate) A region 4 **Saint-André, Réunion** Shore Within 10 km 5 **Pemba Island, Tanzania** Island Within 10 km Within 1 kmA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The search The surface search in March and April 2014 began in the South China Sea, moved to the Strait of Malacca when the radar track was understood, and then, once the Inmarsat analysis was accepted, to the southern Indian Ocean, where it found nothing attributable to the aircraft⁠[[1]]. The underwater search was led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Malaysia's behalf with Chinese participation. The search zone was set by a Bayesian analysis of the satellite data by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group, which produced a probability distribution along the arc and a 120,000 km² priority area centred near 38°S⁠[[3]]. Towed and autonomous sonar surveyed it from October 2014 until the search was suspended on 17 January 2017; the area was cleared to a high standard of confidence, and the ATSB's final report concluded that the aircraft was not in it⁠[[4]]. Two lines of evidence then moved the estimate north. CSIRO's drift modelling of the debris finds, using actual flaperon replicas at sea, found that an origin near 35°S was most consistent with the arrival dates and with the absence of debris on Australian shores⁠[[6]]. A review of the final handshakes and of the aircraft's likely flight dynamics at fuel exhaustion suggested the aircraft came down close to the arc and that the unsearched stretch between about 32.5°S and 36°S, some 25,000 km², was the most likely remaining area⁠[[4]]. Ocean Infinity's vessel Seabed Constructor searched that stretch and more, about 112,000 km², with a fleet of autonomous vehicles from January to June 2018, on no-find, no-fee terms, and found nothing⁠[[1]]⁠[[7]]. Between 2018 and 2024 independent analysts proposed narrower targets from refinements of the satellite analysis, from drift studies, and from amateur radio (WSPR) propagation records whose use for aircraft tracking is disputed. Ocean Infinity proposed a new search in 2024; the Malaysian cabinet approved it in December 2024 and agreed terms in March 2025: $70 million payable only on finding the wreckage, for a 15,000 km² area⁠[[7]]. The vessel worked the site from 25 to 28 March 2025 before withdrawing, and again from 31 December 2025 to 23 January 2026, surveying 7,571 km² before weather and a reassignment ended the campaign. In March 2026 Malaysia's Air Accident Investigation Bureau stated that the search "has not yielded any findings that confirm the location of the aircraft wreckage" and gave no date for resumption; the contract runs to June 2026⁠[[8]]. ## The explanations Deliberate diversion by someone on the flight deck is the reading most analysts hold. It accounts for the timing of the transponder loss at the handover between control centres, the hand-flown turn, the route along the Malaysia–Thailand border that avoided both countries' attention, the silence of every communication system except the one nobody thought to turn off, and the long southern leg⁠[[1]]. The Malaysian investigation did not name a perpetrator and said it could not exclude third-party interference; it found nothing in the crew's records that showed intent, and the captain's simulator route is suggestive and no more⁠[[1]]. The reading divides on the end of flight: an unpiloted descent at fuel exhaustion, which the final BFO values and the flap evidence support, or a controlled glide, which would put the wreckage farther from the arc than any search has looked⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]. Accident readings propose a fire, depressurisation or electrical failure that incapacitated the crew after a turn toward a diversion airport, with the aircraft flying on autopilot until the fuel ran out. Against them: the turn-back was hand-flown through several headings, the loss of the transponder and ACARS preceded any sign of trouble, and no system failure explains why the SATCOM came back after an hour⁠[[1]]. Hijacking by a passenger is not excluded by evidence but is unsupported by any claim, background or trace⁠[[1]]. Readings that place the aircraft elsewhere than the southern arc, including a northern route, Diego Garcia, or a shoot-down over the South China Sea, are contradicted by the Inmarsat data, the debris and the drift analysis⁠[[2]]⁠[[6]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2015 | Chris Ashton and colleagues (Inmarsat)⁠[2] | The satellite handshakes show that the aircraft flew south for six hours and ended near the seventh arc in the southern Indian Ocean. | Accepted | The method was validated on other aircraft flying known routes that night, and debris confirmed from 9M-MRO later washed up on western Indian Ocean shores⁠[2]⁠[5]. | | 2016 | Samuel Davey and colleagues (Defence Science and Technology Group)⁠[3] | A Bayesian model of the satellite data puts the most probable end of flight in a priority area along the arc centred near 38°S. | Disputed | The 120,000 km² search built on it found nothing, and the ATSB concluded the aircraft was not there⁠[4]. | | 2017 | Australian Transport Safety Bureau⁠[4] | The aircraft is not in the 120,000 km² searched area, and the most likely remaining place is a 25,000 km² stretch of the arc between about 32.5°S and 36°S. | Disputed | Ocean Infinity searched that stretch and more in 2018 and found nothing⁠[1]⁠[7]. | | 2017 | Australian Transport Safety Bureau⁠[5] | The recovered flap and flaperon were not extended when they separated, which argues against a controlled ditching. | Accepted | It rests on the ATSB's and French investigators' examinations of the parts; the contrary reading of the same damage has not been accepted by any investigating body⁠[1]. | | 2017 | David Griffin and colleagues (CSIRO)⁠[6] | Drift modelling with replica flaperons puts the most likely end of flight near 35.6°S 92.8°E on the arc. | Disputed | The 2018 search covered that latitude near the arc without result, so either the wreckage lies farther from the arc there or the latitude is different⁠[1]. | | 2018 | Larry Vance⁠[10] | The captain flew the aircraft to the end and made a controlled ditching with the flaps extended, so the wreckage lies beyond the searched band. | Disputed | The official examinations found the flaps retracted, and the final handshakes imply a rapid descent, though the glide zone has never been searched⁠[5]⁠[4]. | | 2018 | Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team⁠[1] | The turn-back was flown manually, the cause of the disappearance cannot be determined, and interference by a third party cannot be excluded. | Accepted | The official finding; nothing found since, including two further seabed searches, has changed it⁠[8]. | | 2019 | Jeff Wise⁠[11] | Russian operatives took the aircraft north to Kazakhstan, and the satellite data were spoofed to send searchers south. | Ruled out | Wreckage confirmed from 9M-MRO by part numbers washed up on western Indian Ocean shores, consistent with drift from the southern arc and not with a northern route⁠[5]⁠[6]. | | 2019 | William Langewiesche⁠[12] | Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah took the aircraft in a deliberate murder-suicide, and Malaysian authorities failed to pursue the evidence. | Still possible | The manual turn-back and the simulator route fit it, but the official investigation found nothing in the crew's records showing intent and did not conclude⁠[1]. | | 2021 | Florence de Changy⁠[13] | The aircraft was intercepted and destroyed near the South China Sea in an operation involving the United States, and the southern search was a cover. | Ruled out | Wreckage confirmed from the aircraft drifted to African and Indian Ocean shores, as the validated satellite analysis predicts for an end on the southern arc⁠[5]⁠[2]. | | 2023 | Richard Godfrey, Hannes Coetzee and Simon Maskell⁠[15] | Disturbances in amateur radio (WSPR) links track the aircraft to an end about 1,560 km west of Perth, near 29°S 99.5°E. | Still possible | Whether WSPR can detect aircraft at all was still being tested in 2024, and other analysts are sceptical⁠[14]. | | 2024 | Usama Kadri⁠[16] | Hydrophones can detect an aircraft hitting the sea at long range, and the records of March 2014 hold one possible signal at a single station. | Still possible | The candidate signal appears at only one of two stations, and the calibration explosions the paper proposes have not been carried out⁠[16]. | ## What would settle it Finding the wreckage. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders, if recoverable after a decade at depth, would show who did what; the wreckage pattern would show whether the aircraft came down fast or was ditched. The remaining question is where to look. The 2025–2026 campaign covered half its target; the rest of that area, the stretches of the arc beyond 25 nautical miles that a glide could reach, and the latitudes north of 33°S are the candidates⁠[[4]]⁠[[8]]. Short of the wreckage, a re-examination of the satellite data with the methods and the drift knowledge now available, published with the raw log, would narrow the field; and any further debris with a recorded find date and location tightens the drift back-calculation⁠[[6]]. ## Questions 0 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=mh370) **0** [Where is the wreckage?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY74ZP4V5Z/where-is-the-wreckage) 0 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: close to the seventh arc (within about 25 nautical miles) in an unsearched stretch north of about 33°S **0** [Who turned the aircraft, and why?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY757G2DPC/who-turned-the-aircraft-and-why) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Open: 4 answers, none ahead ## Evidence 24 findings [Where is the wreckage?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY74ZP4V5Z/where-is-the-wreckage)9 findings [Close to the seventh arc (within about 25 nautical miles) in an unsearched stretch north of about 33°S.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY75YY4MM6/close-to-the-seventh-arc-within-about-25-nautical-miles-in)Most likely +[CSIRO drift modelling with replica flaperons favoured an origin near 35°S; the 2018 search covered that latitude without result, leaving latitudes farther north.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY766R5B1A/csiro-drift-modelling-with-replica-flaperons-favoured-an)Supported +[The final two handshakes indicate fuel exhaustion and a rapid descent, consistent with a crash near the arc.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY76EJ206N/the-final-two-handshakes-indicate-fuel-exhaustion-and-a)Supported −[About 240,000 km² along the arc, from about 39°S to 33°S, has been searched to high confidence with nothing found.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY76PC57DP/about-240-000-km2-along-the-arc-from-about-39s-to-33s-has)Established [Beyond the searched band, because the aircraft was flown or glided after fuel exhaustion.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY76Y679KG/beyond-the-searched-band-because-the-aircraft-was-flown-or)Disputed +[The flaperon's trailing-edge damage has been read by some as consistent with a low-speed water entry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY77NM5D72/the-flaperons-trailing-edge-damage-has-been-read-by-some-as)Speculative −[The flap examination found the flaps were not extended at separation, which argues against a flaps-down ditching.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY77600AHJ/the-flap-examination-found-the-flaps-were-not-extended-at)Supported −[The 08:19 BFO values imply a high and increasing rate of descent.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY77DT3TCP/the-08-19-bfo-values-imply-a-high-and-increasing-rate-of)Supported [Within an area already searched, missed by the sonar coverage or terrain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY77XE3RMH/within-an-area-already-searched-missed-by-the-sonar-coverage)Still possible −[The ATSB reported the 120,000 km² area cleared to high confidence, with data gaps catalogued and most re-surveyed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY78585AJ5/the-atsb-reported-the-120-000-km2-area-cleared-to-high)Supported [Not on the southern arc at all (northern route, or a site unrelated to the Inmarsat analysis).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY78D248MQ/not-on-the-southern-arc-at-all-northern-route-or-a-site)Disputed −[The BFO method was validated on other aircraft flying known routes that night.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY78MW4DWN/the-bfo-method-was-validated-on-other-aircraft-flying-known)Established −[Debris finds on Réunion, Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar are consistent with drift from the southern Indian Ocean arc and inconsistent with a northern route.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY78WP3SWP/debris-finds-on-reunion-mozambique-tanzania-and-madagascar)Established [Who turned the aircraft, and why?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY757G2DPC/who-turned-the-aircraft-and-why)8 findings [The captain (or another person on the flight deck) deliberately diverted the aircraft and flew it to fuel…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY79CA2ZB3/the-captain-or-another-person-on-the-flight-deck)Still possible +[The investigation found the turn-back was flown manually and the route followed waypoints along the Malaysia–Thailand border.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY79M42PKZ/the-investigation-found-the-turn-back-was-flown-manually-and)Supported +[The transponder stopped at the handover between Malaysian and Vietnamese control, the moment least likely to be noticed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY79VY3PXT/the-transponder-stopped-at-the-handover-between-malaysian)Suggestive +[The captain's home simulator contained a deleted route to the southern Indian Ocean.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7A3R4E8H/the-captains-home-simulator-contained-a-deleted-route-to-the)Suggestive −[Nothing in the crew's medical, financial or personal records showed intent or distress.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7ABJ7WR0/nothing-in-the-crews-medical-financial-or-personal-records)Supported [A passenger or stowaway seized the aircraft.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7AKC54XY/a-passenger-or-stowaway-seized-the-aircraft)Still possible −[Background checks on all passengers found nothing; no claim was made.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7AV64MED/background-checks-on-all-passengers-found-nothing-no-claim)Supported [A fire, depressurisation or electrical failure incapacitated the crew after they turned toward a diversion…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7B306JD6/a-fire-depressurisation-or-electrical-failure-incapacitated)Disputed −[The route after the turn-back involved several heading changes consistent with deliberate navigation, not a stricken aircraft.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7BAT4E7X/the-route-after-the-turn-back-involved-several-heading)Supported −[The SATCOM logged back on at 02:25, which implies power was restored to it after an interruption.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7BJM74KV/the-satcom-logged-back-on-at-02-25-which-implies-power-was)Supported −[No fault in the aircraft or its maintenance was found.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7BTE13TZ/no-fault-in-the-aircraft-or-its-maintenance-was-found)Supported [How did the flight end, and how far from the arc?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY75FA3NVK/how-did-the-flight-end-and-how-far-from-the-arc)4 findings [Fuel exhaustion, loss of autopilot, and a steep spiral descent within a few tens of kilometres of the arc.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7CA224TK/fuel-exhaustion-loss-of-autopilot-and-a-steep-spiral-descent)Most likely +[The final BFO values indicate a rapid and increasing descent; simulator tests reproduced the pattern with no pilot input.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7CHW3VSG/the-final-bfo-values-indicate-a-rapid-and-increasing-descent)Supported +[The flaps were not extended at separation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7CSP1T5B/the-flaps-were-not-extended-at-separation)Supported [A pilot glided or ditched the aircraft after fuel exhaustion.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7D1G48BJ/a-pilot-glided-or-ditched-the-aircraft-after-fuel-exhaustion)Disputed +[The size and condition of recovered pieces have been read by some as consistent with a low-speed entry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7D9A3QKE/the-size-and-condition-of-recovered-pieces-have-been-read-by)Speculative −[A glide would contradict the final BFO descent rates unless the pilot recovered after them.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7DH46584/a-glide-would-contradict-the-final-bfo-descent-rates-unless)Supported [What do the debris finds and drift studies say about the latitude of the crash?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/questions/QST0CWY75Q47E9B/what-do-the-debris-finds-and-drift-studies-say-about-the)3 findings [An origin near 35°S on the arc best fits the arrival times and places.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7E0R0S4X/an-origin-near-35s-on-the-arc-best-fits-the-arrival-times)Disputed +[CSIRO's modelling, calibrated with replica flaperons, favoured about 35°S and matched the absence of Australian finds.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7E8J5WT8/csiros-modelling-calibrated-with-replica-flaperons-favoured)Supported −[The 2018 search covered the 35°S region near the arc and found nothing.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7EGC52G6/the-2018-search-covered-the-35s-region-near-the-arc-and)Established [An origin farther north (30–33°S), with the drift models' uncertainty allowing it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/answers/ANS0CWY7ER610MA/an-origin-farther-north-3033s-with-the-drift-models)Still possible +[Drift models have wide uncertainty in arrival timing and the flaperon's windage was estimated from replicas.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/evidence/EVD0CWY7F001P68/drift-models-have-wide-uncertainty-in-arrival-timing-and-the)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 11](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts) Document2 steps from object [Right flaperon from 9M-MRO](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7G721BNJ/right-flaperon-from-9m-mro) Australian Transport Safety Bureau · CC BY 3.0 AU (third-party photographs excluded) Document2 steps from object [Section of right outboard flap from 9M-MRO](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7GEW1JH7/section-of-right-outboard-flap-from-9m-mro) Australian Transport Safety Bureau · CC BY 3.0 AU (third-party photographs excluded) Document2 steps from object [Other recovered debris (about thirty pieces, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Tanzania)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7GPP4JVS/other-recovered-debris-about-thirty-pieces-mozambique-south) Australian Transport Safety Bureau · CC BY 3.0 AU (third-party photographs excluded) Photo1 step from object [The aircraft, Boeing 777-200ER 9M-MRO](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HE46TH2/the-aircraft-boeing-777-200er-9m-mro) Unknown author Document1 step from object [Transcript of MH370's radio exchanges with air traffic control](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7HXR7VFV/transcript-of-mh370s-radio-exchanges-with-air-traffic) Government of Malaysia (as published by CNN) · Public domain (not eligible for copyright) Document2 steps from object [Civil and military radar records of the flight](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7JDC2R77/civil-and-military-radar-records-of-the-flight) Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team · publisher Document2 steps from object [Inmarsat satellite communications log for 9M-MRO](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts/ART0CWY7JX01QQX/inmarsat-satellite-communications-log-for-9m-mro) Chris Ashton and colleagues (Inmarsat) · CC-BY-3.0 [See all 11 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mh370/artifacts) ## See also [ **Disappearance of Amelia Earhart** The aviator who vanished with Fred Noonan near Howland Island in the Pacific in 1937. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/amelia-earhart) [ **Bermuda Triangle** A stretch of the western North Atlantic where ships and aircraft are said to vanish. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bermuda-triangle) [ **Franklin expedition (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror)** Franklin's 1845 Arctic expedition, whose 129 men died after their ships were iced in. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/franklin-expedition) [ **Mary Celeste** An American brigantine found adrift and deserted east of the Azores in December 1872. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mary-celeste) ## References 1. 1.[The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370 2018. Safety Investigation Report: Malaysia Airlines Boeing B777-200ER (9M-MRO), 08 March 2014. Ministry of Transport Malaysia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6VPT0VHS/safety-investigation-report-malaysia-airlines-boeing-b777)cited 24 times here**SRC** 0CWY6VPT0VHS 1. 2.[Ashton, C., Shuster Bruce, A., Colledge, G. et al. 2015. The Search for MH370. Journal of Navigation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6VYM12BH/the-search-for-mh370)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1017/S037346331400068X)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0CWY6VYM12BH 1. 3.[Davey, S., Gordon, N., Holland, I. et al. 2016. Bayesian Methods in the Search for MH370. SpringerBriefs in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Springer Open).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6W6E0M24/bayesian-methods-in-the-search-for-mh370)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0379-0)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CWY6W6E0M24 1. 4.[Australian Transport Safety Bureau 2017. The Operational Search for MH370. ATSB Transport Safety Report AE-2014-054.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6WE84KX8/the-operational-search-for-mh370)cited 17 times here**SRC** 0CWY6WE84KX8 1. 5.[Australian Transport Safety Bureau 2017. MH370: Search and debris examination update. ATSB, AE-2014-054.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6WP203TC/mh370-search-and-debris-examination-update)cited 13 times here**SRC** 0CWY6WP203TC 1. 6.[Griffin, D., Oke, P., Jones, E. 2017. The search for MH370 and ocean surface drift (Parts I–IV). CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, for the ATSB.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6WXW471K/the-search-for-mh370-and-ocean-surface-drift-parts-iiv)cited 10 times here**SRC** 0CWY6WXW471K 1. 7.[Associated Press / NPR 2025. Malaysia approves a new search for MH370 wreckage in the Indian Ocean. NPR.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6XDG5P5A/malaysia-approves-a-new-search-for-mh370-wreckage-in-the)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CWY6XDG5P5A 1. 8.[Associated Press / NPR 2026. 12 years on, renewed hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight comes up empty. NPR.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6XNA1B2C/12-years-on-renewed-hunt-for-missing-malaysia-airlines)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CWY6XNA1B2C 1. 9.[Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia, Inmarsat 2014. MH370 Data Communication Logs (Inmarsat satellite communications log). Released by the Malaysian government, 27 May 2014.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6X5P6CRM/mh370-data-communication-logs-inmarsat-satellite)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0CWY6X5P6CRM 1. 10.[Vance, L. 2018. MH370: Mystery Solved.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY6ZVM1ZTV/mh370-mystery-solved)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY6ZVM1ZTV 1. 11.[Wise, J. 2019. The Taking of MH370. The Yellow Cabin Press.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY703E6RK6/the-taking-of-mh370)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY703E6RK6 1. 12.[Langewiesche, W. 2019. What Really Happened to Malaysia's Missing Airplane. The Atlantic, July 2019 (online 17 June 2019).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY70B82FSH/what-really-happened-to-malaysias-missing-airplane)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY70B82FSH 1. 13.[de Changy, F. 2021. The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370. HarperCollins.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY70K24K95/the-disappearing-act-the-impossible-case-of-mh370)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY70K24K95 1. 14.[University of Liverpool 2024. Researchers provide statistical expertise to help locate missing flight MH370. University of Liverpool news, 6 March 2024.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY712P7QWR/researchers-provide-statistical-expertise-to-help-locate)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY712P7QWR 1. 15.[Thomas, G. 2023. MH370: Ground-Breaking Report Reveals Location. Airline Ratings, 31 August 2023.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY70TW4V7P/mh370-ground-breaking-report-reveals-location)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY70TW4V7P 1. 16.[Kadri, U. 2024. Underwater acoustic analysis reveals unique pressure signals associated with aircraft crashes in the sea: revisiting MH370. Scientific Reports 14, 10102.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY71AG4CZF/underwater-acoustic-analysis-reveals-unique-pressure-signals)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60529-1)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY71AG4CZF Last edited 27 Oct 2026