Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Malaysia) to Beijing (China) with 239 people in the cabin. Since then, despite many large-scale searches, the plane's whereabouts have remained one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.
However, a new breakthrough has appeared. On March 15, Express reported that high-resolution sonar data collected from a recent survey vessel discovered an unusual area under the South Indian Ocean. According to Dr. Vincent Lyne - former research fellow at Tasmania University (Australia), this could be where MH370 is resting.
According to Dr. Lyne's research, the exact coordinates of the suspected area are 33.02 degrees South latitude (in the Southern Hemisphere), 100.27 degrees East longitude, about 2,400km west of the Perth coast (Australia). This is a hole about 6,000m deep, located east of Broken Ridge - a rough and dangerous area at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Notably, Dr. Lyne said the characteristics of this area "are not consistent with the natural characteristics of the seabed", but could be the result of a strong collision from above. He believes the plane crashed here under a deliberate plan. However, the perpetrator made a calculation mistake, causing the plane to crash into a steep slope instead of falling straight into the hole. That could explain why MH370 has not yet been found.
This research could be the strongest direct physical evidence ever of the exact location of MH370, Dr. Lyne emphasized. He called on authorities to quickly review the new data to conduct a search.
More than 11 years after the mysterious disappearance of MH370, on March 11, 2025, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the government of this country is finalizing a contract with the unit in charge of the latest search for MH370.
Minister Loke affirmed at a press conference on March 11, 2025: "We have not canceled the search, but are still in the process of completing the contract. As soon as all procedures are signed, we will announce the latest progress".
This search is expected to be conducted by search company Ocean Infinity. This is also the unit that participated in the previous search for MH370 under the "No found - No fee- cospribed" agreement with the Malaysian government. Ocean Infinity is expected to sweep about 15,000 square kilometers of the seabed near the coordinates determined by Dr. Lyne.
Since MH370 went missing, more than 30 pieces of suspected debris have drifted ashore in Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. The 2018 official report of the Malaysian government concluded that someone had intentionally manipulated the control system to change the plane's direction, but could not identify the person.
With the latest discovery and the upcoming search, the victims' families still keep hoping that the MH370 mystery will finally have a solution, concluding a dark chapter in the history of world aviation.
