| New MH370 theory impossible, say Australian searchers |
AUSTRALIAN co-ordinators of the MH370 search insist there is no way the aircraft is in the Bay of Bengal as claimed by “volunteer investigator” Andre Milne.
The self-described aviation technology expert is seeking donations to help fund a $2.5 million search of the area between Malaysia and India which he believes is the Boeing 777’s final resting place.
He claims satellite data shows an object similar to MH370 resting in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, and has made a video appeal for funding in order to conduct a search.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has stopped short of recommending against public donations to Mr Milne, but officials insist MH370 is not where he claims.
An ATSB spokesman said theories suggesting the aircraft was located to the north or significantly west of Sumatra “were not supported by known facts or careful analysis”.
“It is for this reason the aircraft cannot be in Kazakhstan, Diego Garcia, the Maldives or indeed the Bay of Bengal,” said the spokesman.
Last week ATSB Commissioner Martin Dolan outlined in detail the reasons for the search in the Southern Indian Ocean, which is now into its seventh month.
He said the fact no trace of the aircraft had been found did not mean it was not there.
“In most cases of aircraft impacting the ocean, there hasn’t been much floating wreckage,” said Mr Dolan.
“Air France 447 was a bit of an exception there.
“The likelihood of there being a lot of floating wreckage isn’t high, and some of the possible floating wreckage would have become waterlogged by now, and the rest of it is likely to be mixed up with a whole lot of other stuff in one of those big gyres in the middle of the Indian Ocean.”
Mr Dolan said the satellite handshakes that had led searchers to the Southern Indian Ocean were the most “solid piece of information” they had to work with.
“We keep on running the ruler over that (and) we’ve done various things to verify it,” he said.
Almost 14 months have passed since MH370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, including six Australians.
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