New clues could bring search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 closer to breakthrough

Experts believe transmissions from amateur radio operators could help to locate the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that vanished more than a decade ago. 

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared in March, 14, 2014 with 239 people onboard. 

The plane was flying from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China, but vanished off radar shortly after take-off.

In the 10 years since, there have been many efforts to locate the wreckage – but as yet, its whereabouts are still unknown. 

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The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has resumed

Since the disappearance, there have been plenty of theories and speculation, including one expert who believed he had spotted parts of the plane on Google Maps. 

But – despite a huge multinational search operation launched back in 2014 – the plane has never been recovered. 

Last month, the Malaysian government announced it had agreed to resume the search with efforts concentrated on a new 5,800 square mile area. 

The search will be led by US-based seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which has previously carried out two searches for MH370.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett said he ‘looks forward to sharing updates’ about the search in the near future. 

The new search will utilize emerging technologies

For this new search, the team of experts is set to utilize emerging technologies, which involve Weak Signal Propagation Reporter or WSPR transmissions. 

These transmissions are designed so that amateur radio – or ham radio – enthusiasts can test the capabilities of their antennas. 

Thousands of these WSPR transmissions are sent around the world every two minutes but – crucially here – the signals are disrupted if an aircraft crosses through it. 

So, experts believe that using historical WSPR data could help track the flight path of MH370 and eventually lead to the recovery of the wreckage. 

Professor Simon Maskell from the University of Liverpool has been advising Ocean Infinity. 

 “The important question is whether all of this analysis usefully reduces the search area,” he told The Telegraph. 

“As soon as you can definitely say the plane couldn’t have headed north or it couldn’t have gone this far south you have narrowed things down and that is useful.”