Exclusive: The Seventh Arc. Somewhere in this remote and hostile corridor of water, off the west coast of Australia, lies the wreckage of MH370.
That zone, many investigators and aviation experts conclude, is where Malaysian Airlines flight 370 ran out of fuel, dived at speeds of Mach 1 and crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.
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Two major searches have combed massive sections of the Seventh Arc, but without success.
On the 10th anniversary since 370 vanished, two experts told 9News.com.au where on the Seventh Arc they think the debris field of 370 can be found.
Both said the previous searches, in 2014 and 2018, probably narrowly missed the plane.
Zone 1: 34.53 degrees South, 93.8 degrees East
Aviation expert and pilot Mike Exner feels certain MH370 hit the ocean a little to the east of the Seventh Arc, at 34.53 degrees South.
This very specific search zone is pinpointed in a detailed report by Victor Iannello, who along with Exner is a member of the Independent Group, a group of researchers with backgrounds in aviation and science dedicated to solving the 370 mystery.
Exner said the raft of data points crunched in Iannello’s report was “absolutely solid”.
“That’s where we should be looking the next time,” he said, hopeful the Malaysian government will sign onto a new deal with US search company Ocean Infinity.
Iannello’s report claims flight information and data, coupled with analysis of debris wreckage which washed up in Africa, likely pointed to a high speed impact close to the Seventh Arc.
“MH370’s debris field may be smaller in area, consist of smaller parts, and be much more difficult to identify than searchers were anticipating,” the report stated, reflecting on why the previous searches came back empty-handed.
The debris field could also be in an area that was not fully searched by Ocean Infinity in 2017, the report continued, due to “challenging terrain, low quality data or equipment issues”.
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Exner, a pilot who has been flying for 50 years, said the zone outlined in Iannello’s report also “fits a scenario that I think, as a pilot, makes a lot of sense”.
“I’ve always thought that a flight straight south, a track of 180 degrees (from the plane’s last known radar position) was likely if the pilot flying the airplane was trying to just get as far south as he could get.
“Why wouldn’t he just dial in 180 degrees on the autopilot? And that would take you right to about somewhere around 34.4 degrees,” he said, which tallies with Iannello’s zone.
It was uncertain, he said, if a pilot was at the controls until the moment of impact. But even if the pilot had suicided once he had set an auto-pilot flight path, Exner said data showed the plane was in a steep dive, and moving at the speed of sound, when it hit the ocean.
Zone 2: Between 28 – 33 degrees South
Australian oceanographer Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi used one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to calculate his search zone on the Seventh Arc.
Pattiaratchi successfully predicted where some debris from 370 would wash up more than one year before it actually did. He managed that feat by simulating ocean drift models on the supercomputer.
He refined those drift models even further after the flaperon washed up on Reunion island, allowing him to reverse engineer a probable location the debris had floated from.
Pattiaratchi’s zone is less specific than Iannello’s. It urges a new search to sweep areas to the east and west of the 7th Arc, between 28 to 33 degrees South.
Complicating matters, it falls on an area of the seabed called Broken Ridge, an incredibly unforgiving region of underwater mountains, canyons and crevasses.
“I don’t think people realise the magnitude and the challenge (of searching here),” Pattiaratchi said.
To contextualise the difficulty, Pattiaratchi likened the task to finding a crashed Boeing 777 in an area the size of Tasmania, “with all its forests and rugged interior”, and having to conduct that search from a helicopter flying 4000 metres above the ground.
“And now imagine that you’ve got to do that with your eyes closed,” he said.
“That is the challenge.”
New technology, new hope
Ocean Infinity finished its search for MH370 in 2018, but in 2022 it began to add new, highly-advanced ships to its fleet, which could change the game.
Ocean Infinity has trumpeted the 78-metre vessels, known as the Armada, as “a giant leap forward” for maritime searches.
Armada is kitted out with technology that has people like Exner and Pattiaratchi hopeful yet confident Ocean Infinity will find the plane if given another shot.
Ocean Infinity confirmed to 9News.com.au it is in talks with the Malaysian government to return to the Indian Ocean, on a no-find, no-fee contract.
On Sunday the Malaysian government said it is open to renewing the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight, if new evidence is deemed credible.
But so far, no deal has been struck.
The Armada ships can be remote-controlled from onshore, which reduces the risk and massive costs of missions to far-flung locations like the Seventh Arc.
Artificial Intelligence software is another new ace in the hole, boosting underwater imagery and scanning capabilities, and aiding the overall search effort.
Ocean Infinity has ordered 23 of the Armadas, raising hopes that a major deployment of these ships crawling the 7th Arc will lead to a breakthrough.
“We’re living in a time when underwater surveillance technology is advancing very rapidly compared to the last 100 years,” Exner said.
“A lot of wreckages of both ships and airplanes have been found in the last 10 years that probably could not have been found 20-30 years ago.
“I think there’s a very good chance (Flight 370) will be found.”
It took almost 75 years to find the Titanic wreck after it sank, Exner said.
“Sometimes, even when you’ve got pretty good information, it can still take decades.”
The key, he said, is to not give up.
Words: Mark Saunokonoko
Maps, graphics, video and audio: Tara Blancato
This story first appeared on Radio Today