An aviation engineer asserts that fundamental aviation principles make locating the missing MH370 Boeing 777 highly unlikely. The aircraft vanished on March 8, 2014, during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.
The Mysterious Disappearance
The last contact with air traffic control occurred 38 minutes after takeoff. Military radar tracked the plane for another hour, revealing a deviation from its planned route. It exited radar coverage 230 miles from Penang Island in Malaysia and has not been detected since.
Engineering Challenges in the Search
Ismail Hammad, chief engineer at EgyptAir, explains that search efforts rely on flawed data, particularly Inmarsat satellite signals, which have puzzled investigators for over a decade. He states, “The good technical condition of the aircraft wreckage which might result from a ditching on relatively calm water, along with the ocean currents in the Indian Ocean basin off the west coast of Australia, and the deviation value of the aircraft’s magnetic compass. All of that make the presence of the aircraft around these corridors and water strips highly probable.”
“And that is not a guesswork, but it is an engineering inevitability if we follow the aviation fundamentals,” Hammad adds.
Recent searches by Ocean Infinity resumed in December after a seasonal suspension. Debris fragments found on Africa’s eastern coast show no signs of high-impact damage, such as dents, soot, or discoloration from fuel tank explosions. This indicates a controlled ditching on shallow, calm waters, according to Hammad.
Critical Oversight: Magnetic Compass Deviation
Hammad challenges ongoing operations off Perth, Australia, arguing they ignore the discrepancy between the aircraft’s magnetic compass north and true north. He proposes a more efficient approach to save time and resources for authorities and families.
Key alternatives include the intricate Philippine archipelago, spanning 7,641 islands. Hammad notes that programming the autopilot solely with spatial coordinates poses difficulties. Additionally, a single pilot could not sustain flight of a Boeing 777-200 for nine hours, including mandatory pre-flight checks averaging three hours.
Without autopilot or advanced navigation, dependence on the magnetic compass directs focus to zones between the Malacca Strait and the Perth coastline, accounting for all operational stresses, Hammad concludes.
