Captain 'calculates MH370 position'
A senior Boeing 777 captain believes he has calculated exactly where the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may have crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean.
Simon Hardy thinks the plane’s position is S38.082 E87.400 (latitude and longitude using decimals rather than minutes).
Captain Hardy is an experienced airline pilot and currently works as a senior 777 captain for a major international airline.
According to David Learmount of FlightGlobal the location given by Capt Hardy “is not fundamentally at odds with the present MH370 search assumptions, being in much the same part of the south-eastern Indian Ocean”.
However Mr Learmount adds that it is “just outside the core target area currently being trawled by a search team led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau”.
Capt Hardy’s calculations are based on a combination of data which include the Inmarsat satellite communication "handshake arcs", his expertise in 777 performance calculation, and some mathematical "reverse engineering" of the navigation geometry known to apply to this flight.
“Hardy is aware that many very able people have theories about MH370, not least those advising the search, but believes the result of his calculations is worthy of examination, and hopes the ATSB will find the result useful,” Mr Learmount said.
"I respectfully recommend it to the MH370 search team," Capt Hardy told FlightGlobal.
“Like other aviators he was distressed by the MH370 loss, and his concern that relatives of those on board might never know what happened inspired him to begin a geometric investigation of known MH370 navigational facts.
“He emerged with a set of conclusions that enabled him to isolate what he believes to be MH370’s actual track,” Mr Learmount said.
The ATSB told thewest.com.au that while they had not yet seen Capt Hardy's report they "remained confident in their analysis and will continue the search in the high priority areas we have determined".
