New MH370 Search Area Proposed Based on NASA Carbon Monoxide Data
Twelve years after the baffling disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a fresh potential search location has been identified by American investigator Randy Rolston. In a detailed 19-page report, Rolston proposes a specific region in the Indian Ocean where the main wreckage of the missing Boeing 777 may be located, citing a carbon monoxide spike detected by NASA as crucial evidence.
The NASA 'Smoking Gun' Evidence
Rolston's analysis centers on an unexplained surge in carbon monoxide levels recorded by NASA on the morning of March 8, 2014. He describes this atmospheric anomaly as a potential "smoking gun" that could indicate precisely where the aircraft crashed into the sea. The carbon monoxide detection occurred simultaneously with the plane's disappearance, suggesting a possible correlation with the crash event.
The proposed search area covers approximately 621 square miles in the Wharton Basin, a particularly deep section of the Indian Ocean located roughly 683 miles off the coast of Western Australia. This location is nearly 1,000 miles north of the region where authorities previously concentrated their search efforts. Rolston theorizes that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, aged 52, may have intentionally crashed the plane into this deep oceanic trench to ensure the wreckage would be virtually impossible to locate.
Challenging Search Conditions and Previous Discoveries
The Wharton Basin presents formidable challenges for search operations, with some areas exceeding 1,000 feet in depth and featuring massive underwater cliffs and submerged volcanoes. These extreme topographical features have rendered the ocean floor an exceptionally difficult target for previous search missions.
While several pieces of debris confirmed to be from Flight 370 washed up on islands in the western Indian Ocean during 2015 and 2016, the location of the aircraft's main fuselage remains unknown. The bodies of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members who were aboard that fateful night have never been recovered, leaving families without closure for over a decade.
The Disappearance and Ongoing Mystery
Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of March 8, 2014, bound for Beijing, China. Approximately 38 minutes after takeoff, the crew made their final routine radio transmission to air traffic control. Minutes later, the aircraft vanished from civilian radar screens, though it remained visible on military radar for a short time longer.
The plane deviated sharply from its intended course before disappearing from Malaysian military radar around 2am local time. Satellites continued to receive regular "pings" from the aircraft until just past 8am, indicating it remained airborne for several hours after losing contact. This has led to speculation that passengers and crew were intentionally deprived of oxygen, rendering them unconscious as the plane continued on autopilot over the southern Indian Ocean until fuel exhaustion.
Call for Renewed Search Efforts
Rolston has implored authorities to extend their search to this newly identified area, asserting that substantial portions of the proposed search zone were overlooked during the initial 2014 investigation. He believes it's highly probable the plane was intentionally plunged into the ocean approximately 680 miles east of Coral Bay in Western Australia, contrary to official conclusions.
"Finding the aircraft would finally provide them with a measure of clarity and closure," Rolston stated regarding the victims' families. The Australian-led multinational search for MH370 already stands as the costliest in aviation history, but Rolston maintains that targeted investigation of this new area could finally solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries.
Data recovered from the captain's personal flight simulator has previously suggested he may have planned to crash the plane, adding to the complex web of evidence surrounding this enduring aviation enigma. As the twelfth anniversary of the disappearance passes, Rolston's findings offer a new direction in the ongoing quest to locate the missing aircraft and provide answers to grieving families.
