Malaysia Flight 370 Search: Missing Jet Can ‘Be Found’ If Officials Stop Overlooking A Simple Clue, Says Aussie Expert

After months of multinational search efforts to locate missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, there has not been a single trace of the Boeing 777. Moreover, there’s been no shortage of crash predictions and allegations of government coverups and conspiracy theories of the commercial jet. However, a respected Australian engineer says Flight 370 can be found if officials simply look toward the skies, instead of the Southern Indian Ocean.

The man behind a new angle to assist in the search of Malaysia Flight 370 is Aron Gingis, a hydrometeorologist and head of environmental consultancy company Australian Management Consolidated. The ex-Monash University professor is an expert in the microphysics of cloud formations, and believes he can use previous tracking success with oceanic vessels to locate missing Flight MH370, according to an October 17 News.com.au report.

Gingis proposed the idea of analyzing vapor trails in the skies over known flight paths of the Malaysian airliner. There, one can find changes in formations that leave behind evidence of direction in the wake of an airplane’s journey through the skies.

The Aussie expert is known for using this same approach to locate shipwrecks in the North Pacific Ocean. Gingis points to evidence of “ship trails” left behind from emissions of craft in the water. Planes leave a similar signature by emitting contrails (short for condensation trails). It’s like drawing lines in the sand.

Supposedly, this tracking data can be found by detailed searches of archived satellite records. The same methodology can be used to find, or at least narrow down the location of Malaysia Flight 370’s search area. The engineer wrote a letter about his theory to Malaysian High Commissioner Eldeen Husaini at the beginning of April, a month after MH370 vanished from flight radar and GPS systems.

“I believe that we have a realistic chance to follow the flight path of Malaysia Airlines MH370 and follow its flight direction, possibly identifying its landing or crash site.

“I would be required to fly to Kuala Lumpur and to have a detailed briefing with Malaysia search and rescue authorities in order to be able to identify and search for specific satellite availability and all-satellite data imagery frames that we can analyze using our cloud microphysics algorithms.

“I believe that we will be able to utilize our expertise and identify the flight pass of MH370 and then to direct the search and rescue authorities to save or recover MH370 passengers.”

Gingis offered his research services for $17,500, compared to the Australian government’s current spend of $100 million on new mapping efforts of the uncharted seabed in the southern Indian Ocean. Despite the enormous funds spent so far on Flight 370 search efforts, officials have been heavily criticized for their reliance on so-called satellite communication “handshakes” to narrow down Malaysia MH370’s flight path and probable crash site.

Currently, the Australian Transportation and Safety Bureau is the lead in the Malaysia Flight 370 search project. The ATSB released a statement in the wake of Gingis’ proposal.

“The ATSB remains confident in the analysis work undertaken by the international experts of the Satellite Working Group and the validity of the satellite communications data on which that group has relied. The ATSB has worked closely with Australian government agencies with expertise in the analysis of satellite imagery and has fed the results into its assessment of priority search areas.”

The search of Malaysia Flight 370 involves many nations, including the United States, to a degree. Flight MH370 was carrying 239 passengers and crew when it disappeared on March 8 while destined to Beijing Capital International Airport from Kuala Lumpur. Gingis’ theory about locating the plane using simple emission data, so far, has been rejected by several government officials, but there is some evidence his ideas were not totally dismissed. That part of the story is developing.

[Image via: News.com.au, PressTV]