‘Ghost radio signals’ may finally unlock mystery of MH370’s disappearance

Transmissions captured by amateur radio enthusiasts may hold the key to locating the wreckage of the MH370, the Malaysia Airlines jet which vanished nearly a decade ago – and almost certainly the biggest aviation mystery of all time.

The Malaysian government on Friday announced that it had agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of the Boeing 777, which disappeared in March 2014 while carrying 239 people.

Efforts will now focus on a new area of seabed, covering around 5,800 square miles – slightly larger than Northern Ireland – according to Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke.

The renewed search will be spearheaded by Ocean Infinity, the underwater exploration firm which conducted the last sweep in 2018.

This time, they will make use of a new area of research involving WSPR (pronounced ‘whisper’) transmissions from amateur radio operators – widely dubbed “ghost signals”.

Richard Godfrey, a retired aerospace engineer who has worked with Nasa, Boeing and Airbus, has proposed that an examination of historical WSPR data could help pinpoint the flight path of MH370.

He believes his analysis suggests a search area with a radius of less than 20 miles, located roughly 1,000 miles west of Perth, Australia.

Mr Godfrey told the Telegraph he was confident the target zone he identified would be covered by Ocean Infinity’s new search.

The company will also explore other strands of research, including hydro-acoustic data collected from the time of the disappearance.

In March the BBC aired a documentary featuring Mr Godfrey entitled: “Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370,” to mark the 10th anniversary, exploring the WSPR hypothesis.

In it he said: “There’s no radar coverage of the Indian Ocean, but there are radio signals,” which he described as a “trail of breadcrumbs” that may reveal the final trajectory of the flight.

Despite Mr Godfrey’s findings, some experts remain skeptical. Nobel laureate Professor Joseph Taylor, who developed WSPR as part of his research into pulsars, has argued that the data from the network is of little use for tracking aircraft.

However, others are optimistic. Professor Simon Maskell, a computer engineer at the University of Liverpool, has cautioned against dismissing WSPR’s potential too quickly.

He is in the process of testing its application using real-life data from planes flying on a single day, with a view to enhancing the search for MH370. Prof Maskell’s team is also applying the same particle filter technology to predict the crash site based on debris washed ashore.

Ocean Infinity, founded in 2017 and has offices in Southampton and Austin, Texas, submitted proposals to resume the search in May.

The company has been awarded an 18-month contract on a “no find, no fee” basis, with the promise of $70m (£56m) should it uncover substantial evidence of the plane’s final location.

Mr Loke confirmed that the data had been thoroughly reviewed and deemed credible.

He added: “Nobody knows for sure but we hope this time will be positive and that the wreckage will be found, giving closure to the families.”

MH370, piloted by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, lost contact with air traffic control less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, en route to Beijing.

Shortly after the plane’s transponder was turned off, it deviated from its planned flight path, flying for hours without communication before disappearing into the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.

Despite extensive searches and numerous theories, the exact cause of the aircraft’s diversion and ultimate crash remains unknown, and many questions about Mr Zaharie’s role in the incident persist, with some speculating that he may have deliberately flown the plane off course.