WSPR - A new lead in the hunt for MH370 ?

[toucana]

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, the BBC have broadcast a new documentary about the mystery called ‘Why Planes Vanish:The Hunt for MH370’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001x0yh/why-planes-vanish-the-hunt-for-mh370

This documentary (currently available in UK on iPlayer) provides a concise history of the disappearance of the Boeing 777 flight with 239 souls aboard on March 8th 2014, and updates the story of the ongoing international search to find it.

One of the most intriguing leads comes from new research by a retired Aviation engineer Richard Godfrey who has studied the possibility of using the WSPR network dataset to track the exact position of MH370 on the night of its disappearance. WSPR (weak signal propagation reporter) is an amateur radio protocol system set up in 2008 which is based on small MF and HF transmitters  around the world that broadcast low power test signals to evaluate the conditions of their propagation paths through the earth’s atmosphere. The transmission and reception data is automatically logged in a large database.

Richard Godfrey who likens WSPR to a global network of tripwires has suggested that close study of the WSPR data can disclose signal-to-noise and frequency drift anomalies caused by the passage of MH370 on its final flight into the southern Indian Ocean. It’s a suggestion that raised eyebrows and was met with much scepticism at first, but the idea of using WSPR as a form of OTH (over the horizon) radar happens to be testable. A number of proof of concept studies have been undertaken recently, including one led by Professor Simon Maskell at Liverpool University, and the results are said to be sufficiently encouraging that deep-sea search specialists Ocean Infinity are now negotiating with Australian and Malaysian authorities to resume their search for MH370.

Richard Godfrey believes the WSPR data indicates that MH370 will be found within a 30Km sector just beyond those on the 7th Arc previously searched by Ocean Infinity. The hypothesis is that the pilot extended MH370’s flnal flight path by gliding the unpowered plane for another 20m or so after its engines flamed out from fuel depletion. (photo below)

Edited March 7 by toucana
Corrected 'Hunt' for 'Search' in intro

[toucana]

A new YT video by the well-known ‘Mentour Pilot’ channel goes into more detail about the overlap between the Inmarsat ACARS satellite tracking data of the MH370 flight, and that of the WSPR (weak signal propagation reporter) dataset mentioned above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5K9HBiJpuk

It provides a highly lucid account of the flight operations procedures from a pilot’s POV, based on research by two French pilots Capt Blelly and Jean Luc-Marchand, along with links to the latest WSPR research sites including a very recent paper from 15 February 2024 by Dr Hannes Coetzee and Prof. Simon Maskell  - ‘How Does WSPR Detect Aircraft over Long Distances - 15FEB2024’

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vzftcvfx01lhbt3xfgyu5/How-Does-WSPR-Detect-Aircraft-over-Long-Distances-15FEB2024.pdf?rlkey=p8dcu8q3ww741joa922bdikng&dl=0

This offers some worked examples of how WSPR data can be used to track large aeroplanes in flight.