A guest post by Dr. Robert Westphal with a working paper answering frequently asked questions about WSPR technology.
People have expressed their concerns in Youtube (VK7HH with approximately 300 comments and others), Reddit and other media platforms. Some comments are very general, other comments are more specific.
The majority of comments demonstrate a lack of knowledge and expertise with regard to this specific topic of WSPR and MH370.
This working paper is designed to help to get a better understanding of the physics, RADAR terminology and specifications, special effects in the interaction of WSPR signals and aircraft. Tests and experiments accomplished or planned with regard to this new subject have been described.
You can download the working paper here
Dr. Robert Westphal was the first person to put forward the idea of using WSPR to detect and track MH370.
He presented his idea at HamSCI, which is the international radio amateur scientific conference, in a paper “Geocaching in the Ionosphere” dated 21st March 2021 which can be downloaded here
I’ve been following your work and MH370 for a while. I really hope it gets found so we can find out what really happened so it doesn’t happen again.
What’s your take on the news that ocean infinity’s search has now been suspended until the end of the year? I was really optimistic when the search resumed but now it feels like a step backwards.
Also – I know there are many theories out there… but do you really think this was the act of the Captain? Based on what was on his flight simulator ?
@Lee,
Welcome to the blog!
I find it quite bizarre that the MH370 Families announce “The MH370 ‘No-Find No Fee’ Search Contract between Malaysia and Ocean Infinity has been signed” on 27th March 2025 and Armada 7806 suspends their mapping work in the MH370 search area on 28th March 2025, just one day later.
@Duncan observed: “So it looks like the mainstream media have belatedly grasped that we have a counterintuitive – verging on bizarre – situation where Ocean Infinity search when they don’t have a contract, and stop searching immediately they do have a contract.”
There are around 150 books written about MH370, each with a theory of what happened.
I don’t think any of the theories would hold up in a court of law.
I ran a survey of MH370 analysts asking them to score the the various theories as follows: “Strongly Agree”, “Agree”, “Neutral”, “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” …
A1 – ZS Murder-Suicide Captain to the End
A2 – ZS Murder-Suicide Captain just after FMT
B1 – FH Murder-Suicide Co-Pilot to the End
B2 – FH Murder-Suicide Co-Pilot just after FMT
C1 – Hijacker Murder-Suicide Pilot to the End
C2 – Hijacker Murder-Suicide Pilot just after FMT
D1 – Lithium-Ion Battery Fire in Cargo
D2 – Lithium-Ion Battery Fire in Cabin
D3 – Electrical Fire in Cockpit
D4 – Electrical Fire in Main Equipment Center
E1 – In-Flight Slow Decompression
E2 – In-Flight Rapid Decompression
F1 – Single Failure, Hypoxia, Ghost Flight after FMT
F2 – Multiple Failures, Hypoxia, Ghost Flight after FMT
G – Other (Please Specify …………………….)
The experts were quite divided:
A1 24%
A2 19%
F2 15%
D3 11%
F1 8%
D4 6%
E2 6%
No one selected G – Other (Please Specify …………………….)
The 150 books do include a number of additional scenarios including MH370 was hijacked or remotely diverted by the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese, a conspiracy of a number of governments, UFOs, Aliens, …
We need to find the wreckage of MH370 and recover the data on the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder as well as forensic evidence of who was in the cockpit to solve this mystery.
For the record, I would have selected “G” or “none of the above,” but i was not asked
@BG370
G – Other (Please Specify …………………….)
Something none of the experts thought of, and none of the above. We will know if and when the 370 underwater debris field is found.
@BG370,
You make a very good point.
Your scenario is very possible. Something that the experts wouldn’t come up with and something not typical for an aircraft incident.
This is a true “Other”, where no one can specify, because no one knows exactly what happened or conceive of what might have happened.
It is not typical, when an aircraft has a technical problem or a fire, that it carries on flying for 7 hours 37 minutes until fuel exhaustion.
It is not typical, when an aircraft is hijacked, that there are no demands made to the authorities.
It is not typical, when an aircraft is diverted by a suicide case, that the aircraft is not crashed into the nearest obstacle.
It is not typical, that a modern aircraft with 3 VHF radios, 2 HF radios and satellite communications fails to make an emergency call.
It is not typical, that with radars, transponders, satellite tracking and collision avoidance systems, that a modern airliner just disappears.
Hello Richard, how are you my friend? I would like you to talk more about Vicente Lyne’s study, Vicente states that the plane crashed in the area (broken ridge) with more than 4,000 meters of depth, he states that the plane did not fly vertically in the final moments of the flight but ended up making a controlled landing called a (declination model) in his theory, he states that the mh370 descended slowly and turned east towards Australia, for this reason he states that there was no reboot in the plane’s system. Vicente says that when the mh370 makes the curve the doppler frequency changes and in his mathematical model, he explains how much the frequency changes and matches exactly the frequency that was recorded on the irmansat satellite according to his study.
He also states that the mh370 had fuel until the end of its fall, and that is why it ended up making a controlled landing attempt that ended up becoming a failed controlled landing attempt, due to the rough sea and the waves of the Indian Ocean that possibly prevented the plane’s body from being swallowed without leaving a trail of destruction.
It would be better if you and Jeffrey made a video explaining his study, I’m sure there are many followers of the channel who don’t know about Vicente’s study, I speak from Brazil and I follow all your videos, I love you, may God bless you…
Hi Richard,
Is it possible the pilot in command knew Inmarsat, Lockheed, Thales learned from Air France 447 2009 crash and he tried to confuse this data logging of BTO/BFO by making unnecessary turns at the right time ?
According to WSPR data there were many unnecessary turns, at the exact time, when the regular – periodic – 1 hour satellite log-in was due.
All of these unnecessary turns around the Arcs, did compromise his fuel reserve to travel further south. Especially if we look into the original plan to “redirect” MH150 which had more fuel on board and planned to go even further south, according to the pilot in command home flight simulation PC.
If WSPR data is correct the pilot in command knew about what Inmarsat, Lockheed, Thales learned from Air France 447 and therefore he did sacrifice travel range to disguise the final destination. These extra turns around each and every Arc must be done deliberately. Without the unnecessary extra turns, he could travel south a lot more, so there must be a reason for these turns.
Pilot in command showcased multiple times way above normal civilian pilot knowledge about aircraft technical details and system operations, military radars, processes…
Also there are extra turns according to WSPR tracking when satcom phone dial attempts were made to reach MH370 as I recall from the study
Maybe the deep dive at the 7th Arc was to fool Inmarsat tracking to mimic the plane is uncontrollably crashing into the ocean? Then take it out from dive a bit later and glide an extra 40-70 nautical miles away from the predicted crash point to ditch ?
@Zsolt,
Welcome to the blog!
I disagree that the turns were unnecessary, they were planned and always to a waypoint, but never to join a flight route.
The objective was not to maximise fuel usage, the objective was to hide the aircraft in a location where it would never be found.
You are correct that MH150 was the original target and the model flight used on Captain Zaharie Shah’s home flight simulator.
Captain Zaharie Shah had expert knowledge of the radar coverage and flight operations in the region.
Your hypothesis is plausible.
That’s the question that’s nagging at me: if pilot was such a mastermind as we are giving him credit for (which, admittedly, is just the resultant of knowledge, experience, and nefarious motivation), wouldn’t he be aware of Inmarsat tracking the plane?..
Jeff Wise’s contact suggested that OI doesn’t plan to search the area identified by your WSPR work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFqeKZWvzeo
I find it disappointing that OI is so secretive about its plans for the search. I also find it odd that it made the journey to the area when it knew it had “prior commercial commitments”. Surely the company was aware that it was unlikely to find the wreckage in such a short period of time. How was it financially viable to send the ship and crew there? It doesn’t add up.
@Graham,
Why did Ocean Infinity invite Prof. Simon Maskell, my co-author on WSPR papers and leader of a team at Liverpool University researching WSPR to their proposal presentation meeting with the Malaysian authorities, if they were not planning to search the area identified by the WSPR work?
I have no idea. I certainly hope OI does incorporate it into its search!
Zaharie Shah couldn’t have known about WSPR — it’s similar to murders that could only be solved years later through DNA technology. Ocean Infinity made a major mistake by not searching the WSPR area first. Only the WSPR technology is sufficiently precise and conclusive. All other potential crash sites rely on many assumptions and are significantly weaker.
Comment *Hi Richard ! Is It possible that the fireball hit the plane and caused electric chaos in cockpit and cabin which caused that autopilot took control, any electric equipment stopped working, landing wheels went down and the plane flew about 7 hours without any other control and endly landed to the sea so smoothly that it broked very little.
@Major Psy,
Welcome to the blog!
Obviously, Captain Zaharie Shah could not known bout WSPR being used to detect and track aircraft back in 2014, as our work only started in 2021.
Ocean Infinity have not started searching, they have only filled in gaps in the survey work to complete the bathymetric data they require for future search operations. This is a very logical approach, which I fully support.
@Raimo Heikkinen,
Welcome to the blog!
Anything is possible, but the question is, was it likely that MH370 was hit by a meteorite ?
About once a year, a large asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface.
Every 2,000 years or so, a large meteorite hits the Earth and causes significant damage to the area.
In my view, the chance that MH370 was hit by a meteorite is negligible. The chances that MH370 continued to fly for up to 7 hours 37 minutes following a meteorite hit are zero.
Hi Richard ! What do you think about thunderball or lightning if there were thunderstorms in that area where MH 370 flew that night ? We know that these weather conditions, especially lightnings are not mostly dangerous to aeroplane but if thunderball hit MH 370 and electricity went out of control as air condition and cabin airpressure collapsed. In that case oxygen ended and crew and passengers losed their ability to breath. At the same time in cockpit captain decided to return back to the nearest flightstation and turned the plane left through Malaca to Indian Ocean. Because all electricity and navigation system had gone he had to drived the plane with hands and tried to keep it flying so long as he could and finally when gas ended the plane landed to sea like captain Sullivan did in Hudson river. The place is below Inmarsat Pleiades where that satellite found debris first on the Indian Ocean.
@Raimo Heikkinen,
Your scenario is not plausible. for the following reasons:
The average aircraft gets hit by lightning once per year. Aircraft are designed to withstand a direct hit by lightning.
There were no thunderstorms or lightning in the Indian Ocean on the night of 7th/8th March 2014.
There was a high pressure zone at 1022 mB (or hPa), with pressure increasing in the MH370 crash area.
The wind was 15 to 18 knots, which is a moderate to fresh breeze.
There was broken cloud with scattered showers possible.
The surface temperature was 21°C (70°F) with a relative humidity of 80% to 84%.
There were moderate waves 2 m to 3 m high, with a pronounced long form, with white horses and some spray in the air.
The emergency oxygen for passengers lasts 20 minutes, which is time to get to a safe altitude.
The emergency oxygen for the crew lasts much longer and for the pilot for the whole 7 hours 37 minutes flight.
There was no attempt at an emergency landing at any of the airports in the vicinity of the diversion or on the route back across Malaysia and out into the Malacca Strait.
The aircraft has a RAM turbine system that supplies essential power even when both engines and the auxiliary power unit fail.
The Pléiades satellite pictures (from the French Space Agency CNES, not Inmarsat) did not show any conclusive evidence of debris being from MH370.
Richard
Based on every detail and information you have.. do you have confidence the plane will be found?
@Lee,
The more data we have. the greater my confidence becomes, that we will find MH370.
I had an email yesterday announcing more official data.
You can never be 100% confident, but I am over 90% confident that MH370 will be found one day. It might just take longer, than we would like.
Hi Richard
Hope you are well, firstly thank you for all the time and effort you have taken in keeping us all up to date with the search pf MH370
I really hope the aeroplane can be located and all the questions can be answered, such as the following, now it has been highly thought that the pilot acted in a murder suicide mission given the possibility of political aspects and the gathered evidence form a flight simulator from the pilots home computer, what has got me wondering is if the above is to be true, then why would the plane be flown to such a remote part of the ocean, where there is the possibility of never locating the wreckage, it would seem to me that the pilot of whomever was in control did not want the plane to be found, and if this were the case then is it possible the information gathered from the simulator was that a possible red herring.
Would like to know your thoughts on this
@John Mc,
Welcome to the blog!
I do not believe the information from the home flight simulator was a red herring, as it fits the initial flight path and fuel quantity of a real world flight that Captain Zaharie Shah conducted shortly after, which was MH150 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The intent was to divert the aircraft to a remote and not obvious location, where it would be difficult to find. The perpetrator did not want to be found out, nor bring shame to his family and friends.
Hi Richard,
We briefly exchanged emails last year.
I was hoping the search area defined by Ocean Infinity would overlap with the one you defined in your research but – correct me if I’m wrong – this doesn’t appear to be the case. Have you been directly contacted by anybody in charge of the search?
As for the black boxes, given that the transponder was turned off, is it possible to disable them from the cockpit? (I don’t know, for example, through a circuit breaker?)
@NotSharingName,
Ocean Infinity have not yet started the search proper, they have only done some preparatory survey work.
We have had regular contact with Ocean Infinity and the ATSB.
We have had regular contact with Pete Foley and Prof. Simon Maskell, who are both advising Ocean Infinity on the MH370 search.
It is possible to disable the black boxes by pulling the circuit breakers, but not from the cockpit.
You have to enter the Main Equipment Centre (MEC), which is located underneath the cockpit floor.
There is an access hatch outside the cockpit in the forward galley area, where you can lift the floor carpet and open a hatch. There is a ladder that allows you to descend into the MEC.
The VOX RCDR circuit breaker for the 115V AC is on the Left Power Management Panel P110.
The FDRS circuit breakers for the 115V AC and 28V DC are on the Right Power Management Panel P210.
There are around 480 circuit breakers on a Boeing 777, including the cockpit (130), MEC (176), cargo and galley areas, so it requires expert knowledge to pull the correct circuit breakers.
Mr. Godfrey: Thank you for your excellent and original work on Mh370. Do you have any information on the following important questions—which could potentially solve the mystery: Why did Tony Abbott wait FOR YEARS to reveal that he was told within days of MH370’s disappearance by the highest levels of the Malaysian government that MH370 was a murder/suicide? What evidence was he shown to convince him that it was a pilot murder/suicide? Has anyone tried to interview Tony Abbott since he made those shocking statements on 60 Minutes to try to compel him to elaborate on his 60 Minutes statements?
Many, many thanks!
@Lily Whiteman,
Welcome to the blog!
Your question should be addressed to Tony Abbott. We know for a fact that he made a number of statements on MH370 over the years. I can only guess that his statement to 60 Minutes Australia broadcast on 19th February 2020, was long enough after the official investigation report was published in July 2018, so as not to be seen as interference in an ongoing investigation.
Hi,
Is there any data and information from Kerguelen Plateau?
@Chup,
Welcome to the blog!
We checked the Kerguelen Islands and could not find any MH370 relevant data.
Thank you for clarification.
I suppose it seems like it had sank whole of debris somewhere in broken ridge.
Hello Richard: Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to answer my question above. I so appreciate it. FYI: I absolutely love watching Airline News and The Plane Guys. You and Geoffrey Thomas provide fascinating, factual information–your shows are much more interesting and meaningful than any fiction. One of the first things I do in the morning here in Washington DC is tune into your latest show. Thank you for providing a daily dose of enlightenment. With gratitude, LIly
@Lily Whiteman,
Many thanks for the kind words.
@Hercules,
You ask: “I would like you to talk more about Vicente Lyne’s study”.
We have discussed Vincent Lyne’s various publications at length on this website over the last 4 years. I have nothing to add. Vincent Lyne’s theories are complete nonsense, in my view.
10th March 2021
https://www.mh370search.com/2021/03/06/mh370-credible-new-evidence/comment-page-1/#comment-445
7th September 2024
https://www.mh370search.com/2024/05/05/new-search/comment-page-1/#comment-2815
14th March 2025
https://www.mh370search.com/2024/05/05/new-search/comment-page-8/#comment-3874
20th March 2025
https://www.mh370search.com/2024/05/05/new-search/comment-page-8/#comment-3953
21st March 2025
https://www.mh370search.com/2024/05/05/new-search/comment-page-8/#comment-3962
@richard
Let’s say this was a murder/suicide, what safety measures are in place
To prevent this. I know psychological examinations are in place, is that enough? I get they are very rare, and you can never know what’s going through someone’s head. I remember the Germanwings disaster and safety measures were put in place pretty swiftly.
@Lee,
The Germanwings flight 9525 crash in 2015 and more recently the China Eastern flight 5735 in 2022 are stark reminders of pilot murder/suicide.
In my view, public safety is more important than individual patient confidentiality, but that raises a host of legal and ethical questions, with no absolute guarantee of a public safety outcome.
Over The Horizon Radar (OTHR) from Australia
The head of research and a protagonist in today’s news reports [1, 2] was also one of the co-authors of a paper on a passive HF radar setup in Australia back in 2008 [3] when it was still rather experimental. It is based on similar principles used in the search for MH370 with signals from WSPR. Initially, it was using one site only, then extended to three sites, all located within Australia. Likely, HF waveforms are different, and use higher transmission power levels and antenna gains (EIRP).
Eventually, Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) might have still raw data in their archives reaching back to the time of MH370? Although the coverage map at minute 1:00 in the video [1] does not seem to reach so far south-west of Inmarsat’s 7th arc (almost perpendicular or to the “back-side” to their impressive HF antenna arrays).
[1] Why Canada is turning to Australia for its defence needs | 7.30
ABC News In-depth
May 13, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEdMnVJn3mc
[2] Australia’s JORN defence radar is being bought by Canada, the decision is part of a wider shift
May 13, 2025
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-13/canada-urgently-wants-australias-jorn-defence-radar/105185284
[3] Passive Radar in the High Frequency Band
Giuseppe Fabrizio, Fabiola Colone, Pierfrancesco Lombardo, Alfonso Farina
IEEE National Radar Conference – Proceedings
June 2008
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224361391_Passive_Radar_in_the_High_Frequency_Band
@HB9CWP,
Many thanks for the interesting information.
A friend of mine used to work on JORN.
The paper on Passive Radar in the High Frequency Band is a fascinating read.
Giuseppe (Joe) Fabrizio has written several other papers on the subject of OTHR.
Any IEEE member can download the paper with a Digital Library Membership subscription.
Here is a link to the Abstract:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6yn8j0025etelhjofnp0w/Passive-radar-in-the-high-frequency-band-Abstract.png?rlkey=w9dcix2zttwumvhg8dv86aezu&dl=0
Hello Richard,
It’s been radio silence from both Ocean infinity and the next of kin. The spring in the southern hemisphere is here with November rapidly approaching. Is there any new information on the search taking place this year?
Has Simon Maskell published the paper on wspr? where can I find it? Thanks
This post is my first one on this Website. I am extremely impressed by the dedication you
have put into finding MH 370. I have not yet read any of your papers related to WSPR but
I hope I will be able to do so in the near future.
I have been following the MH 370 saga over the years. Here are some questions and
thoughts that I would like to share.
1) According to my information, the analysis of the flight simulator data from the
captain’s home PC was done by the FBI without the FBI ever releasing any of these data.
As we are in the year 2014, I presume the captain’s PC had a rotating disk as opposed to
an SSD. The FBI keeping the data to themselves strikes me as very odd. Why not put these
data into the public domain for other parties to be able to do their own analyses? In a
similar vein, have these data ever been shared with the originators of the flight
simulator software that the captain used? Is this company not Microsoft? Microsoft has
vast resources that I would surmise far surpass the FBI’s in terms of being able to
analyze this particular set of data. They come from their very own software product
that they know every little detail of. Would it not be extremely useful for the FBI to
make use of this expertise on Microsoft’s part? Even if Microsoft was involved and I just
have not heard about it, I could think of only one viable reason for the FBI to not share
the flight simulator data publicly. That would be having retrieved them from portions
of the disk drive on the captain’s home PC that had already been overwritten. This kind
of capability on the part of agencies like the FBI has long been rumored. It is presumed
to based on faint traces of previous bit patterns that may remain if overwrites on some
portion of a magnetic disk have not occurred too often. I could understand the FBI not
wanting to give any indications on how far they had come along with this kind of capability,
given it existed at the time. Otherwise, just retrieving data from disk that have only been
marked deleted but not yet overwritten did not – and does not – constitute any special
capability at all. Software that can do such disk scans has been in the public domain
for ages, and was certainly readily available already when the FBI did their work.
The FBI would not reveal anything sensitive about their own way of working if it
published data retrieved in this way.
2) What can be made of the copilot’s mobile phone having made contact to a ground
station along the flight path, long after the initial deviation occurred? Was it
investigated whether the mobile phone was switched on at take-off? I could be wrong,
but I gather that cockpit procedures at the time required pilots to switch off their
mobile phones prior to take-off. (I hope that continues to be the case to this day.)
Whether the copilot had his mobile phone on at take off should have been easy to
determine based on mobile phone tower records of the day. If it turns out that the
copilot probably did switch off his mobile phone prior to take-off, then that would
lead to all kinds of follow-on speculation, of course.
3) This part is more speculative, but being married to a clinical psychologist I am
prone it, so everyone please forgive me for posting it here. Studies have been made
with people who had survived serious suicide attempts, i.e. suicide attempts that were
not cries for help or some such but that should have killed them and where survival
only occurred due to some chance circumstance they could not foresee. These studies
show that (serious) suicide usually takes place in very peculiar state of mind where
the person in question is very much besides him- or herself. – Talking of people wanting
to put themselves to death, that’s not surprising, is it? So, the captain murder-suicide
theory holds the following. (1) The captain not only steered the airplane on its erratic,
but in large parts meticulously planned, and extremely demanding route over the course of
hours, but (2) he also spent many more hours prior to that planning and rehearsing
the deed on his flight simulator. (3) He did all of this highly organized planning and
execution with his certain death in mind and in the full knowledge of effectuating the
deaths of all other people onboard. (4) The planning phase took weeks and possibly
months all the while that nobody in personal and professional environs was noticing
anything untoward about him. (5) He made YoutTube videos about fixing stuff at home,
where he comes across very much like a normal, sympathetic guy who is empathetic and
likes helping people. (These videos, by the way, are still available on YT. Everybody
can check them out.) IIRC, he was also reported to have taken part in civic activities
that buttress this impression of him as a person. (6) That’s my personal impression,
but listening to his initial radio calls after take-off, he sounds cool, relaxed, and
cheerful to me just like the prototypical, self-confident airline captain.
This scenario beggars my belief given what is known about suicide. Yes, there are
examples of suicides that took a high degree of preparation, but these suicides are
usually set up in a away where the act itself is in some way automatic and does not
require any coordinated activity on the part of the person involved anymore.
The MH 370 case would be diametrically opposed to that in the most extreme way.
Going back to my initial point, if the captain went to such great lengths to make
the airplane and himself vanish, then why did he not wipe the hard disk on his simulator
PC? He was a highly technical and obviously quite practically-minded person, so this
thought should have occurred to him if the usual murder-suicide theory is correct. Tools
for wiping hard-drives have been in the public domain for ages just like disk scanning tools,
have always been easy to use, and they have always employed dynamic bit patterns
specifically laid out to thwart any theoretical possibility of reading data that have
been overwritten. This aspect is another one that leads me to believe that some kind of
cover-up may have occurred after all.