MH370’s final moments pieced together in new documentary

By Alexandra Coulton

National Geographic has traced the final moments of missing flight MH370 in its documentary series, Drain the Oceans.

The series, which details the secrets that lie in the world’s oceans, worked closely with Perth-based Electric Pictures and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for the episode and is the only documentary team to be given such access to the investigation.

According to Newshub, experts recreated what may have happened to the plane using the latest data from underwater systems and expert opinions.

Electric Pictures CEO and executive producer Andrew Ogilvie told News Corp the footage in the documentary is like nothing ever seen before.

“Drain The Oceans uses a range of data — from bathymetric sonar scans to video footage and photogrammetry — with sophisticated computer-generated graphics to create highly accurate three-dimensional models of the bottom of our oceans, lakes and rivers,” Ogilvie said.

“This process allows the filmmakers to recreate natural wonders, shipwrecks, ancient ruins and other human artefacts that can be found on the sea floor — revealing them in unprecedented detail, as if they were on dry land.”

According to Drain the Oceans, the plane suffered fuel starvation in it’s right engine, causing the plane to make a hard left turn after autopilot kicked in to compensate for the imbalance. The plane’s other engine is thought to have failed shortly after.

Source: National Geographic via Newshub

Once both engines were gone, autopilot shut down and the aircraft engaged in a “long spiral descent”.

Last month Malaysian investigators released their final report on the disappearance of the flight, concluding they had not been able to determine the cause of the plane’s disappearance.

However, what they were able to determine was that the plane was manually turned around mid-air, cancelling out speculation that it had been under control of autopilot. The report also concluded that “unlawful interference by a third party” could not be ruled out.

Since then, a French airline authority has taken up an investigation to “verify the authenticity” of the technical data used in the investigation.

MH370 went missing on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The flight is thought to have changed course shortly after leaving Malaysian airspace, flying for more than six hours with its navigation systems turned off before plunging into the Indian Ocean.

The plane’s disappearance has since turned into one of the largest underwater search operations in history, turning up no results besides three wing fragments.

Featured image source: National Geographic via News Corp

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drain the oceans mh370 national geographic