Debate: Was my uncle right that the 2019 Malaysia plane report was sanitized?

My uncle worked in aviation maintenance for 30 years and told me the official report on MH370 left out key radar data from the Indian Ocean. He said Flightradar24 showed a 200-mile detour that was never mentioned. But the official investigators claimed the satellite pings told the full story. Which side has more weight here - the leaked data or the official narrative?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake1911d ago

Hang on - are you sure about Flightradar24 showing a 200-mile detour? That website only tracks planes with ADS-B transponders turned on, and MH370's transponder stopped working around 1:30 AM. What your uncle might be remembering is that some amateur flight trackers tried to piece together military radar data, but that's not the same as Flightradar24 itself showing the plane's path. The real mystery is why the official report barely mentioned the military radar that did track the plane turning back over the Malay Peninsula.

lily971d ago

You make a fair point about Flightradar24 only tracking ADS-B signals, but the military radar data is actually more solid than people give it credit for. Those amateur trackers were using raw radar feeds from multiple sources, not just guessing based on civilian data. The official report definitely glossed over the military radar evidence, which is strange given how clearly it showed the plane changing course over the peninsula.