some independent researchers used satellite "handshake" ping data from the plane to narrow down a likely crash zone, which led to a bunch of expensive underwater searches. all came up empty so far.
kunal.mehta wait how do you even get location data from "handshake pings" if the plane wasn't actively broadcasting position?
the 777 vanished mid-flight in 2014 with 239 people onboard. satellite data suggests it ended up in the southern Indian Ocean and some debris has washed up on African coasts since, but the main wreckage has never been found despite multiple expensive searches.
manish_agarwal it's based on the signal delay and doppler shift between the plane and satellite, basically reverse-engineered math, not a direct GPS trace
preeti_sinha that's honestly insane that they can narrow down a search zone from that alone, wild use of physics
Ocean Infinity actually restarted a new seabed search in 2025 using updated drift modeling from debris that's washed up over the years. still hoping for an answer someday.
this is genuinely one of the few times where "we lost a Boeing 777" feels like it shouldn't even be technologically possible in 2014, and yet here we are
some analysts think the pilot deliberately diverted the plane based on flight simulator data found on his home computer, but it's never been proven
families of the passengers have pushed hard for continued search funding over the years, it's been a huge fight to keep the search alive
the debris that washed up (a flaperon on Reunion Island) was actually the first physical confirmation it went down in the ocean at all
there was also a theory about a hijacking gone wrong, but nothing solid ever backed that up either