Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 entered a holding pattern for 22 minutes

Marked up the map with some of the article commentary so it&#x27;s easier to follow: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;a&#x2F;y2y7GTJ" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;a&#x2F;y2y7GTJ</a>

This link is a short summary of a paper that&#x27;s here:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dropbox.com&#x2F;s&#x2F;wif8oqzgm74sdqv&#x2F;GDTAAA%20V4%20MH370%2007MAR2014%201716%20UTC%20Paper.pdf?dl=0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dropbox.com&#x2F;s&#x2F;wif8oqzgm74sdqv&#x2F;GDTAAA%20V4%20MH37...</a><p>Richard Godfrey is the author and he used WSPR &quot;The WSPR protocol exchanges call sign, location and other information between radio stations.&quot; I guess it&#x27;s this?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;WSPR_(amateur_radio_software)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;WSPR_(amateur_radio_software)</a><p>I don&#x27;t know ANYTHING about him or WSPR, so I have no idea what this means.

I’m always skeptical of anything based on ‘revolutionary new technology’ established as the credible source of the claim, without a deep dive or explanation of said tech.

The claim that the pattern was flown at a constant <i>groundspeed</i> of 497 knots[1] seems to imply no (or little) wind at that place, altitude and time. Is that plausible?<p>[1] This claim appears in Godfrey&#x27;s original, so it is not a case of the reporter misunderstanding.

No idea if this is any good or not, but some things don&#x27;t add up:<p>quote from the article: &quot;Neither the Malaysian nor the Indonesian Military have published any radar data&quot;<p>wikipedia: &quot;Data from Malaysian military radar showing Flight 370 (green) crossing the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea to where it was last detected by radar.&quot; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370#&#x2F;media&#x2F;File:MH370_radar.jpeg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370#&#x2F;...</a>

There is a straight line flight path(if I&#x27;m reading this right)looking like a longitude correction, followed by a latitude correction (in the wrong place) for a landing at &quot;BEDAX&quot;. Holding pattern waiting for radio comms? Then a ditch to the nearest open sea? Was someone spoofing GPS data? PS: if I am taking out of my hat, then please disregard. I am not a flier, and had to check which is lat and long!

“If the pilot’s goal was to make MH370 disappear without trace, then why waste fuel with a holding pattern and why not head directly to most remote area possible of the Indian Ocean without deviation?”<p>I mean I know literally nothing at all and am speculating on top of speculation. But if you were gaming out this plan, wouldn&#x27;t that seem an opportune moment to execute your plan to disable the other pilot?

The aircraft was at 36,000 feet in the hold. Perhaps the pilot put the plane in the hold so he could subdue remaining crew and pax or mess with something outside of the cockpit?<p>At that altitude anyone without oxygen would be passed out or dead (higher than Mt Everest).<p>In another tragedy, A Greek 737 had a pressurization issue (crew failed to communicate because one was Ukrainian and the other was Greek) and it killed everyone except a flight attendant. The FA could not get the plane off autopilot to descend. The aircraft flew to the last waypoint in the FMS and entered a hold and continued holding until it ran out of fuel and crashed.<p>Perhaps that was what happened with this hold except it eventually left the hold for some reason and continued until it ran out of fuel and descended into the ocean?

One of the conspiracy theories:<p>New conspiracy theory claims US Air Force shot down MH370 in a failed bid to intercept it and seize electronic equipment on its way to China<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-9407441&#x2F;Author-reveals-startling-new-theory-missing-Malaysia-Airlines-MH370-jet.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-9407441&#x2F;Author-reve...</a><p>-<p>There is a history of CIA subterfuge in that area:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Allen_Lawrence_Pope" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Allen_Lawrence_Pope</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;CIA_activities_in_Indonesia" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;CIA_activities_in_Indonesia</a>

&gt; “If the pilot’s goal was to make MH370 disappear without trace, then why waste fuel with a holding pattern and...&quot;<p>If you want to disappear, if the plane is going to crash into the ocean, you want to crash with no fuel. Else, you&#x27;ll leave an oil &#x2F; fuel slick. Yes?<p>So burning fuel makes sense, in this scenario.