MH370 did not crash in the Maldives according to one of the world's leading oceanographers, pouring cold water on a recent theory. Charitha Pattiaratchi, Winthrop Professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western Australia told AirlineRatings.com that MH370 could not have crashed in the Maldives because the "debris would have ended up in Somalia" and other northeast African states six months before the first piece was recovered at Reunion Island. MH370, a Malaysia Airlines 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014, on a flight from KL to Beijing. "Later, the current would have circled back and deposited debris on India and Sri Lanka shores," Professor Pattiaratchi said. He added that based on hard evidence, not theory, MH370 must be due west of Perth Western Australia between the latitudes 28 and 33 south. "It is most likely at Broken Ridge (32 degrees south) on the seventh arc," said Professor Pattiaratchi. That location is about 2000km due west of Perth, Western Australia and the "seventh arc" is a satellite-related curved line that marks the last contact with MH370. The topography is very mountainous and the depth is between 4000 and 6000m. READ: Qatar Airways soars to 100 destinations. SEE video of Broken Ridge. He says the next search should go wider from the seventh arc than the 50 miles on either side previously completed. Last month an Adelaide-based aerospace engineer produced a 68-page analysis suggesting that MH370 crashed near the Maldives. The Maldives crash theory is not new and was originally based on sightings of a low- flying Boeing 777. However, debris hunter Blaine Gibson said that MH370 crash expert Don Thompson had solved the mystery of the low flying 777 on the morning of March 8, 2014. "Don's research has turned up that a Saudia 777, registered HZ-AKF, landed at Male at 8.37 am on March 8, 2014. "Ït was apparently a private flight and there was some low flying before it landed," Mr. Gibson said.

"I have interviewed the people who sighted the 777 and they all said that it was blue and white, which are the colors of the Saudi plane" The Malaysian government has been offered a second search by US-based Ocean Infinity on a no find no fee basis but has so far declined. In January 2018 Ocean Infinity conducted an unsuccessful survey under contract from the Malaysian Government on the same basis.