Eerie deep sea footage inside sunken passenger plane mistaken for MH370
Eerie new footage has emerged of a sunken passenger plane once thought to be the wreck of the MH370, raising more questions about its disappearance.
Lockheed Martin’s L1011 Tristar plane was deliberately sunk in 2019, where it now serves as a home for sealife.
The large 400-seater jumbo set was first put into service in the mid-1980s, but was slowly phased out and spent its last few years abandoned on a runway at King Hussein International Airport in Jordan.
After years of idleness, it was eventually purchased by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and dropped into the Red Sea.
The move was intended to promote scuba diving tourism and coral growth, and has since seen scores of divers seek out the downed aircraft to explore its ruined interior and artificial reef.
All three of the plane’s engines are still mounted to its wings and tail fin, and the crafts cockpit, toilets, and galleys are still intact, Scuba Diving magazine reported in 2022.
Underwater photographer Brett Hoelzer filmed himself searching through the wreckage, and shared footage of the ghostly interior.
Hoelzer previously told CNN Arabic: ‘The cockpit is the shallowest part of the wreck and faces the beach at about 13 metres.
‘Scuba divers can go to the back to the last two exit doors, which are at a depth of 28 metres. Or they can exit from the middle doors, which are at a depth of about 20 metres.’
The plane has since become one of Jordan’s most visited dive sites, according to local diving company Deep Blue Dive Centre.
But the wreck has also courted controversy after a now-deleted social media post went viral last year following speculation that it was actually the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), which disappeared in 2014.
According to USA Today, the caption for the image read: ‘Malaysia Airplane MH370 that disappeared nine years ago has been found under ocean with no human skeleton. The plane had 239 passengers on board.’
However, the rumours were quickly put to bed as the picture was proven to match footage released by the Deep Blue Dive Centre. An inscription alongside the picture read: ‘Tristar Airplane Wreck. Red Sea, Aqaba.’
The wreck of the MH370, which disappeared without trace while on route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, has still never been found, and continues to fuel conspiracy theories to this day, many of which give rise to uncomfortable questions about the flight path and the potential involvement of the pilot.
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