New York: How an American Obsessed With the MH370 Case May Have a Found a Piece of the Missing Plane

Blaine Alan Gibson, a 58-year old lawyer who lives in Seattle, Washington, has spent much of the past year traveling around the Indian Ocean region trying to solve the mystery what happened to Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. He’s been to the Maldives to talk to villagers who say they saw a large plane fly low overhead the day after the disappearance; visited Réunion Island to interview the local who found the flaperon from MH370; and met with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss to discuss the ongoing seabed search. He has no professional background in aircraft accident investigation or journalism, and no professional accreditation. He is simply motivated by the desire to know what happened to the airliner. “I do not have a theory,” he emailed me last September. “I am just looking for evidence that may have been prematurely dismissed.”

Last week, Gibson found himself in Mozambique searching for debris on local beaches. On February 27, he says, he hired a boat captain to take him someplace where flotsam from the ocean tended to wash up. The captain chose a sandbar called Paluma a half-dozen miles from the coastal town of Vilankulos. They arrived at around 7 a.m., and after about 20 minutes on the flat, low stretch of sand the boat captain spotted something unusual and handed it to Gibson.

The next morning, Gibson emailed me a description of the object:

The debris appears to be made of a fiberglass composite and has aluminum honeycomb inside. NO STEP is written on one side. It appears to be from an aircraft wing … The piece is torn and broken into a triangular shape, 94 cm long at the base and 60 cm high. The remaining highlock pin has a 10 mm diameter head. The pin itself is about 12 mm long. The bolt holes are spaced about 30 mm apart from center to center of hole. The distance from the edge of the hole with the pin to the intact edge is about 8 mm. At the bottom of the intact edge there is a very thin (1 to 2 mm thick) strip of dried rubber remaining that runs about 30 mm along the edge before it was broken off. The intact edge is only 65 mm long. All the rest is broken.
In a video that Gibson posted to a closed-access Facebook page, the fragment looks quite light and insubstantial, easy enough for one man to pick up and wave around — unlike the flaperon found on Réunion, which required several people to lift. Gibson asked me to keep his find a secret, explaining, “It is too large and metallic to be easily taken out of the country, and needs to have its provenance documented. The procedure with other possible debris discoveries in La Réunion, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia has been to report it to local authorities first. Then the responsible international investigators can come to inspect.”

On Tuesday, Gibson bundled up the piece in cardboard and flew with it to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, to turn it over to the authorities. Wednesday morning, news articles about the discovery appeared on CNN, the BBC, NBC, and elsewhere. According to these accounts, experts believe that the piece could be part of the composite skin from the horizontal stabilizer – that is, one of the miniature “wings” on either side of the tail — of a 777. And, of course, no other 777 has been lost in the Indian Ocean except for MH370.

On Wednesday afternoon, I managed to reach Gibson by phone in Maputo. He sounded tired but elated, having just gotten off a live interview on Richard Quest’s show on CNN. “I did not expect that this would all hit this early and so fast,” he said. He told me that he and the Australian consul had met earlier that day with the head of civil aviation in Mozambique, who promised that he would do the proper paperwork and then turn the piece over to the Australian Transportation Safety Board, who are overseeing the search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean. “It’s in very good hands,” he said.

When he first held the piece, he told me, his immediate reaction was that it was so light and thin, that it was probably from some light aircraft or small plane — “but maybe it’s from MH370.” Only when back on dry land and able to consult with other MH370 researchers did he realize that the lettering looks identical to the “NO STEP” warnings on the wings of 777s, and the alphanumerical code on the head of a rivet indicates that it’s a fastener used in the aerospace industry.

To verify that the part could indeed have floated its way naturally to the beach, he had put it in the ocean and photographed it floating “just absolutely flat as a pancake” at the surface. He was struck by the absence of marine life. “There were a few little things that looked like a little bit of algae or calcification that may have come from something that tried to attach there,” he says. “But the top surface with NO STEP on it was very smooth, and the bottom was a little rougher but still pretty smooth.”

He knows that sounds odd: after two years in the ocean, a piece of floating debris should be encrusted with growth. But having spent the last year steeped in the oddness of the case, he’s learned to expect the unexpected. “I’m open to anything,” he says. Even the timing of the discovery was eyebrow-raising: Just a few days before the second anniversary of the MH370’s disappearance.

The yearlong plunge into the case is just the latest rabbit hole for the California-bred Gibson, who is fluent in six languages. In the past he has traveled to remote Siberia to investigate the Tunguska meteor, to Central America to figure out why the Maya disappeared, and to Ethiopia in search of the Lost Ark. So he knows not only about unraveling weird mysteries, but also the skepticism that such efforts can engender. “I can tell you this about that piece: it is absolutely authentically there,” he says. “There is no way that that was planted there by any shenanigans. I rode with those guys on the boat there, and they didn’t carry anything there. It was a completely natural find. It was just freak luck or destiny, whatever you want to call it.”

This piece originally appeared on the New York magazine web site on March 3, 2016.

356 thoughts on “New York: How an American Obsessed With the MH370 Case May Have a Found a Piece of the Missing Plane”

  1. – Lawyer

    – “After about 20 minutes on the flat, low stretch of sand the boat captain spotted something”

    – “Just a few days before the second anniversary of the MH370’s disappearance.”

    – “Gibson asked me to keep his find a secret, explaining, “It is too large and metallic to be easily taken out of the country, and needs to have its provenance documented.”

    Sorry, but all this smells rotten. Especially in the light of earlier Victor’s comments with regard to the photographs. What is real motivation of this lawyer? I don’t buy his story.

  2. @Gysbreght

    Following up on our previous conversation:

    ”At 1815 UTC [0215 MYT] (no voice recording) extracted from Watch Supervisor Log Book,
    KL ATCC Watch Supervisor queried Malaysia Airlines Operations who informed that MH370
    was able to exchange signals with the Flight Explorer.”

    ”1834:21 UTC [0234:21 MYT] KL ATCC
    But earlier we checked with MAS I think your side somebody said that the aircraft still flying and you already send signal to the aircraft.”

    ”1834:38 UTC [0234:38 MYT] KL ATCC But daa…how do you know that they ooo…ya…
    1834:41 UTC [0234:41 MYT]
    MAS Operations Because of the…. message went through successfully.
    1834:44 UTC [0234:44 MYT]
    KL ATCC Successfully went through.”

    ”1835:36 UTC [0235:36 MYT]
    MAS Operations Aircraft still sending the … movement message.”

    ”2251:55 UTC [0651:55 MYT]
    Singapore ATCC Okay so aaa… can I just confirm that aaa Malaysia Airlines is still trying to establish contact.
    2252:04 UTC [0652:04 MYT]
    KL ATCC Yeah yeah we also trying to establish contact with this aircraft and this Malaysian Airlines already request earlier much much earlier since aah…aircraft reported missing by by Ho Chi Minh lah but until now no information about this aircraft.”

    ”1956:32 UTC [0356:32 MYT] KL ATCC Is there anything on any news on Mal Malaysian Three
    Seven Zero.
    1956:35 UTC [0356:35 MYT]
    MAS Operations Not yet laa sir.”

    ”1957:24 UTC [0357:24 MYT]
    MAS Operations No news so kita orang pun try juga [National Language]
    I… aircraft.”

    ”2121:33 UTC [0521:33 MYT] MAS Operations
    Suggest that the aircraft had never leave Lumpur airspace, okay.
    2121:41 UTC [0521:41 MYT] KL ATCC
    Had never leave Lumpur airspce.”

    http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-plane-truth-malaysia-airlines-boss-hugh-dunleavy-on-what-really-happened-the-night-flight-mh370-9556444.html

    ”Dunleavy replays the early hours of response, wondering what could have been different. “…An hour goes by frighteningly quickly — you realise that the missing plane is now another 600 miles somewhere else.””

    ”In those first hours, Malaysia Airlines’ executives all thought the plane had diverted — not crashed. “But by 06.30, the plane was supposed to be landing at Beijing.”

    I have asked the question earlier of whether availability of the SATCOM connection can be tracked on the monitor in the control centre. Another possibility is they knew MH370 was still flying because both sat phone calls went through successfully for a minute each, which is incosistent with the plane not flying any longer.

  3. @Nederland:
    “Another possibility is they knew MH370 was still flying because both sat phone calls went through successfully for a minute each, which is incosistent with the plane not flying any longer.”

    You are supposing that those “people” knew exactly how the SATCOM system worked and what response the caller gets when a phone call is not answered to. Even today the ‘experts’ on this forum are still debating whether the phone in the airplane was actually ‘ringing’.

  4. It’s days that I am trying to contact various journalists to get “attention” to a satellite image that shows a diffused field of debris in South China Sea on March 16 2014. No one answered.

    I purchased the satellite image in question and I’m 99% sure it has something to do with MH370 crash zone (if not MH370 debris exactly)

    For reference it is one of the ares initially shown by Tomnod. Exact location is 7.619, 109.09 and it an extract from Worldview-1 scene ID 102001002D459000

    There are literally thousands of little (different dimensions though) white objects that float in water. It’s actually a bit sad to look at this image.

    https://picturepush.com/showformat.php?format=img&image=14968741

    What do you think?

  5. @Gysbreght

    I’m not trying to blame, I just find it odd that from early on everyone seem to have thought the plane was still flying rather than crashed, even though it lost radar contact and communication.

  6. I’ve been reading the comments on this site for many months and am impressed by the knowledge and interest that many commenters have. I do not understand much of the esoteric info that I read. That said, can someone cut to the chase for me? What are the implications if this new piece of debris if found to be authentic? 1. Is it probable that the plane crashed much earlier and did not fly for 6 more hours after communications stopped?
    2. Does this change the area that should be searched now?
    Keep the responses simple guys! And thank you!

  7. I have been a long time lurker. Thank you everyone for such great detective work. I too, have a problem with this recent find. Yesterday, almost immediately after the report of the latest piece found, the news also reported a U.S. government official saying that it was most likely from flight 370. That struck me as very odd. Seems a bit premature.

  8. Anyone is interested to uncut version of high-res (50cm/px) of satellite image?

    I just finished uploading it.

  9. @mm33vv

    Looks like bog standard wave crests. Might be helpful to circle what you’re suggesting as debris.

  10. Fellow IG member @GuardedDon has found documentation that a composite skin with an aluminum honeycomb core is consistent with the skin of the horizontal stabilizer of a B777. That combined with the exact match of the NO STEP lettering strongly suggests the part found by Blaine Gibson is from a B777.

    I’ve yet to hear an explanation of how a part that drifts across the Indian Ocean over the course of 2 years can be in such relatively good condition. There are no barnacles and there appears to be little or no algae growth. That said, I claim no expertise in marine organisms.

  11. @Gysbreght at least in logs it is really noticed as “unanswered phone calls” events (lasting for minute or so) and it is supposed to ring and flash visually somewhere etc; and imagine, when you desperately need to call somebody and you know that network works cause it is ringing (probably – asked somebody just the man who was there in MAS OCC?), arent you trying it at least more than just once during some minutes?? this IS weird

  12. I’m surprised (and a bit alarmed) to read Mr. Gibson saying “There is no way that that was planted there by any shenanigans.” I trust that it was not planted by the people he was with that day, but surely that does not rule out the countless other ways that deliberate human intervention may have been responsible for it being on that beach.

  13. Jeff: I would love to get the take of the ocean biologist you talked to not long ago – to what extent would she see it possible for a piece of this shape and material to spend 24 months at sea, and have no barnacle-type growth evident whatsoever? Does this strike her as perplexing, or expected?

    An answer from her, one of the very few experts on this sort of sea life in the Indian Ocean, would go a LONG way in determining authenticity of this piece for many, I am sure. Myself included.

  14. Perhaps the piece drifted up onto the sandbar a year ago- and exposure to the sand, salt, and sun has eroded some traces of the drift?

  15. @Oleksandr

    “That brings you to a failed hijacking “camp”, doesn’t it? Why do you need Zaharie to cooperate with hijackers, when a simple gun at his or someone else’s head can be even a better explanation? This would be similar to the mentioned case of Ethiopian Airlines.”

    Well, the CI scenario actually does fall in “failed hijacking” category so it’s nothing new for me, because even if it’s done by the Captain it could be considered as such (yeah I know it could be called a “divert” under some circumstances but it’s not so simple).

    Bottom line it’s not so important whose idea it was to circumvent Indonesia and go to autralian territory, it’s important that authorities acknowledge the motive and revise the search area.

  16. There appears to be many sandbars in the area between Vilankulos and Ilha de Magaruque. Seems like bouncing around in the shallow waters between these sandbars might also wear down some sea growth on the surface of the object.

  17. @oriondt, the absence of barnacles can maybe explained by drying out and birds feasting on them. But you would still expect to see traces of where the barnacles were previously attached, traces of algae and generally a far more “beaten up” condition, especially along the edges.
    So far it’s all very mysterious and puzzling. But we have to wait and see what the experts say. So far none of them examined the piece. And it has yet to be confirmed that this is really from 9M-MRO.

  18. @falken
    At the end of the day, the operator of MAS was himself advised to call MH370 – after the reboot at 18:25 – by the ATC supervisor. This was the same person who couldn’t be reached by the new ATC controller after Singapure inquired on the whereabouts of MH370 four hours after loss of contact. It was reported he slept at that time, but that was AFTER he became aware that MH370 is missing. Again I’m not blaming, but what is your job duty at the ATC if not reporting missing aircrafts rather than sleeping? Would it not haven been helpful if other ATCs were aware and tried and track the missing aircraft?

  19. @StevanG

    The search for the black box pings commenced at the northern and southern end of a search area defined by the air route leading from CI to Perth.

  20. @mm33vv

    Thanks for purchasing/posting the image. Still, I do not recognize anything as debris.

    Are you as certain about debris in this image as you are about the ‘plywood’ Mozambique find?

  21. @mm33vv
    More certain about debris in satellite image.

    Regarding “plywood”: I just don’t think that is composite aluminum. Please look at damage near bolts, it looks extremely odd. To me it looked more similar to “plywood”

  22. @mm33vv

    The piece found is a sandwich of 2 fiberglass laminate sheets encasing an aluminium, honeycomb core. You can see the woven fiberglass pattern through the paint, and glass fibers in shear. Although similar in color to plywood, this is typical of the resin used to bond the sheets together. There is no aluminium near the hi-lok fastener as it is the sealing edge.

  23. Oz,

    A few questions with regard to ADIRU. It can detect changes in the gravitational acceleration, can’t it? If so, it should be able to derive altitude from given latitude in WGS’84 ellipsoid. Is my understanding correct? Would such a method be more accurate compared to numerical integration? Also, what is a primary source of altitude: SAARU, weather radar, GPS, or ADIRU? Thanks in advance.

  24. How cheap/common are conveniently-sized, buoyant 777 parts like this? I mean, up until quite recently, their provenance was not all that interesting. Would this be a difficult hoax?

    That Gibson has a history of,uh , wanting to believe is not something that makes him more credible. So he’s interested in mysteries….Saying so asserts nothing. One should be asking: What myths has he debunked? What charlatans has he exposed?

    Come to think of it, Boeing is in Washington, isn’t it? Maybe Gibson has a friend at the plant.

    Perhaps Gibson, like most people, hates his job and dreams of a life of travel and adventure, trotting the globe like Jeremy Wade (ground-breaking, sensationalist fishmonger who pushes the limits of truthiness to make catfish and lampreys sound like Jaws) or Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter).

    Reeling in an easily-planted jet part may land him enough publicity (notoriety?) to get his own show going: How does “Blaine Gibson’s Mysterious World” sound?

    Then again, maybe someone in Mozambique planted it when they heard some fish with money called “Spooky” Gibson was headed their way. Suspected MH370 holy relics can really put a place on the map.

    This is all so…fishy! Except, of course, for the part itself, which fish and other forms of marine life have spent the last couple of years studiously avoiding.

  25. VictorI posted March 3, 2016 at 10:58 AM: “Fellow IG member @GuardedDon has found documentation that a composite skin with an aluminum honeycomb core is consistent with the skin of the horizontal stabilizer of a B777. That combined with the exact match of the NO STEP lettering strongly suggests the part found by Blaine Gibson is from a B777. ”

    You’ll find “NO STEP” zones on the wing adjacent to zones that are fit for walking on, the structural torsion box between front and rear spars. In front of the torsion box you have slats that are moving, so that’s not where the part could have come from. Aft of the rear spar you have non-structural aerodynamic fairings that close the gap between the wing structure and the flaps.

    I wonder if the horizontal stabilizer is fit for walking on, and have difficulty envisaging a “NO STEP” fairing between the stabilizer and the elevator. Does anyone know the location of the MH17 part with the NO STEP lettering?

  26. @Nederland
    thanks, exactly; I also focused on their dialog in FI; ATC crew is high on adrenaline in case of ANY airplane issue, but they are trained to be calm; I expect OCC to be high on adrenaline if their own plane issue and not so much trained for this; in FI, ATC looks finally quite nervous to talk with quite calm OCC; no accusations, we dont know the reason

  27. Jeff,

    If this debris is confirmed from MH370, I would be the most interested in knowing reasons, which brought a lawyer-investigator to a very specific beach in Mozambique, and also why he preferred keeping his finding in a secret? What is a real story behind this?

    Initial media reports stated that this piece was on the way to Malaysia, then to Australia. But you wrote Blaine met Australian consul. Isn’t this debris legally supposed to be shipped to Malaysia? Was it a reason why he met Australian consul? This would indicate a very serious tensions between ATSB and Malaysian investigators. Duh, as Dennis says…

  28. @falken

    Note that there was a shift change at or shortly after 3 am in the ATC. I thought the new air-traffic controller was reacting as I thought one would do in that situation.

    ”2121:02 UTC [0521:02 MYT] MAS Operations
    The aaa… (coughing) is the aircraft aaah… had a positive aaah… reply to handover to Ho Chi Minh.
    2121:12 UTC [0521:12 MYT] KL ATCC
    Aah… I see because I… I … took over roughly three three something I, I am not sure about it I can’t say I….I can’t I, I don’t want to commit lah.
    2121:22 UTC [0521:22 MYT] MAS Operations
    Okay.”

  29. @Palominodrew – If you look at the picture of the boat here:

    http://jeffwise.net/2015/10/09/the-flaperon-flotation-riddle/#more-4267

    You can see that Jeff drew a green line and an orange line on the boat hull. The green line is the water line and has some growth of algae and small barnacles between it and the orange line. Large barnacles are only present below the orange line because certain Goose Barnacles do not survive too close to the water surface.

    Perhaps this piece of composite is too thin to support Goose Barnacles?

    This does not answer @GuardedDon’s question of why is there no sand trapped by the honeycomb?

  30. Given the state of the world’s oceans these days, if not barnacle remnants one would think the debris would have some visible deposits of organic matter/petrochemical goo.

  31. mm33vv,

    Welcome to this forum.

    I think it is usual white capping in your image. Note orientation of ‘pieces’ likely aligned with wind. What does make you 99% confident that “it has something to do with MH370 crash zone”?

    Also, while I do not exclude some debris might be eventually found in SCS, SIO is the likely final resting place…

  32. Lauren H,

    Re: “This does not answer @GuardedDon’s question of why is there no sand trapped by the honeycomb?”

    Because Blaine tested whether this debris can float by placing it into water?

  33. @Lauren H:
    You are right, and I think that could explain why no goose barnacles, even small ones. As the ocean biologist Venn stated (and I paraphrase) – they do not like ANY exposure near the waterline, whether due to UV or temperature change. Thanks for posting photo for quick reference.

    However, this does not explain the absence of visible signs of algae, nor perhaps even that intermediary zone between barnacles and waterline. And when it comes right down to it, @PhilD nails it by saying there should at least be some sort of organic or petrochemical goo present. This piece looks like someone just finished wiping it with Armor-All a couple hours previous!!

  34. @mm33vv, If you put more than one URL in a comment it gets held until a moderator can approve it by hand. It’s a WordPress anti-spam feature.

  35. @MuOne, Indeed, sealife can grow on really tiny pieces of debris. Check out Figs. 4 and 5 on this study of rafting organisms found growing on pumice:
    http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040583
    For organisms that only grown on floating debris (of which Lepas are not the only example) anchoring spots are a prime commodity, especially when a piece has been in the water for a while. It’s not uncommon to see Lepas growing on Lepas growing on Lepas. On the other hand, a community that thrives in the open ocean can get quickly wiped out after coming in contact with the kinds of predators that live in shallow water. Lepas expert Cindy Venn just emailed me, “I think the chances of floating 2 years without picking up any biota are slim, but depending on how long it was on the beach, the chances of getting grazed clean are pretty good, especially if it was settled by gooseneck barnacles like the flaperon was. Crabs can do a pretty good number on goosenecks, so that only the cement is left.” Blaine did mention that the (presumed) underside of the piece had some gunk on it that looked like it might have been where something was attached. Hopefully the people who wind up getting their hands on it are the sort who are willing to issue reports…

  36. MuOne – Thanks for finding my sandal. I must have lost it on the (New) Jersey shore.

    Seriously, it could be that this sandal floated upside down sheltering the barnacles from direct sunlight. The extra weight of the strap caused it to start to float upside down and then the extra weight of the barnacles stopped it from flipping over easily?

    The Mozambique piece could have continued to flip over in the waves and perhaps prevented a Gooseneck Barnacle colony from becoming established?

  37. @ Palominodrew – I agree about the ArmorAll treatment ( twice ), one would expect a more weathered look…UV…water, and/or sand abrasion…something just doesn’t hold water…(oops)…G.

  38. @ all – wikipedia Mozambique current… has a quick overview look at the channel currents, and eddys in that area…generally the direction is southerly, with an abundance of anti cyclonic rotated whirlpools and eddys…

  39. The exposed honeycomb remnants themselves are good habitat for marine life of different types. The close up looks scrubbed clean – and no corrosion visible at all? The lettering seems fresh as a daisy. I’m calling red herring or a hoax.

  40. Have we ruled out that this is a piece of The Ark…?

    Fugro Discovery update: today’s track appears to be redoing the Dec.26 track – so my concern that Disco did nothing productive for four months appears to be gaining strength.

    I look forward to hearing the fifth of five separate excuses for this stunning run of bad luck.

  41. @mm33vv

    You said “Exactly. There is no aluminum in that piece.”

    There clearly is. Are you ok?

  42. falken: Very informative video, educating me about something I previously knew absolutely nothing about – aluminum corrosion! I have to say the pattern and style of the aluminum honeycomb that has broken off in that one picture looks like it could have occurred over time with getting whacked against rocks and waves, etc. But who knows.

    But I have no explanation still for pristine nature of the outside of piece. If the outside surface is mainly fiberglass with coating of paint overtop, there SHOULD have been at least some algae growth or black staining on it that hasn’t simply been naturally washed off. This isn’t the way of the ocean – objects tend to get more beat up and full of life over time, not getting more and more cleaned up over time, regardless of wave and sand action. Do boats in salt water just get cleaner if you leave them out there long enough? No way.

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