MH370 mobile phone bombshell could blow the ‘ringing phone’ conspiracy out of the water
Experts have claimed that firms use phantom ring tones even when the phones are not active - potentially sinking one MH370 theory
A MH370 theory which claimed the doomed jet could not have sunk underwater because the victims' phones kept ringing after the crash has been debunked by experts.
The Malaysian Airlines jet vanished on March 8, 2014, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumper killing 239 people on board - with officials believing it crashed into the sea.
One theory claims that because many relatives were able to hear a ringing tone for up to four days after the crash the doomed jet could not have smashed into the Indian Ocean.
However, wireless analysts claim that phone firms sometimes use a phantom ringing sound when the device is not active, the reports.
The companies do this to keep callers on the line while the network tries to connect the call.
As a result, a ringing sound does not always mean the phone which is being called is still active.
“It’s not possible. As soon as a phone is submerged in water, especially sea water, it dies.
“Even if it were to survive, it would not get signal from the bottom of the ocean. All this shows the plane did not crash into the sea.”
What are the other theories behind MH370's disappearance?
A 449-page "final" report released in July by the Malaysian government only deepened the mystery - revealing that the plane’s sudden change in direction was a deliberate manoeuvre by somebody in the cockpit.
However what caused the Boeing 777 to divert 37 minutes remains a puzzle with most of the pieces missing.
What are some of the theories about the Malaysia Airlines flight?
Vladimir Putin
Some feared Russian president Vladimir Putin was involved in the hijacking of MH370.
US Science writer Jeff Wise claimed Putin "spoofed" the plane's navigation data so it could fly unnoticed into Baikonur Cosmodrome so he could "hurt the West".
US shootout
French ex-airline director Marc Dugain accused the US military of shooting down the plane because they feared it had been hijacked.
A book called Flight MH370 – The Mystery also suggested that it had been shot down accidentally by US-Thai joint jet fighters during a military exercise and covered it up.
Suicide
Malaysia police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar suggested the disappearance could have been the result of a suicide.
He claimed someone on board could have taken out a large life insurance package before getting on the plane, so they could treat their family or pay back the money they owed.
In hiding?
Historian and writer Norman Davies suggested MH370 could have been remotely hacked and flown to a secret location as a result of sensitive material being carried aboard the jet.