Fact Check: Was Missing Flight 370 Found But With 'No Human Remains'?

The mystery of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared from radar on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing nine years ago, remains unsolved despite extensive searches.

The families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members lost are still looking for answers, and on March 7, 2023, it was reported by the Guardian that they are urging the Malaysian government to green light another search.

This week on Twitter, photos began to spread claiming what was alleged to be the aircraft underwater.

The Claim

A tweet by user @RoyisThaTruth, posted on May 2, 2023, viewed 634,000 times, said: "Malaysia Airplane MH370 that disappeared 9 years ago has been found under ocean with no human skeleton. The plane had 239 passengers on board."

The tweet included a photo of what thought to be a plane underwater, covered in algae.

The Facts

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was recently the subject of a Netflix documentary examining the potential explanations for the plane's disappearance. Theories have included that the plane was shot down because of its cargo, that it was hijacked, and even that the U.S. military was responsible.

The photo shared on Twitter, however, is unlikely to help expand the search for answers. The picture, as it turns out, was not from the missing plane but from an aircraft that was deliberately sunk to benefit marine life.

CNN reported in 2022 about the sinking of a Lockheed Martin L1011 TriStar plane in 2019 to help create an artificial reef on the floor of the Red Sea.

While Newsweek was unable to find the original photo that was shared on Twitter, multiple scuba dive recordings of the plane, located in Jordan, show the distinctive damage to the nose that can be seen in the photo, as well.

Scuba diving websites also offer information about the plane. Photos of the plane's sinking were published by Scubadivermag.com in August 2019.

Twitter has not been absent of similarly dubious theories this year. Last month, baseless claims spread that President Joe Biden was wearing a mask on his recent trip to Ireland. Former President Barack Obama was also the subject of false rumors, with photos shared claimed to be of his Kenyan passport.

The Ruling

Misleading Material.

The photo is not of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. It is a picture of Lockheed Martin L-1011 TriStar that was sunk in the Red Sea in 2019 to encourage marine life. Multiple recordings of the sunken plane confirm that it is the same aircraft as seen in the photo.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team