This animation shows how the floating debris from the MH370 aircraft could have spread, from the day of the crash up until May 2016.
The location of the debris at the various times is calculated using a computer model based on oceanographic data and the location of the five confirmed debris found to date (indicated by red dots).
Researchers used the location of confirmed debris from MH370 to determine where the airliner might have crashed, and where further debris could be found.
In March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing Capital International Airport in China vanished with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Extensive search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean, where the aircraft is thought to have crashed, have yet to locate the main wreckage, though debris has washed up on the African east coast and Indian-ocean islands.
Study lead author Eric Jansen, a researcher at the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change in Italy, said: “Our result is the first to calculate the movement of the debris that best agrees with all five of the currently confirmed discoveries.”
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