WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Images reveal missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been found.
OUR VERDICT
False. Misleading and AI-generated images are being used to spread the hoax.
AAP FACTCHECK - Missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has not been found, despite images shared online claiming one of aviation's greatest mysteries has been solved after more than 10 years.
There are telltale signs the images were generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools and there have been no news reports about the long-lost aeroplane being found.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Malaysia finalised an agreement with a US-based marine robotics company on March 19, 2025, to resume the hunt for the missing aircraft.
A Facebook post, shared with the caption "CONFIRMED Scientists FINALLY Found the Location of Malaysia Flight 370 - What They Discovered Will Leave You Speechless…", shows pictures of what appear to be divers surrounding an underwater aircraft as well as a crashed plane floating on the ocean's surface surrounded by boats.
It's clear this latest viral post, however, doesn't solve the plane's mysterious disappearance.
The aircraft seen in the viral images does not resemble photos taken of MH370 before the crash.
The images are highly pixelated and distorted, but the planes in the top and bottom images on the post are different models.
The craft in the bottom image looks like a Boeing 747 but MH370 was a Boeing 777.
The top image originated on a scuba diving website and was published in 2013, while the smaller inset photo of a diver apparently pulling out a body is from a 2016 Tumblr post, with a caption explaining it was a training exercise.
In the bottom photo, numbers and words visible on the plane are distorted gibberish, a frequent hallmark of AI-generated images.
Human figures seen in the bottom photo also don't match the scale of the aeroplane, and some appear to be standing on the water's surface.
The images also show the plane mostly intact, which is highly unlikely as it vanished in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean and pieces of wreckage have washed up on the African coast.
The prospect of divers being photographed alongside the underwater wreck is also unrealistic, as the plane probably crashed into one of the deepest parts of the ocean.
Previous searches ended in 2017, but the Malaysian government approved a fresh search for the wreck under a "no find, no fee" agreement with US exploration firm Ocean Infinity on March 19, 2025.
"The government is committed to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of the MH370 passengers," transport minister Loke Siew Fook said in a statement
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