The doubters have spoken . A group of independent experts -- who prodded authorities to release satellite data on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 -- says it thinks it knows the approximate location of the missing aircraft . Five separate computer models all place the plane in a tight cluster of spots in the south Indian Ocean — hundreds of miles southwest of the previous search site . `` We recommend that the search for MH370 be focused in this area , '' the group said in a statement late Tuesday . `` While there remain a number of uncertainties and some disagreements as to the interpretation of aspects of the data , our best estimates of a location of the aircraft ( is ) near 36.02 South 88.57 East , '' according to the statement , which was approved by 10 named experts . The group opted to release its statement late Tuesday in advance of a BBC documentary on the missing plane , and ahead of the Australian government 's announcement on the focus of the search , so that there would be no question about the independence of the group 's findings , said one member of the group , American Mobile Satellite Corp. co-founder Mike Exner . `` We wanted to get our best estimate out , '' Exner said . The group believes that after the Boeing 777 circumnavigated Indonesia , for reasons that are still unknown , the plane traveled south at an average speed of 470 knots , probably at a consistent altitude and constant heading , Exner said . All five computer models developed by the experts place the aircraft in a `` pretty tight cluster ... plus or minus 50 miles of each other , '' he said . The plane and its 239 occupants vanished March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing . In a blog post , group member Tim Farrar called the recommended search site `` our best estimate -- but not the only possible -- location for a potential search . '' Meanwhile , a team of government experts and Inmarsat employees is re-evaluating the data before pinpointing where to resume the search . On Wednesday the agency overseeing the search said the analysis was `` nearly complete '' and it expects to announce the new search site by the end of June . Australian government authorities only recently acknowledged that acoustic pings heard two months ago are now believed to be unrelated to the aircraft 's data recorders , or `` black boxes . '' The ad hoc group of independent specialists came together through web sites of two experts , Duncan Steel of Wellington , New Zealand , and Tim Farrar of Menlo Park , California . Several members of the group initially cast doubts on Inmarsat 's conclusions that the plane had flown south , saying the publicly available information from Malaysia and Inmarsat was insufficient to draw that conclusion . The plane could have flown north , landing or crashing along an arc extending from Thailand to Eastern Europe . But shortly after Malaysia released raw satellite data on May 27 , several of the loose confederation of scientists agreed it provided sufficient data to show the plane had flown south . The `` breakthrough piece of information , '' Exner said , was that the satellite terminal on the aircraft had been programmed to use a simplified assumption about the location of the satellite . The terminal assumed that the satellite was geostationary -- fixed over a spot on the equator -- when , in fact , it drifted to the north and south . Over the past few weeks , the group continued to exchange information through emails and through postings on the web sites . The group worked five or six hours Tuesday exchanging some 120 emails in drafting the statement on the possible location of MH370 . Exner said he believes authorities were narrowing in on the correct search site , but were thrown off course when searchers detected acoustic pings northwest of Australia . `` It 's my personal opinion that the official search team weighed too heavily '' on the acoustic pings , he said . Exner said the informal group of experts has volunteered to work with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau . But , while the government agencies have been polite , they have been reticent to release additional information that could further help the independent group , he said . Missing plane mystery : A hole in the clouds , an empty space on earth . How long will the search continue ? Families seek $ 5 million for investigation , reward .
Group : 5 different models all place plane in tight cluster of spots in south Indian Ocean . This new potential search site is hundreds of miles southwest of previous search site . Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished March 2017 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing .