The Australian Transport and Safety Bureau (ATSB) has shot down claims by the “investigator”, who said the “bullet-ridden” wreckage of the plane was now resting in the waters near Mauritius.

“The images sent to ATSB by Mr McMahon were captured on Nov 6, 2009, over four years before the flight disappeared,” said a spokesman for ATSB.

“Spurious claims such as these must be particularly upsetting for the family and friends of those lost on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.”

Peter McMahon, an Australian engineer who claims to have over 25 years of crash investigation experience, had claimed he had found the plane near Round Island.

He said ATSB had covered up the evidence.

But ATSB said McMahon had contacted the bureau in 2016 and 2017, and denied that it had suggested the evidence could be the missing aircraft.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Despite an extensive search, the main body of the airplane was never found.

A wing flap, called a flaperon, was discovered on Reunion Island near Madagascar in 2015, and confirmed to be part of the missing plane.

A new search has been mounted for the wreckage in the Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity, a US-based company engaged by Malaysia for the search mission, has 90 days to find MH370 on a “no cure, no fee” basis. The vessel began its search on Jan 22.

If it manages to find the aircraft, the company will be rewarded between US$20 million (RM78 million) and US$70 million, depending on the area the plane is found.

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