Malay plane mystery: "The possibility that the pilot committed suicide was never ruled out"
Australian and Malaysian prime ministers at the time said that the first phase of the 2014 MH370 flight disappearance did not rule out the possibility that the captain killed 239 passengers while suicidal
Malay plane mystery: "The possibility that the pilot committed suicide was never ruled out"
Photo by CNN and ReutersFormer Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Wednesday that the government has never ruled out the possibility that the plane that disappeared in 2014 was shot down by the pilot in a suicide bombing operation.
Najib, who was on duty when the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers, responded to comments by former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. He said the Malaysian leadership had initially considered the possibility of flight captain Zachary Ahmed Shah committing mass murder. He said this in a new documentary, a section of which was released today by Sky News.
"The clear understanding I got from senior officials in the Malaysian government is that from the very first moment they thought it was a mass suicide of the pilot," said Abbott, then prime minister.
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Najib told Malaysian Today's news site that this scenario surfaced during the investigation, but authorities have chosen not to publicly disclose it. "It would have been deemed illegal and irresponsible because the black boxes were not found, so there is no definitive conclusion as to whether the pilot was solely responsible for it," he said. "I should emphasize again that this scenario was never ruled out during the search and investigation operation, and that no effort was spared," he added.
The Malaysian Ministry of Transport declined to comment. In the past, authorities said nothing was suspicious of the captain's past, training, or mental state, but they ruled out the possibility that the plane was deliberately dropped.
Najib said there were several reasons for the authorities to suspect this possibility, in part because of a home flight simulator found in the captain's possession and findings that showed the aircraft's transmitters went off shortly after he left the country's airspace.
Billed for billions. Former Malaysian Prime Minister (Photo: Reuters)
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives in court for hearing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 4, 2018 (Photo: Reuters)
Flight MH370 became one of the biggest airline mysteries in the world when it disappeared from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. In January 2017, Malaysia, China and Australia canceled two-year Australian $ 200 million underwater exploration in the South Indian Ocean after finding no sign of the aircraft.
A second three-month search operation led by US company Ocean Infinity ended similarly in May 2018.
Najib lost the election that month, and is now facing dozens of charges of corruption offenses for alleged involvement in a multi-billion dollar embezzlement in a government fund. He denies the charges against him.