An expert has claimed the MH370 passenger jet which vanished eight years ago, with 239 people on board, was ‘downed on purpose’.
The Malaysian Airlines’ plane was flying to Kuala Lumpur from Beijing on 8 March 2014, when it disappeared while over the South Indian Ocean.
The plane had performed a U-turn after being in the air for less than an hour and had been going in the opposite direction of where it should have been headed when communication cut out.
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An explanation has never been found for the disappearance, but several theories have emerged over the years.
Now, French Air Force air traffic controller, Gilles Diharce has shared his opinion, claiming that the pilot could have been attempting a ‘soft ditching’ - deliberately plunging the plane into the sea while leaving as little chance of debris surfacing as possible.
However, Diharce thinks this didn’t go to plan and it’s likely the plane split into several pieces after it hit the choppy waters.
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He told the Sun: "Why would a person want to fly the aircraft into the middle of the Indian Ocean? It’s possible the person who controlled the aircraft didn’t want anyone to find the plane in the future. To disappear without a trace."
Diharce says the plane communication system suddenly turned on as it headed towards the water, which may have been prompted by the pilot switching to the plane's backup power system to regain control.
He went on: "It’s not easy to understand how the plane was flown at this point, it’s a hypothesis. What we can consider is that the search was unsuccessful.
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"The officials made some assumptions in order to define the search area. On the seventh Arc, we know the aircraft sent messages to the satellite to regain contact."
When asked for a motive as to why pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah would have wanted to down the plane, Diharce said he wasn’t sure but pointed out that the pilot hadn’t been for a medical check in four years, even though pilots are required to have one every year.
He added: “It’s impossible to consider that this plane had a technical failure.
“When you study the first part of the disappearance, it’s very difficult to explain that it was a technical fault with the aircraft but someone on the plane who didn’t want to call on the radio."
Topics: World News, MH370
Claire Reid