Experts point to pilot as Flight MH370 mystery remains

Two globally respected aviation experts continue to point the finger at the captain of ­Flight MH370.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

On the eve of the third anniver­sary of the disappearance of ­Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, two globally respected aviation experts continue to point the finger at the captain, arguing that circumstantial evidence points to a pilot hijack.

Former commercial pilots Byron Bailey and Mike Keane have both rubbished the approach of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau in trying to solve one of the world’s most compelling aviation mysteries.

Writing exclusively in Inquirer in The Weekend Australian today, Captain Keane — a former British fighter pilot and commercial pilot — argues that if Captain Ahmad Shah Zaharie was responsible for the destruction of the aircraft, it is not only an accident but a crime scene. It cannot be forgotten or ignored, he says.

Six Australians lost their lives when MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. The aircraft is yet to be found.

Captain Keane writes there is compelling circumstantial evidence that the ATSB’s scenario, which centres on a theory that the Boeing 777 became a “ghost flight’’ that ended up in an unpiloted “death dive’’ after the fuel ran out, is “improbable’’.

He says Captain Zaharie “may have carefully planned and ­executed the destruction of the aircraft’’.

“The assumptions used by the ATSB to justify its account of what happened to MH370 are just assumptions. There is no factual evidence to support its interpretation of events. Credence should be given to other views, but this is not happening,’’ he writes.

Captain Bailey expresses his disgust today at the performance of the taxpayer-funded ATSB, writing that major airlines, manufacturers and safety boards would consider it imperative to locate the remnants of MH370 if they thought a technical fault had brought down the flight. “Their lack of interest is indicative that they, like the majority of airline pilots, consider this was down to the actions of a rogue pilot.’’