MH370 investigation report ‘must find pilot hijacked aircraft’

Aviation experts say the integrity of air crash investigation will be jeopardised if the MH370 probe finds other than pilot hijacking.

Veteran air crash investigator Larry Vance.

Aviation experts have warned that the credibility of the new ­Malaysian government and the integrity of international air crash investigation will be jeopardised if a four-year probe into the loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 finds other than that a pilot, most likely the captain, hijacked his own aircraft.

“The final sentence of this report should be a recommendation that a full criminal investigation be conducted to identify the perpetrator(s) and examine the potential motivation(s),” renowned Canadian air crash investigator Larry Vance told The Australian.

The Malaysian government will today bring down its much anticipated MH370 investigation report at the country’s administrative capital of Putrajaya, first briefing next of kin of the 239 lost and then international media.

Malaysian government spokesman Mohammed Afiq Hassan Bin Mohammed Ayub insisted the investigation and the report were independent of political influence, with seven international accredited representatives on the panel including one from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Mr Hassan said the investigation and report were conducted strictly under what is known as the International Civil Aviation Organisation Annex 13 convention, and that he did not know what conclusions had been reached.

“This only proves Malaysia’s commitment and transparency in complying with its obligations as one of the contracting states,” Mr Hassan told The Australian.

Mr Vance warned: “All participants in the investigation have a responsibility to ensure the report accurately reflects what happened. If this final report into MH370 fails to identify that it was a criminal act, and if it fails to show the evidence that proves that to be the case, then it will be a very dark day in the history of international ­investigation efforts.”

MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, on a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Two undersea searches, the first led by the ATSB and the second by Houston-based subsea survey company Ocean Infinity, failed to find the aircraft.

While some observers have put forward an in-flight fire or decompression accident as possible explanations, the lack of any distress calls and the clearly deliberate flying of the aircraft for at least two hours has led most professional air crash investigators, including former US airline captain John Cox, to point to pilot hijack.

“The evidence, in my opinion, is sufficient to draw the conclusion the MH370 deviation from its intended route was a deliberate act,” Captain Cox said.

“The person with the knowledge and opportunity … was most likely the captain.”