A veteran aviation expert debunked a theory by investigative journalist Florenece de Changy, who claimed that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was shot down over the Gulf of Thailand, off Vietnam.
“What Changy wrote in her recently published book, ‘The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370’, part of it, as carried by UK daily The Sun, was incoherent.
“And going through the time line mentioned, Changy doesn’t seem to know what she is talking about,” former Malaysia Airlines director of flight operation told FocusM.
In the interview, which was partly published by online news portal Free Malaysia Today, Changy claimed that flight MH370 was shot down by a “fighter jet, missile or a new laser-guided weapon system being tested in the region at the time”.
However, Changy said she does not know if it was an accident or a planned attack.
She based her theory based on purported conversations between MH370 crew members and others, before the plane went missing.
However, Kamil shot down her assertion, saying her theory does not add up.
Kamil queried on some of her points, such as the aircraft pilots were sending a “Mayday” message at 2.43am.
“Changy claimed that a distress signal was picked up at 2.43am from the flight, saying the cabin was disintegrating. However, the emergency cry was not picked up by anybody,” he said.
Kamil, a former flight accident investigator, said that if MH370 was indeed shot down over the Gulf of Thailand, there would have been an abundant of debris scattered all over the place.
“Why not a single piece of debris was found despite several days of massive search by international naval forces?
“Plus, that area in the Gulf of Thailand is a major fishing area, with hundreds of lighted boats collecting their catches at night but not a single aircraft debris was found,” he said.
Study examples of flight shot down
Kamil said that people should study the examples of other flights that was shot down; such as the downing of MH 17 over Ukrainian airspace on July 17, 2014 and the Korean Air Lines Flight 007, from Anchorage to Seoul, that was shot down approaching Sakhalin Peninsula on the night of Sept 1, 1983, by a Russian fighter jet.
“From both cases mentioned, thousands of debris were retrieved from the surrounding areas,” he said.
He also found it ridiculous that Changy said that MH370 made contact with the Ho Chi Minh air-traffic control (ATC), seeking permission to land there before going missing.
“It’s absurd for an aircraft, after being shot by a fighter jet, missile or a new laser- guided weapon system, to continue flying for another hour and land somewhere,” Kamil added.
“Let’s assume MH370 did land in Ho Chi Minh. Then, where is the aircraft? Vietnam, an ally of China, would not possibly hide the Boeing 777. Come on, Changy. Do we look that unintelligent to you?” asked Kamil.
On that note, the aviation expert said that the case has been closed after being thoroughly investigated by multiple parties, with an official report being published.
“For lack of evidence, it has to come to a closure but our Government had assured that investigations will be reopened if any new evidence surfaces in the future.
“As for Changy’s remarks, theories will remain as theories but it must be plausible and not something ridiculous,” Kamil remarked.
Flight MH370, which was scheduled for Beijing, mysteriously moved away from its official route before losing contact with the ATC soon after.
To date, no one knows what has happened to the aircraft and its 227 passengers, despite a global effort to locate them for months – Jan 26, 2021.
