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Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Abbott says top Malaysian leaders suspected pilot of MH370

THIS IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY OF THE MALAYSIAN STATE

ENABLED BY THE RIGHT WING EX AUSSIE PM (HEY YA) ABBOTT

TRISTAN LAVALETTE Associated Press•February 19, 2020

Australia Malaysian Plane
FILE - In this March 4, 2017, file photo, a man writes a condolence message during the Day of Remembrance for MH370 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has claimed the “top levels” of the Malaysian government long suspected the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 almost six years ago was a mass murder-suicide by the pilot. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan, File)

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A HUMAN CAUSE

IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the “top levels” of the Malaysian government long suspected that the disappearance of a plane almost six years ago was a mass murder-suicide by the pilot.

Abbott was prime minister when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 carrying 239 people vanished on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australia, working on Malaysia's behalf, coordinated what became the largest search in aviation history, but it failed to find the plane before being ended in 2017.

Speaking in a Sky News documentary to air on Wednesday and Thursday, Abbott said high-ranking Malaysian officials believed veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately downed the jet.

“My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot,” said Abbott, who was Australia’s prime minster from 2013-15.

“I'm not going to say who said what to whom, but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot.”

A Malaysian-led independent investigation report released in 2018 said the plane's course was changed manually but did not name a suspect and raised the possibility of “intervention by a third party.” Investigators, however, said the cause of the disappearance couldn't be determined until the wreckage and the plane's black boxes are found.

The Malaysian Ministry of Transport did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the remarks from the former Australian leader.

Malaysia has had a change of government since the plane's disappearance, after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ousted the government led by Najib Razak, whose party had ruled Malaysia since its independence in 1957.

The pilot's family has long denied he was suicidal. The 2018 investigative report said there was no evidence of abnormal behavior or stress in the two pilots and none of the passengers had pilot training.

Abbott said he did not believe conspiracy theories centered on the Malaysian government, which owns Malaysia Airlines.

“I’ve read all these stories that the Malaysians allegedly didn’t want the murder-suicide theory pursued because they were embarrassed about one of their pilots doing this. I have no reason to accept that,” he said.

The Australian-led search scoured 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of the southern Indian Ocean and cost 200 million Australian dollars ($150 million). A private hunt by Texas-based company Ocean Infinity later searched more than 96,000 square kilometers (37,000 square miles) of sea.

Debris that washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean has been confirmed as coming from the missing Boeing 777 and indicated a broad expanse of the ocean where the plane likely crashed after running out of fuel.

Australia, Malaysia and China agreed in 2016 that an official search would only resume if the three countries had credible evidence that identified a specific location for the wreckage. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

Abbott believed a new investigation was warranted.

“Let's assume that it was murder-suicide by the pilot and if there is any part of that ocean that could have been reached on that basis that has not yet been explored, let's get out and explore it,” he said.

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A HUMAN CAUSE IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT

Malaysia suspected MH370 downed in murder-suicide: Aussie ex-PM

THIS IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY OF THE MALAYSIAN STATE ENABLED BY THE RIGHT WING EX AUSSIE PM (HEY YA) ABBOT

AFP•February 19, 2020

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has claimed "very top" level Malaysian officials believed vanished Flight MH370 was deliberately downed by the captain in a mass murder-suicide.

The Malaysia Airlines jet vanished on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 people -- mostly from China -- en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-square kilometre (46,000-square mile) Indian Ocean search zone and the Australian-led search, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017.

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt in 2018 but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In an excerpt from a Sky News documentary airing Wednesday, Abbott claims he was told within a week of it vanishing that Malaysia believed the captain had intentionally downed the jet.

"My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot," he said.

"I'm not going to say who said what to whom but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot -- mass murder-suicide by the pilot."

Zaharie's family and friends have long strongly rejected such claims as baseless.

Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak, who was in power during the tragedy, said suspicions over the disappearance weren't made public and there was no proof that the pilot was responsible.

"It would have been deemed unfair and legally irresponsible since the black boxes and cockpit voice recorders had not been found," he told online portal Free Malaysia Today.

"There was no conclusive proof whether the pilot was solely or jointly responsible."

Najib said the scenario involving the pilot was "never ruled out" during the search for the plane.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the former head of Malaysia's civil aviation regulator, criticised Abbott's remarks and said there was not sufficient proof to support the idea.

"It is only a theory," Azharuddin, who led the regulator when Flight MH370 disappeared, told AFP.

"You do this speculation and it will hurt the next of kin. The family of the pilot will also feel very bad because you are making an accusation without any proof."

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.

Six passengers were Australian, including four from Queensland state, where Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this week suggested authorities may pursue an inquest into their deaths.

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A HUMAN

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
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