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.
SHERLOCK HOLMES AS CONAN DOYLE

CAUSE IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT




PREVIEW
0:49

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Apr 4, 2016 - The serene scene was met with chaos as a small tornado hit the water and sent the tourist boat toppling over.

Missing: DOWNING ‎PLANES

What is a waterspout? - NOAA's National Ocean Service

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov › facts › waterspout

According to NOAA's National Weather Service, the best way to avoid a waterspout is to move at a 90-degree angle to its apparent movement. Never move ...

Waterspout - SKYbrary Aviation Safety

https://www.skybrary.aero › index.php › Waterspout

Apr 3, 2019 - Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes in structure but occur over the sea rather ... A Waterspout will subject any aircraft encountering it to severe ...

Watch a monstrous waterspout tear across a lake in Alberta ...

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Jun 29, 2019 - Two people managed to catch a giant waterspout on camera in Alberta on Friday ... Iran announces arrests over downing of Ukrainian plane.

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MH370

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=WATERSPOUT

Mystery of flight MH370: New theory leads to 'horrifying' conclusion

20 Feb, 2022
By Benedict Brook


A noted aviation expert has said he has found the likely location of the doomed aeroplane MH370.

If he's right it would solve the eight-year-old mystery of the whereabouts of the aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew, all of whom are presumed to have perished.

The findings have also reinforced a "horrifying" theory — said the senior officer in charge of the initial search — of the missing plane's final hours.

But the authorities are yet to be persuaded to tackle a new search mission.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, several hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, bound for Beijing, China.

The plane headed northeast towards China but not long after takeoff it abruptly changed direction in the Gulf of Thailand and headed back across the Malaysian peninsula. It then plotted a course southwest into the remote depths of the Indian Ocean.

It's thought to have crashed 2000km off the coast of Western Australia.

The search for MH370 covered 120,000 square kilometres. But to no avail.

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion drops stores to HMAS Toowoomba, during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. 

Photo / LSIS James Whittle, File

British aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey has conducted a painstaking examination of the anomalies in radio signals from that fateful night. He has said that's enabled him to zero in on a new crash zone.

"In my view, there's no reason why we shouldn't be planning for a new search," Godfrey told Australia's Channel 9 on Sunday.

The breakthrough discovery claim came after an analysis using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) technology – this is effectively an invisible radio wave similar to trip-wires that record anything disturbing or passing through the waves.

However, experts have expressed serious doubts as to whether historical WSPR data can be used to track MH370

Godfrey told the 60 Minutes programme that 160 signals were disturbed over the Indian Ocean that night, disturbances likely caused by an aeroplane.

Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, passing through airport security at Kuala Lumpur airport. Photo / Supplied, File

Only one other aircraft was anywhere near MH370 over the ocean and Godfrey said that plane was at least an hour away.

That meant the disturbances were most likely caused by the Malaysian jet allowing its flight to be tracked as well as its probable final resting place.

He has said he can narrow a search area down to just 300sq km, which could be looked at in just a few weeks. That includes some areas already searched and others that were never looked at during the initial rescue effort.

"With this very difficult terrain it is possible to miss wreckage," he said.

"When you're going through 120,000 square kilometres you get one chance, one pass of each point. With 300 square kilometres, you can have several passes and from different angles, so it's possible."

Godfrey told 60 Minutes that his research has uncovered another aspect of the flight and its captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Far from heading in a straight line into the Indian Ocean, Godfrey has claimed MH370 did a number of 360-degree turns over the sea – almost like holding patterns before an aircraft lands at a busy airport. That would mean the "ghost flight" theory – that the plane was on autopilot and the passengers and crew were incapacitated – may not be accurate.

British aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey. Video screengrab / Sunrise, File

"This is strange to me. When you're in the remotest part of the Indian Ocean trying to lose an aircraft why would you enter a holding pattern for 20 minutes?

"(The captain) may have been communicating with the Malaysian government, he may have been checking whether he was being followed, he may have simply wanted time to make up his mind," said Godfrey.

If correct, the curious course of the Boeing 777 over the Indian Ocean gives credence to the theory that the captain deliberately flew the plane into oblivion.

Peter Foley was the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB) director of operations for the MH370 search.

Asked on the programme by 60 Minutes' reporter Sarah Abo if the most likely scenario was that the captain was behind a mass murder incident, Foley said "Yes, by a wide margin. It's horrifying".

Nevertheless, Foley said some of Godfrey's conclusions needed more scrutiny.

"There's certainly merit in exploring new avenues.

"I think the jury is still out on Richard's work, but let's hope he is onto something."

The ATSB described Godfrey as "credible" but has not launched a new investigation.

"The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has not had a formal involvement in any search for the missing aircraft MH370 since the conclusion of the first underwater search in 2017, has not recommenced a search for the aircraft, and notes that any decision to conduct further searches would be a matter for the Government of Malaysia," ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said in a statement.

A fast response craft tows Able Seaman Clearance Diver Michael Arnold as he searches for debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. Photo / Lieutenant Ryan Davis, File

"The ATSB is aware of the work of Mr Richard Godfrey and acknowledges that he is a credible expert on the subject of MH370, but the ATSB does not have the technical expertise to, and has not been requested to, review his 'MH370 Flight Path' paper and workings.

"As such the ATSB cannot offer an assessment of the validity of Mr Godfrey's work using WSPR data.

"The ATSB does acknowledge that Mr Godfrey's work recommends a search zone for MH370, a significant portion of which covers an area searched during the ATSB-led underwater search.

"When the ATSB was made aware that Mr Godfrey's zone incorporates an area of ocean surveyed during the ATSB-led search, out of due diligence the ATSB requested Geoscience Australia review the data it held from the search to re-validate that no items of interest were detected in that area."

"The ATSB expects that review to be finalised in coming weeks, the results from which will be made public on the ATSB's website.

"The ATSB acknowledges the importance of locating the aircraft to provide answers and closure to the families of those who lost loved ones.

"The ATSB remains an interested observer in all efforts to find the missing aircraft."

Mitchell reiterated that any decision to conduct further searches for MH370 would be a matter for the Government of Malaysia and that the ATSB was not aware of any requests to the Australian Government from Malaysia to support a new search for the missing aircraft.

Godfrey's insights have led a grieving wife who lost her husband in the MH370 crash to now believe the incident was murder, not a mechanical failure.

The remains of Danica Weeks' husband, New Zealander Paul Weeks, have never been found.

Former Christchurch man Paul Weeks, who was on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

 Photo / Supplied, File

Weeks told Sky News that after years of thinking the plane went down because of mechanical failure she now believes it was murder.

"I was so staunch about saying it wasn't the pilot," she said.

"But now I have to throw all of that out after nearly eight years [since the disappearance] and three years of searching [for the plane, by the authorities].

"I never believed it was the pilot. Unfortunately, Richard Godfrey has said that he believes with this point that the pilot was in control. And look, it makes sense that we've searched for a ghost plane, haven't found it. So maybe we have to step forward and … search on that basis now."

Godfrey said a new search would only take a few million dollars.

"I'm sure this mystery will be solved and hopefully it will be solved later this year."

Read More
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New technology could hold key to MH370 disappearance ...
MH370 mystery: Head of search calls for fresh attempt ...
Missing Flight MH370: Aviation experts think they have ...

  MY THEORY IS JUST AS HORRIFYING

WATERSPOUT

CLIMATE CHANGE WILL INCREASE THEM

Environment Canada issues waterspout watch for much of Great Lakes region

(Courtesy: Gavin van Camp)

Abby O'Brien, CTV News Toronto

 Multi-Platform Writer
Published Monday, September 26, 2022

Environment Canada (EC) has issued waterspout watches for much of the Great Lakes region in Ontario Monday.

In a statement issued Monday morning, EC said waterspout watches are in effect for a large portion of the Great Lakes, including Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Simcoe, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.

In most regions, the waterspout watches have been issued alongside warnings for strong winds.




Environment Canada (EC) has issued waterspout watches for much of the Great Lakes region in Ontario Monday.According to Environment Canada, waterspouts can form during unstable conditions when cool air moves over relatively warmer water, resulting in what looks like a tornado of water, hovering over the surface.

“Mariners are urged to take all necessary precautions and prepare for the possibility of waterspout activity,” EC said Monday. “Postpone voyage or seek safe harbour if possible.”

Waterspouts are generally isolated in nature, ECCC says, but can occur in families of two or more. The agency says they are “short-lived” in nature, typically lasting approximately 20 minutes or less.

On Aug. 29, a tornado that initially developed as a waterspout over Lake Huron caused minor damage in Lambton and Bruce counties.

 

First significant Great Lakes waterspout outbreak of the season

Digital Writers
The Weather Network

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Monday, September 26th 2022,  - Cooler air spreading into central Canada will heighten the threat for waterspouts, thunderstorms, and windy conditions this

Multi-day threat for waterspouts across the Great Lakes

The first significant Great Lakes waterspout outbreak of the season is upon us, as a broad upper level trough creeps across Ontario this week bringing the threat for multiple days of waterspouts, pesky rain showers and isolated pop-up thunderstorms. A chillier temperature trend will also mark the first half of the week, with the threat for frost lingering outside of urban areas. More more on what the final week of September will bring, read below.

Visit our Complete Guide to Fall 2022 for an in-depth look at the Fall Forecast, tips to plan for it and much more!

This week: Pesky rain showers and waterspouts

The fall season certainly wasted no time kicking into high gear, as temperatures took a significant tumble last week, remaining cooler as we start this final week of September.

"These types of weather patterns will bring a little bit of everything including sunshine, cloud, showers and thunderstorms," says Kelly Sonnenburg, a meteorologist at The Weather Network. "Temperatures are crisp, but can always temporarily warm when the sun shines. They make it extremely difficult to plan your outfit for the day."

Along with the cooler, early October-like temperatures, will be the threat for waterposuts as an upper level low pressure system tracks over the warm waters of the Great Lakes sparking the risk for waterspouts to develop.

According to Sonnenburg, this will be the first significant waterspout outbreak of the season across the Great Lakes.

As of Monday morning, numerous waterspouts had already be spotted across Lake Erie.

This specific weather pattern is expected to stick around through Wednesday before pushing east and making way for the return of drier conditions late week and into the weekend with high pressure.

The next round of precipitation expected early next week could be the remnant moisture from Hurricane Ian, however this is not a complete guarantee as not all long range computer models have it tracking into the Great Lakes.

A milder pattern is expected to return and dominate during early and mid October.

WATCH: Waterspout spotted over Erie amid multi-day threat for Great Lakes

Large waterspout spins across Erie as outbreak likely for Great Lakes

A waterspout was caught on camera along the shore of Lake Erie. Watch dark clouds move slowly over the open waters.

0 seconds of 33 secondsVolume 40%

 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for MH370 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for WATERSPOUT 

 

Flight MH370's Disappearance Shows the Difficulty of Deep-Sea Search

A 2014 search plan shows the rugged contours of the Indian Ocean seabed (Australian Transportation Safety Bureau)

PUBLISHED MAR 11, 2024 8:42 PM BY THE CONVERSATION

 

 

[By Jamie Pringle, Alastair Ruffell Reader and Ruth Morgan]

It has been ten years since Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew on board, disappeared less than one hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on 8 March 2014. It has become one of the great mysteries of modern times and is a puzzle that has remained resolutely unsolved.

Theories abound on the flight’s disappearance and current location of the wreckage. Unusually, all communications aboard the plane were switched off shortly after take-off.

Intermittent satellite location information subsequently suggested it was flown south on a very different flight path than expected, to a remote and deep ocean area of the Southern Indian Ocean before contact was lost.

When actively searching for MH370, sophisticated international surveillance aircraft initially conducted over 300 flights to visually look for plane debris on the surface. Then surface and submersible vehicles conducted further surveys, searching over 120,000 square kilometers of ocean before ending the search in 2017.

The effort to find MH370 became one of the most expensive aviation searches in history. These surveys used both sonar (active acoustic instruments to image the sea floor to locate the aircraft), and also listening devices to pick up the aircraft’s flight data recorder.

Confirmed MH370 plane debris was found on Reunion Island in July 2015 and off the coast of Mozambique in February 2016, which was consistent with what we know about ocean currents. In 2018, OceanInfinity, a private exploration company, also searched 25,000 square kilometers, but without success.

Since then, a mixture of highly trained experts and members of the public have sought to assist the search. These efforts have varied from simple to really advanced data analysis. They have attempted to map the locations and timings of plane debris, and other maritime debris, as well as model drift currents. In doing so, they are attempting to reconstruct where these may have originated from, which is no small task.

Analysis of the MH370 flight path has been pieced together from two different types of radar – primary and secondary – as well as the intermittent data “pings” from the plane to the Inmarsat satellite. The results suggest that it diverted south from its intended flight path.

Another technique called weak signal propagation (WSPR data (a way of using radio emission to track objects such as planes), had defined a specific but very large search area, some of which has already been searched.

Available hydroacoustic data (based on the way sound propagates in water) of the sea floor has also been analyzed. However, only a relatively small area was covered and the marine sea floor in this region can be very rugged. There are deep submarine canyons that can hide objects much bigger than a plane.

Lessons from studying past flight disasters also informed the search. These included the 2009 Yemenia plane crash in the Indian Ocean.

Recovery operation

For inland or coastal water searches, a phased investigation strategy is suggested as best practice, where investigators look to identify water depths, major current strengths and directions, together with pre-existing site information, before specialist search teams are employed using methods, equipment configurations and personnel that have all been accredited.

However this reliance on technology can be problematic. Even in small waterways, the presence of vegetation in the search area or a target buried by sediment can make these searches difficult.

Much of the Southern Indian Ocean sea floor is rugged and relatively unmapped, with water depths of up to 7,400 meters. It’s away from regular shipping lanes and commercial flight patterns, with few fishing boats, no significant land masses and some of the worst winds and weather in the world. These factors also make it a very challenging area to search.

In deep water (more than 2-3,000 meters) deploying sonar is cumbersome and prohibitively expensive. It also takes a long time to generate data. A major challenge for scanning technologies is achieving accuracy at these kinds of depths due to the scattering of the signal caused by uneven, especially rocky substrates on the sea floor.

The development of more advanced autonomous submersible vehicles may hold the key to finding MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean, along with post-processing of raw data which can clarify what can be attributed to rocks as well as sea-floor hummocks and pockets.

This can distinguish between the sea floor and the objects being searched for. However, the area where MH370 disappeared is vast, meaning future searches will remain just as challenging as when the plane first went missing in 2014.

Jamie Pringle is a Reader in Forensic Geoscience at Keele University.

Alastair Ruffell is a Reader at the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast.

Ruth Morgan is Vice Dean Engineering and Professor of Crime and Forensic Science at UCL.

This article appears courtesy of The Conversation and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

MH370

MY THEORY: WATERSPOUT