PETALING JAYA: Did Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 really end its journey in the Indian Ocean?
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad posed this question today in his latest blog posting.
Mahathir expressed doubt that such a huge plane could plunge into the ocean without breaking into pieces.
“Can a plane that heavy, made of glass, aluminium, titanium and composites, plunge into the sea and not break up? Even if the sea was calm, the plane must break up.
“But the suggestion is that the whole plane sank intact into the sea. Is this possible? To date, nothing has been found to indicate the breakup of the plane.”
Flight MH370, which was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, went missing on March 8 after losing contact with air traffic control. There were 239 people on board.
It was later reported that it had made a westward turn towards the Andaman Sea before ending its journey in the southern Indian Ocean.
A multinational search and rescue operation is ongoing.
In the same article, Mahathir launched a scathing attack against Boeing, the maker of the aircraft.
He criticised the company for keeping its silence and said it should be held liable for the plane’s communication breakdown.
“The position of all commercial planes is constantly monitored. They even appear on the screens of our phones, but MH370 disappeared from the screen,” he said.
“How did it happen? What equipment do passenger aircraft carry so that their position can be chartered and broadcast? If a plane disappears, wouldn’t someone notice?
“Yet the plane vanished and no one seems to know.
“But Boeing is deathly quiet! No explanation at all as to how the communication system and monitoring of position can fail in its aircraft.
“Until the plane is found and the causes of its communications system broke down are determined, one must conclude that Boeing planes are dangerous to fly in.”