Najib Razak (C), who was the prime minister at the height of the MH370 episode, says investigators never ruled out criminal plot involving pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. (Source: freemalaysiatoday)Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared onFebruary 19 to confirm that Malaysian officials had suspected a criminal plotin the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Talking withonline newspaper Free Malaysia Today, Najib said authorities had also focusedtheir probe into the political affiliations of MH370 pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
However, hesaid the suspicions were not made public despite the then opposition’s attemptsto blame his government over its handling of the MH370 episode.
“It wouldhave been deemed unfair and legally irresponsible since the black boxes andcockpit voice recorders had not been found and hence, there was no conclusiveproof whether the pilot was solely or jointly responsible,” Najib, who was theprime minister when the plane carrying 239 people vanished six years ago duringa midnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, told Free Malaysia Today.
Najib saidthere were several reasons for the authorities to suspect Zaharie’s involvement,including the fact that the plane’s transponders were switched off at acritical moment, when it just left Malaysia’s air space.
He saidinvestigators also took into account Zaharie’s emotional state of mind, as wellas a flight simulator he had in his house which aroused suspicions.
MH370’s disappearanceis considered one of aviation’s biggest mysteries, and culminated in thelongest and most expensive search and rescue mission in history./.
VNA
