Malaysia Airlines MH370 (Photo : Reuters)
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was already doomed even before crashing to the open seas, new reports said. The ill-fated plane supposedly caught on fire while in flight but one pilot made the last minute call of steering away the aircraft from populated areas and in the process save lives.
Following MH370's disappearance on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew, rumors and conspiracies fly and among them that the Malaysian pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, committed suicide by crashing the plane down, bringing with him hundreds of innocent lives including babies. According to The Daily Mirror, Shah's action might have been prompted by "marriage difficulties."
But a new theory offered by Australian aviation enthusiast Michael Gilbert painted Shah in a different light. Instead of a mass murderer, Gilbert is convinced that Shah made heroic decisions that explained why MH370 was way off course from its flight plan. The plane took off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing but last registered on radar northwest of Malaysia.
Gilbert theorized that while in flight, the Boeing 777 used in the flight had a faulty windshield heater that developed into a fireball. The windshield heater malfunction, Gilbert said, has been before in B777s eight times since 2002 so something similar happening to MH370 is not too remote of a scenario.
In fact, it could be the specific reason why the plane turned back midway to China. And the resulting fire would naturally depressurize the cabin and the lack of oxygen would have left most of the passengers and crew dead in a span of 25 minute since the fire started.
Yet one person was left alive and he was responsible in preventing further harm, deaths and damages around the area where MH370 flew over before plunging to the sea. Gilbert estimated that MH370 could have crashed in Penang, Malaysia or Sumatra, Indonesia and the casualties and damage to properties would have been multiplied.
Instead, Captain Shah while still barely alive opted to let MH370 fly on auto pilot and steered the plane away from the area of civilization. "Gilbert suggests the pilot just pointed the plane in the safest direction and let the MH370 run out of fuel," News.com.au reported.
It is the belief of the Australian aviation expert that Malaysia Airlines MH370 crashed some 200km away from where the search is currently conducted.
