03 March 2024 , 16:41
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An expert has weighed into the mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which vanished ten years ago - and said the pilot is not to blame.
French investigative journalist Florence de Changy has been exploring several theories about the mysterious flight that vanished on March 8, 2014. The plane departed from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, but under 40 minutes into the journey it lost contact over the South China Sea.
No one has ever been able to identify what actually happened to the Boeing 777, which vanished into thin air with 239 passengers and crew members. Now, Florence has offered further insight into the "shocking" case. She has challenged several key events and theories including the flight path and the supposed involvement of the pilot.
There has been multiple theories about the missing MH370 flight (AFP via Getty Images)Flight path
It has previously been reported that the plane disappeared over the Andaman Sea. According to satellite analysis, the plane was said to have re-directed and likely crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean.
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Florence revealed she found evidence from Vietnamese air traffic control and intelligence sources that suggested the plane crashed north of Vietnam at around 4.45 am. She said she is certain that a crash didn't take place in the Southern Indian Ocean.
Debris
On July 29, 2015, investigators reported that they had found debris from the right section of the wing, named the flaperon, on a beach on Reunion Island, near Mauritius. However, Florence disputed the claims and said the debris may not have been from the MH370.
"First, they never even established the provenance of the flaperon. This is shocking," she told The Sun. Secondly, they said the flaperon suffered two consecutive shocks, which does not fit a crash in the ocean."
Cargo conspiracy
The Malaysia Airlines flight lost contact just 38 minutes into the journey (AFP/Getty Images)Florence also questioned the cargo manifest and said it "made no sense". It comes after it was reported that 4.5 tons of the tropical fruit, mangosteens, were on board, including 2.5 tons of electrical items.
However, she said it was not the right season for the mangosteens and claimed she later found out they were on "every MH370 flight for the next month." She also cited that the official report stated that the cargo did not undergo an X-ray. She believes this caused a "big problem".
The journalist suspects that the contents were behind an emergency landing.“I believe there was a cargo confiscation operation. If you’re surrounded by military planes, you follow orders," she said.
Air chief told to stop speaking out
British president of Emirates Airlines, Sir Tim Clark, had earlier said that nearly every other missing flight in the past had been “at least five or ten per cent trackable”. For this reason, it raised a cause of concern, he said at the time.
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Florence alleged that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which led the original search, told him to stop speaking about the case. He later said in an interview that her theory was correct about him being silenced.
The captain
Initial theories suggested that the captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 52, could have caused the disaster as part of a murder-suicide plot. However, Florence believes the captain is "innocent". She added: "I have spoken to people who knew him and saw confidential police reports about him and I am convinced he was a good man and had nothing to do with the fate of the plane.”