Journalist and former pilot publish their findings following an independent study of the flight MH370 evidence
LAST UPDATED AT 12:21 ON Wed 20 Aug 2014
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One of the pilots in command of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 deliberately turned off the passengers' oxygen supply before performing a controlled ditching in the sea, a new book has claimed.
Goodnight Malaysian 370 suggests that all 227 passengers on board the Malaysia Airlines plane died of oxygen starvation up to four hours before aircraft sunk into the sea.
The book is written by Ewan Wilson, who holds qualifications as a transport safety investigator, and Geoff Taylor, deputy editor of New Zealand's Waikato Times newspaper.
The two men spent four months analysing the available evidence and conducting interviews with authorities in Malaysia and families of those on board.
Wilson believes the most likely scenario is that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately depressurised the cabin, depriving those on board of air, reports the Daily Mirror.
Oxygen masks would have dropped down in the cabin but the supply was limited to just 20 minutes, he says. Wilson suggests that Shah may have had access to a more extensive air supply and locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit. A controlled ditching in the sea would also explain why no debris has been found, says Wilson.
An earlier report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau concluded that passengers may have died from hypoxia, while Malaysian authorities previously named Ahmad Shah as their prime suspect. However, investigators have not found any evidence to prove that the pilot was responsible for the disappearance of the plane.
Wilson, a former commercial pilot, was chief executive of the cut-price New Zealand airliner Kiwi Air in the 1990s. However, the airline collapsed in 1996 and Wilson was subsequently found guilty on four counts of fraud relating to statements about his financial position at the time, reports the New Strait Times.
Goodnight Malaysian 370, which does not appear to offer conclusive evidence to support its theory, adds to the growing speculation about MH370's fate. Five months after the Malaysia Airlines flight vanished on 8 March there is still no trace of wreckage or debris from the Boeing 777.
Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/world-news/flight-mh370/57641/flight-mh370-pilot-practised-landing-on-island-runway#ixzz3BdXfgUlj