MH370 by Elnaz Marediya

“The uncertainty prompts an uncomfortable question. Did pilot Zaharie Shah crash the plane on purpose, killing himself, the crew and the passengers?”(Westcott). On March 8, 2014, a hude flight was scheduled to take off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was supposed to land in Bejing Asia. This flight was all over top news channels when it did not reach its destination but instead it disappeared. The invevstigators dismissed the case because there was not enough evidence to find out what actually happened to the plane but some journalists and families of the passengers come up with many ideas of what happened that day. Most of them point their fingers at Zaharie Shah, the captain of the flight.  Even top BBC news journalists do not understand or know what to think about Zaharie Shah. Many journalists believe it was a planned criminal group attack, others believe that the disappearance was the result of an honest plane accident, and others argue that it was a suicide attempt.

Zaharie Shah was the leading pilot on Malaysian flight MH370 which went missing. Many people accuse Zaharie Shah for being responsible for the missing flight. Since nothing  has been proven as of yet here are some fact that matter: Zaharie Shah was a family person who had just had a divorce recently before the plane went missing but he was a very experienced pilot who was also known to be seen with big criminals who could have planned a suicide mission.

Zaharie Shah was an outgoing man but he was very internally conflicted at the time of the incident. He just had a divorce before the flight incident but he had a big family and was very close to the family. He was something anyone could call a good person with a good life. Proof of that is shown through the way his family reacted when he was accused. They could not believe that he was part of something like a suicide mission. On the outside, people could see something was fishy. His family refused to ask questions “Wilson said he met with Shah's brother-in-law and wife who both refute claims that he committed suicide despite rumors about his emotional state over his marriage,” (Payne). Although they refused to say that he committed suicide, his family did agree that he could be emotionally disturbed and maybe he was acting out. The journalist says, “Zaharie was on the brink of divorcing his wife after nearly 30 years of marriage. He refused to attend marriage counselling with Islamic elders. He shunned family and spent hours alone on his flight simulator,” (Daily Mail). Since he did not attend counselling to prove that he was suicidal but the fact that he did not attend those meeting gives the reporters a reason to believe that he was too emotionally impaired to fly a plane by making rational decisions.

 

People also knew that he worked as a pilot for 33 years. He always looked experienced. But the types of friends he chose were those who could easily sway him. It was easy for everyone to think that he was responsible but because of what happened in his life, like his divorce, might have encouraged him to be with bad company.  The article says, “Zaharie was a fervent supporter of Anwar, a pro-democracy icon in Malaysia who was jailed for five years for sodomy hours before Flight MH370 took off for the final time,”(DailyMail). This article does not say that Anwar was planning to attack the plane with Mr. Shah but it is very likely from the way that he was behaving before the plane’s disappearance that he could have planned something with the criminal.

Zaharie Shah may look typical but there are many reasons to believe that he caused the tragedy because many times when people get more power or control, they use it for the bad reasons.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China Disappeared. Studies show that the flight could have disappeared for the three reasons: it was a planned criminal group attack, the disappearance was the result of an honest plane accident, and it was a suicide attempt.

            Zaharie Shah was the captain of the flight. Before the flight Zaharie Shah had many suspicious things going on with his life. One thing that all of his close ones and family can definitely affirm to is that he had criminal friends. A newspaper article reports, “Although Aishah does not appear to have spoken to her father on  the day the flight disappeared, she told investigators she knew from friends in Kuala Lumpur he was upset and felt ‘utter frustration’ over the jail sentence given to Anwar Ibrahim,” (Daily Mail). The reporter spoke directly with Zaharie Shah’s daughter and the reported can infer that the captain and his criminal friends might have felt inclined towards doing something on or with the plane. This reason is less likely to be true because it is based on hypothetical theories and also because it involves indirect communitcation. Anwar was not on the plane so it would have to be a solo mission highly dependent on Zaharie’s actions which means that the criminal group would not be responsible but rather Zaharie himself. So it is unlikely that Zaharie would have given consent to performing such a mission.

            Since the plane lost control in the last few minutes till it reached the ground, the government and news official declare and believe it was just a regular accident that could happen to any plane that loses control during a high elevation. While deducting the last pieces of information a CNN reporter says, "Therefore there was no way this airplane was being flown by anyone. It was out of control, ran out of fuel and spiraled into the sea at high speed,"(Westcott). Viewers and reporters thereafter say that the few evidence point towards the flight being in shock and sinking due to less fuel and high elevation route. This theory could easily be wrong because there is also other evidence that says that before the flight was taken out of control the plane was flown in the wrong direction. That action would only be possible if someone on the plane, like the pilot that knows how to make the maneuver, would be able to do that. This is why most readers of the news and family members, other than Zaharie Shah’s family who believe he was innocent, believe different conspiracy theories.

            The most common conspiracy against the Malaysian flight case is that Zaharie Shah, the captain of the flight, who was capable of controlling the plane purposely crashed the plane and caused the disappearance. Some of his family members think that he was going to a bad mental phase since he had just recently gone through a divorce that might have caused him to act out in bad ways. “Speaking in 2014 about the mystery, the wife and daughter of Mr. Shah said the 53-year-old pilot had been desolate in the weeks before the aircraft's disappearance – and refused pleas to attend marriage counselling sessions,”(Trask). Missing counselling proves that Mr. Shah did not have the right mental stability to fly a plane since counseling is supposed to help those who are going through a rough emotional time. Through these statements, reporters are drawn to believe that Mr., Shah might have planned a mission as an act of emotional break down because of divorce. This theory could be proved wrong since his family claimed that he would not take part in terrorism. His family is believable because Zaharie Shah is a very experienced pilot and he has been doing his job for 33 years. He is very unlikely to perform such a tactic under so much honor and reputation.

            These conspiracy theories logically prove the events that could have possibly taken place in the flight MH370.

            After looking at all the events and conspiracies about the disappearance of the Malaysian flight, MH370, there are three main questions that are still unanswered:

1.      Why did the plane disappear?

2.      Was a person responsible in attacking plotting the flight’s disappearance?

3.      Where are the passengers after the accident, if they are alive and can they be saved?

The flight’s disappearance did not leave enough clues to decipher a good reason for the flight’s disappearance. The mystery of the situation is shocking. If a flight so big can disappear then what can happen to people living their everyday lives. This event leaves people to be cautious because it is hard to find people who are plotting for evil and no one can determine the future. The future holds many mysteries just like the past.

 Works Cited

“'He Wasn't the Father I Knew. He Was Lost and Disturbed': Daughter of MH370 Pilot Raises Alarming New Questions about His State of Mind in Weeks before Plane's Disappearance.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 30 Mar. 2014, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592436/He-wasnt-father-I-knew-He-lost-disturbed-Daughter-MH370-pilot-raises-alarming-new-questions-state-mind-weeks-planes-disappearance.html.

Payne, Samantha. “Malaysia Airlines MH370 Plunged into Ocean in a 'Death Dive'.” International Business Times UK, IBT, 19 Sept. 2016, www.ibtimes.co.uk/malaysia-airlines-mh370-plunged-into-ocean-death-dive-1581863.

Trask, Steven. “MH370 Pilot 'Practised Flying Suicide Mission on Flight Simulator Weeks before the Airliner Disappeared on Same Route' (So Why Are We Just Hearing about It?).” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 23 July 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3704249/MH370-pilot-practised-suicide-route-Indian-Ocean.html.

Westscott, Ben. “MH370 Out of Control and Spiraling Fast before Crash, Report Says.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Nov. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/asia/mh370-crash-landing-report/.

Westcott, Richard. “Flight MH370: Could It Have Been Suicide?” BBC News, 16 Apr. 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31736835.