KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — A new book on the mysterious disappearance of MH370 has come on the market ahead of its first year anniversary, suggesting the Malaysia Airlines plane was cyberjacked.
The 240-page book titled Someone Is Hiding Something: What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370? dismisses existing explanations for the jumbo jet’s disappearance along with the 239 people on board, saying they do not fit with what is known about the features of the aircraft and international radar and satellite systems, according to a report today by Australian news website news.com.au.
“The notion perpetrated in the media that a plane ‘disappears’ from tracking when the transponder is turned off is patently false,” the book says.
“It simply is not credible that the plane avoided radar after it flew off its route.”
The book takes its title from a blog post by former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad in which he accused the American Central Intelligence Agency of concealing information on the flight’s disappearance.
It is authored by three men: American a radio host George Noory, American actor Richard Belzer and David Wayne, an investigative journalist.
Both Belzer and Wayne have written books on alleged conspiracies before, including on the John F. Kennedy assassination.
The authors suggest remote cyberjacking as an alternative explanation, describing it as “the only possibility that fits the above circumstances,” the Australian news site reported.
“We’re not saying that’s what happened,” the authors qualify.
“We are saying that the official version of ‘We lost the plane and it may never be found’ is an obvious ruse and a very weak one at that.”
However, this theory has in turn been reportedly dismissed by US aviation safety expert Captain John Cox.
“Cyberjacking is far-fetched with no evidence,” Captain Cox was quoted saying on the Australian news portal.
“Airplanes are shielded to prevent such acts.”
The book currently has a 4.5 star rating on online retail giant, Amazon.
Conspiracy theories have cropped up since the Boeing 777-200ER vanished on March 8 last year en route to Beijing shortly after departing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The most recent, coming from aviation disaster experts in a National Geographic documentary that is scheduled to air on March 8 this year, suggest that the plane may have flown deliberately off-course towards Antarctica.
Yesterday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia is certain the plane ended up in the southern Indian Ocean.
On January 29 this year, Putrajaya declared Flight MH370 an air accident according to criteria set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and that all the people on board were presumed dead.
Australia is leading a multination effort to recover the body of the plane.
However, the next-of-kin of the 239 passengers and crew on board the plane have refused to accept the official explanation and have demanded the authorities show proof to back their claims.
