One oil rig worker saw a commercial plane flying at an unusually low altitde – engulfed in flames on the night of March 8 2014
One man claims to have witnessed the infamous Boeing 777, carrying 239 souls, engulfed in flames.
The decade-long mystery started on March 8 2014 when the Malaysia Airlines flight 370 vanished as it travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It remains aviation history’s biggest puzzle and most fatal incident to date. In 2014, a New Zealand oil rig worker lost his job after reporting what he thought was MH370 on fire. Mike McKay was having a cigarette while on a break while working at the Songa Mercur oil rig on the coast of Vietnam on the fateful night, reports CNN.
McKay, 57, claimed to see a plane on fire at high altitude. He sent his employers an email about it saying he “observed the plane burning at high altitude at a compass bearing of 265 to 275 degrees from our surface location.” The email began: “Gentlemen. I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines flight come down. The timing is right. I tried to contact Malaysian and Vietnamese officials several days ago. But I do not know if the message has been received.”
It added: “While I observed (the plane) it appeared to be in one piece. From when I first saw the burning (plane?) until the flames went out (at high altitude) was 10-15 seconds. There was no lateral movement so it was either coming toward our position stationary (falling) or going away from our location. The general position of the observation was perpendicular/south-west of the normal flight path and at a lower altitude than the normal flight paths.”
The email was leaked, including the name of workplace. McKay said: “Of course, I ended up looking like a fool. But what happened to me is of no consequence considering those who lost family on the flight. I sent an observation in a confidential email hoping it would help find the loved ones of the families.
“This was leaked to the media. I saw something but the distances from the last known position make my observation being the plane unlikely under the generally accepted route the plane took after contact was lost. I have many questions. How did the flight return across the Malay Peninsula and fly over the F16 base at Butterworth and the Penang Airport basically unnoticed?
“This moved the search away from the South China Sea. Why did it take six days for the primary radar data to be released? What were the two sonar locators investigated in the Indian Ocean? Where is the metal stress reports of the part found on Reunion Is? This would tell how the plane broke up. The pilot would have tried to circle until daylight away from the flight paths of other planes. The [seventh] arc on which the plane was lost (if the data is to be believed) could put the break-up back in the South China Sea or immediately south of Sumatra. Not off the west coast of Oz (Australia).”
Vietnamese authorities dispatched aircraft to search for the plane, in response to McKay’s report, according to NZer. Recent efforts by marine robotics company Ocean Infinity were abruptly halted in April, with Malaysia’s Transport Minister, Anthony Loke, telling AFP: “Right now, it’s not the season.” The search has yet to recommence. Loke said: “They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year.”
However, Ismail Hammad, Chief Engineer at Egyptair, believes he has the solution to spare everyone “money and time” and finally find thelocation of missing plane MH380. Ismail, questioned the images of the plane’s wreckage emerging from the ocean, claiming “the condition of the plane’s paint is not consistent with what would happen if it had been lying in salt water for as long as it had.
