Editing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearance theories (section)

==Pilot suicide/mass murder==

<!-- Statements about the Captain should only reference facts about his personal life and events leading up to the disappearance of MH370 which may have relevance to his mental status at the time of the flight. DO NOT post statements of a speculative nature about possible motivation...eg. he went on a final 'joyride', possibly flew to incapacitate passengers, hijacked the plane (beyond any official statements about this possibility)...unless and until firm statements are made publicly by investigators. -->
Shortly after Flight 370's disappearance, media reports revealed that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's wife and three children moved out of his house the day before the disappearance; and a friend claimed that Captain Shah was seeing another woman and Shah's relationship with her was also in trouble.<ref name=MYChronicle-pilots>{{cite web|title=FBI to Quiz Wife of MH370 Pilot Amid Talk of Cockpit Hijack|url=http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=249772:fbi-to-quiz-wife-of-mh370-pilot-amid-talk-of-cockpit-hijack&Itemid=2&tmpl=component&print=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170301/http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=249772:fbi-to-quiz-wife-of-mh370-pilot-amid-talk-of-cockpit-hijack&Itemid=2&tmpl=component&print=1|archive-date=14 July 2014|website=Malaysia Chronicle|access-date=3 July 2014|date=24 March 2014|quote=Police are also examining reports that he received a two-minute phone call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile number obtained using a false identity.|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYDN captain behaviour">{{cite web|last1=Moran|first1=Lee|last2=Siemaszko|first2=Corey|title=Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 pilot' in 'no state of mind to be flying,' says friend, as search for missing plane explores possible debris southwest of Australia|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/flight-370-pilot-friend-shouldn-flying-article-1.1734998|website=New York Daily News|access-date=3 July 2014|date=26 March 2014}}</ref> Claims of domestic problems have been denied by Shah's family.<ref name="Australian-pilot behaviour">{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=Suspicion falls again on Malaysia Airlines flight 370's captain Zaharie Shah|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/suspicion-falls-again-on-malaysia-airlines-flight-370s-captain-zaharie-shah/story-e6frg95x-1226962734150|website=The Australian|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014}}</ref> A fellow pilot and long-time associate of Shah stated the captain was "terribly upset"<ref name=NZHerald-pilot>{{cite web|last1=Tan|first1=Lincoln|title=Flight MH370: Pilot in wrong state of mind to fly – friend|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11226334|website=New Zealand Herald|access-date=3 July 2014|date=26 March 2014}}</ref> that his marriage was falling apart.<ref name="NYDN captain behaviour" /> Police were also investigating reports that Shah received a two-minute phone call prior to the flight's departure from an unidentified woman using a mobile phone number obtained with a false identity.<ref name=MYChronicle-pilots /> Furthermore, Captain Shah was also a supporter of Malaysian opposition politician [[Anwar Ibrahim]], who [[Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trials#Acquittal overturned|was sentenced to jail]] on 7 March after an earlier acquittal on sodomy charges was overturned in a move viewed as politically motivated.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Subramaniam|first1=Pathma|title=Anwar given 5 years' jail after appellate court reverses sodomy acquittal |url=http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/anwar-acquittal-reversed|website=MalayMailOnline|access-date=3 July 2014|date=7 March 2014}}</ref> Shah was in the courtroom the day before the flight.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dick |first=Monica |date=2014-11-05 |title=Pondering the preposterous |url=https://www.wingsmagazine.com/pondering-the-preposterous-11202/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Wings Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Investigators noted strange behaviour by Shah from conducting 170 interviews—namely, that the Captain had made no social or professional plans for after 8 March, when Flight 370 disappeared.<ref name="Pilot behaviour" /> However, according to the French journalist Florence de Changy who wrote a book about the flight, dismissing "100 per cent of the official narrative",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1992860/mh370-conspiracy-author-florence-de-changy-says-officials|title=MH370 conspiracy? Author Florence de Changy says officials misled the public about ill-fated plane|date=21 July 2016|newspaper=[[South China Morning Post]]|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref> Shah made an appointment with his dentist to get back his [[Crown (dental restoration)|tooth crown]]  when the dentist phoned him a few days before 8 March.<ref>{{Cite book | author = Florence de Changy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKeqCwAAQBAJ | title = Le Vol MH370 n'a pas disparu | location = France |publisher=Les Arènes |year=2016 |isbn=978-2352045328}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2018}} News reports about the Captain's lack of social plans and flight simulator exercises cite results of the police enquiry into the pilots, which have been shared with some of the investigation team but have not been released publicly. However, news reports on 23 July 2014 stated that the police considered the possible culpability of all those onboard the plane, and identified the captain as the prime suspect—if it is proven human intervention was involved.<ref name="Pilot behaviour" /> 

The United States' [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] reconstructed the deleted data from Captain Shah's home [[flight simulator]]; a Malaysian government spokesman indicated that "nothing sinister" had been found on it.<ref name="ABCus_2014-04-02"/><ref name="BBC_2014-03-29"/> However, ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' later reported that among deleted flight paths performed on the flight simulator, investigators found a flight path into the Southern Ocean where a simulated landing was made on an island with a small runway.<ref name="mirror.co.uk"/><ref name="Australian-pilot behaviour" /><ref name="Pilot behaviour">{{cite web|title=Malaysian police investigation names MH370 pilot 'prime suspect'|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|website=News.com.au|access-date=3 July 2014|date=23 June 2014|archive-date=2 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702153926/http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/malaysian-police-investigation-names-mh370-pilot-prime-suspect/story-fnizu68q-1226962811653|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Sheridan|first1=Michael|title=MH370 pilot 'chief suspect' |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622143549/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Asia/article1425492.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 June 2014|website=The Sunday Times|access-date=3 July 2014|date=22 June 2014}}</ref><!-- Note: Articles discussing the flight simulator revelation all reference the The Sunday Times article, which is behind a pay wall. The TST article is listed as a reference, but the editor who added it was unable to verify that article's claims, only assuming that other new source's claims citing that article are accurate. The "The Australian" article lists "Michael Sheridan" (author of TST article) and "The Times" at top and may be identical to the TST article. -->
In 2016, a leaked American document stated that a route on the pilot's home flight simulator closely matching the projected flight over the Indian Ocean was found during the FBI analysis of the hard drive of the computer used for the flight simulator.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wise|first1=Jeff|title=Exclusive: MH370 Pilot Flew a Suicide Route on His Home Simulator Closely Matching Final Flight|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/07/mh370-pilot-flew-suicide-route-on-home-simulator.html|website=New York Magazine|publisher=New York Media |date=22 July 2016|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> This was later confirmed by the ATSB, and by the Malaysian government.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malaysia-confirms-flight-370-pilot-plotted-fatal-route/ |website=CBS News |title=Malaysia confirms Flight 370 pilot plotted fatal route |date=5 August 2016 |access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> In the ATSB's 2017 report "The Operational Search for MH370," new details were provided regarding the flight simulator path. It had been flown five weeks prior to the disappearance on February 2nd and was reconstructed from data deleted on February 3rd. The simulated aircraft was a B777-200LR. The first data point showed the flight beginning in Kuala Lumpur. Subsequent data points indicated the aircraft flying northwest along the Strait of Malacca before tracking southeast to the fifth data point, located deep in the southern Indian Ocean, where fuel exhaustion occurred. In the sixth and final data point, the altitude was manually set to 4000ft, with the aircraft observed in a nose-down pitch of 5°. The report states:<ref>{{cite web |title=The Operational Search for MH370 |url=https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2014/aair/ae-2014-054 |website=ATSB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Missing pilot's flight simulator data deleted |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/3/19/missing-pilots-flight-simulator-data-deleted |publisher=Al Jazeera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310144236/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2014/3/19/missing-pilots-flight-simulator-data-deleted |archive-date=10 March 2024}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|"There were enough similarities to the flight path of MH370 for the ATSB to carefully consider the possible implications for the underwater search area. These considerations included the impact on the search area if the aircraft had been either glided after fuel exhaustion or ditched under power prior to fuel exhaustion with active control of the aircraft from the cockpit."}}

[[Tony Abbott]] was [[Prime Minister of Australia]] when MH370 disappeared. In February 2020, six years after the plane disappeared, Abbott disclosed in a Sky News documentary: "My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government, is that from very, very early on, they thought it was [[Murder–suicide|murder-suicide]] by the pilot."<ref> {{Cite web |last=Lavalette |first=Tristan |date=19 February 2020 |title=Abbott says top Malaysian leaders suspected pilot of MH370 |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-3feb92bc2b2105c4bce97d06316e9e8c |access-date= |website=AP News}}</ref> Shah's family vehemently denied the possibility of pilot suicide.<ref>{{cite news|title='I know my dad well', says Capt Zaharie's son|url=http://www2.nst.com.my/nation/general/i-know-my-dad-well-says-capt-zaharie-s-son-1.534266#ixzz3TnCE2mM1|access-date=8 March 2015|work=New Straits Times|date=27 March 2014}}</ref>

Many aviation experts believe, and some analyses of the flap and flaperon debris suggest, that the shearing damage evident on the trailing edges of the [[Flap (aeronautics)|flap]] and [[flaperon]], coupled with the minimal damage observed on the leading edges, strongly suggests a controlled ditching as the likely end-of-flight scenario. This perspective contrasts sharply with the ATSB's hypothesis of a high-speed, uncontrolled plummet following fuel exhaustion. The distinct lack of substantial leading edge damage and clean shearing of the trailing edges contradicts what would be expected from a high-velocity impact.<ref>{{cite web |author1=DGA Techniques aéronautiques |title=SAFETY INVESTIGATION REPORT MH370 (9M-MRO) |url=https://www.mot.gov.my/my/Laporan%20Siasatan%20Mh370/02-Appendices/Appendices%20Set%202%20-%202%20Appendices%201.12A-1%20to%201.12A-2%20Main/Appendix-1.12A-2-Item1Flaperon%28Main%29.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528150817/https://www.mot.gov.my/my/Laporan%20Siasatan%20Mh370/02-Appendices/Appendices%20Set%202%20-%202%20Appendices%201.12A-1%20to%201.12A-2%20Main/Appendix-1.12A-2-Item1Flaperon(Main).pdf |archive-date=28 May 2024 |website=Ministry of Transport Malaysia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kamoulakos |first1=Argiris |title=Aspects of analysis and simulation of a flaperon ditching scenario |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342020623}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Vance |first1=Larry |title=Lessons Learned From MH370 Investigation |url=https://medium.com/@LarryVanceAviation/lessons-learned-from-mh370-investigation-409bb61d5737}}</ref>

A book, ''Goodnight Malaysian 370'', was published in August 2014 by New Zealanders Geoff Taylor and Ewan Wilson; the authors blamed a deliberate act of the pilot for the aircraft's disappearance, but admitted they were not able to "provide any conclusive evidence to support his theory" nor any motive.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/10156897/MH370-No-accident-say-NZ-authors |title= MH370 No accident say NZ authors |publisher= Stuff/Fairfax |date=13 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/9851837/Kiwi-pilot-dismisses-missing-plane-fire-theory |title= Kiwi pilot dismisses missing plane fire theory |publisher=Stuff/Fairfax |date=21 March 2014}}</ref> 

In 2015, a former British Airways senior Boeing 777 pilot, Simon Hardy, told [[BBC News Online|BBC News]] that the plane's route was "probably very accurate flying rather than just a coincidence", and noted that the aircraft's turn toward the north-west over the Malacca Strait allowed a clear view of the captain's home island of [[Penang]]:<ref>{{cite news|last1=Westcott|first1=Richard|title=Flight MH370: Could it have been suicide?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31736835|access-date=8 March 2015|work=BBC News|date=6 March 2015}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|"Someone was taking a long, emotional look at Penang... there were actually three turns, not one. Someone was looking at Penang."}}

In May 2018, Hardy repeated his claim on ''[[60 Minutes (Australian TV program)|60 Minutes Australia]]'' that the captain used the flight as a murder–suicide and had deliberately flown the plane over his hometown of Penang before turning right and ditching the plane over the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Palin|first1=Megan |title=Chilling MH370 discovery about how pilot flew undetected, according to aviation experts|access-date=14 May 2018|work=news.com.au|via=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|date=14 May 2018|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12050868}}</ref> He said they found these results by reconstructing the captain's flight plan from the military radar and that the captain had avoided detection of the plane by military radar by flying along the border of Malaysia and Thailand, crossing in and out of each country's airspaces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/mh370-malaysia-airlines-captain-deliberate-plane-crash-murder-suicide-zaharie-amad-shah-a8350621.html|title=MH370 investigators reveal startling murder-suicide theory over missing plane|date=14 May 2018|website=The Independent|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref>

The cockpit had the mandated [[Airport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks#Increased security on aircraft|anti-hijacker fortified doors]] that could prevent locked-out crew or passengers from interfering with a suicide or hijacking into the [[Southern Ocean]].<ref name=Landau04-14>{{cite news|last=Landau|first=Joel|title=Malaysia Airlines plane may have been 'thrown around like a fighter jet' by a co-pilot: report|url=http://nydn.us/1jCjlkm|access-date=24 April 2014|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=13 April 2014}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A British television documentary, broadcast in March 2024, suggested that Captain Zaharie Ahmad could have selected manual control of the cabin conditioning system to deprive all occupants of air.<ref name="vanish">{{cite web |title= Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370  |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001x0yh/why-planes-vanish-the-hunt-for-mh370 |publisher=BBC iPlayer |date=6 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>

In 2022, a retired French captain [[Aircraft pilot|pilot]] and senior [[satellite]] engineer released a long report about scientific-based figures arguing of a pilot suicide, confirmed on various [[Flight simulator|plane simulators]] in France.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Patrick|last1= Blelly |first2=Jean-Luc|last2=Marchand |title=Technical and Aeronautical analysis from take-off to the end of the flight |url=https://www.mh370-caption.net/wp-content/uploads/3-known-trajectory-and-recalculated-trajectory.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first1=Patrick|last1=Blelly|first2=Jean-Luc|last2=Marchand|title=Analyse technique et aéronautique depuis le décollage jusqu'à la fin du vol |url=https://www.mh370-caption.net/wp-content/uploads/Analyse-complete-VOL-MH370-Francaise.pdf}}</ref>