It has been previously reported by the authorities that Malaysian pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah was once suspected of plotting the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 because his flight simulator found at his home showed a flight data that resembled the alleged flight path of the ill-fated passenger plane.
On March 8, 2014, Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia bound for Beijing in China, laden with 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Shortly after takeoff, it lost radio contact and disappeared from radar.
The plane has yet to be found to this day but the theories are consistent in saying that from Kuala Lumpur, Flight MH370 veered way off course and ditched into the vast Indian Ocean.
While many debris of the plane has already been discovered in Eastern African shores, the main wreckage of the plane remains missing to this day amid the massive search that was started by the governments of Australia, China, and Malaysia spearheaded by the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB).
During the initial investigation, it was theorized that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah may have hijacked the plane which is why it veered off course before losing control and power causing the plane to crash in the Indian Ocean.
There are also reports saying that Zaharie decided to take the passengers and crew of Flight MH370 in his suicide plunge after a reported break up of marriage, notes The Sun of UK.
The hero theory
However, there is a new theory presented by Australian aviation expert Michael Gilbert who seemed to have cleansed the shaky image and reputation of pilot Zaharie.
Gilbert disclosed that Zaharie may have sacrificed the missing jet after it caught fire during its mid-flight.
And in a moment of extreme sacrifice, the Malaysian pilot may have ditched the doomed Boeing 777 into the sea in order to avoid crashing into land and in the process cause a huge number of casualties.
Gilbert has been apparently looking into the maintenance records and flight history of the aircraft to back up his theory that a faulty windshield heater sparked a fire.
He suspects the resulting blaze forced the plane to divert to Penang but then a cockpit oxygen leak caused the fire to rapidly intensify, details the Mirror of UK.
He found 9M-MRO, the Malaysia Airlines B777 that operated as Flight MH370, was at a significantly increased risk of experiencing a windshield heater fire or failure.
Acting on reflex
Gilbert explained that a windshield heater fire can explain both the loss of the transponder signal and the interruption to the satellite communications link. At the first sign of smoke, a burning smell or a fire, the crew’s initial reaction, based on reflex, would have been to don their oxygen masks.
The aviation expert added that he suspects that the captain got out of his seat to retrieve the cockpit fire extinguisher and fight the fire.
He added that the pilot would have realized there was no reasonable chance of manually flying the plane. There were no instruments, it was night, there was no moon, he could only occupy the cockpit for short periods of time and oxygen supplies were dwindling.
Gilbert went on to complete his theory that the pilot pointed the airplane in the safest possible direction, away from densely-populated Penang and the busy shipping lane in the Straits of Malacca. Zaharie then elected to do what many pilots in stricken planes had done in the past – steer it clear of populated areas.
The Australian aviation expert said that he believed that Flight MH370 ran out of fuel and came down about 200 kilometers outside the current search area.
Gilbert’s theory appears at least partly supported by US aviation safety consultant Captain John Cox who said recently that like many theories, he thinks Gilbert has overrun the evidence.
Cox said that the theory is worth considering because Gilbert is meticulous in his research.