The families are still left without answers (Image: PEDRO PARDO, AFP via Getty Images)
An aviation expert and engineer has revealed the “cunning plan” behind the most deadly air disaster in history – the mysterious vanishing of flight MH370.
The ill-fated Boeing 777, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, disappeared on March 8, 2014, while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The aircraft remains at the centre of aviation’s greatest unsolved mystery and stands as the deadliest single event involving a missing plane.
Ongoing efforts by marine robotics company Ocean Infinity are operating on a “no find, no fee” basis, with desperate, grief-stricken families anxiously awaiting answers. The initial search was launched off the coast of Perth in 2018, with further searches conducted in 2025 and earlier this year.
Following the suspension of the search in January and its relaunch in March, Ismail Hamad, Chief Engineer at Egyptair, told The Daily Star: “Had the aircraft flown toward the southern Indian Ocean using the autopilot system reliant on Inertial Reference Systems (IRS) of navigation, it would have been located during the initial search off the coast of Perth, Australia.”, reports the Daily Star.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 rages on (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“This conclusion is based on a simple integration of satellite data and fuel consumption equations for the aircraft without even accounting for the other factors such as the weather conditions and the crosswinds which their effects are precisely corrected by the autopilot system and its laser gyroscope aids which are highly sensitive in determining direction and maintaining the aircraft’s orientation without being affected by any external factors.”
Hamad claimed there was a simple, yet horrific plan that explains the tragedy. He said: “In my opinion, the [hijakcer]’s method of vanishing with the aircraft was far more cunning in planning but simple and easy to execute. He relied for heading on the aircraft’s standby magnetic compass which is a primitive in work. That makes the pilot himself uncertain of his exact landing location as a result of the impact of weather conditions and operational factors on the aircraft, not to mention the compass’s inherent deviation from the Earth’s magnetic north.”
While several conspiracy theories continue to circulate, Hamad remains firmly convinced that a “hijacker” was behind the incident, with the crucial question remaining as to where the aircraft came down when their scheme unravelled.
The flight vanished over a decade ago (Image: undefined)
He explained: “If the hijacker was looking for the perfect crime that would remain a mystery for a hundred years, he would have to land on one of the abandoned airstrips or lakes in the maze of the Philippine archipelago, which consists of 7,641 islands.
“Such airstrips are spread out and end in the sea, lakes or swamps, and not fly in a straight line to fall into the waters off the city of Perth, in an area that can be predicted by calculating the rate of the fuel consumption.”
Ismail added: “Whatever the pilot’s experience he would not be able to fly easily and accurately in a straight line on such a long straight route, above an open area of water, at night for such long hours”.
The engineer emphasised that navigation from the Malaysian coastline towards the southern Indian Ocean would suggest a crash site near Perth.
He said if the pilot had GPS equipment available, they could have navigated through the Philippines islands “if they knew them and their cities’ lights well”. Ismail underlined that inputting simple spatial coordinates into the autopilot computer presents considerable difficulties.
The plane and 239 people on board vanished from radar screens (Image: Supian Ahmad/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)
He explained: “Likewise, a pilot alone would not be able to continue flying a big aircraft like B777-200 for nine hours since take-off until vanishing, including the three hours on average it takes to check the condition of the aircraft and its documentations before the taking off according to the aviation regulations.”
Ismail concluded that without autopilot systems or navigation aids, relying solely on the plane’s magnetic compass, the search area should be restricted to the section between the Malacca strait and Perth coastline when accounting for “all those stresses”.
