http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/465369/Malaysia-Airlines-jet-Are-military-rulers-COVERING-UP-details-of-plane-s-last-flightpath
Malaysia Airlines plane: Has there been a military COVER UP over jet's last flight path?SOME of the world’s most militarised regimes might be covering up embarrassing details about the flightpath of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, a leading aviation expert has suggested.
By: Ted Jeoy
Published: Mon, March 17, 2014
COVER UP There would be a huge outcry if an unidentified jet passed slipped through radar defences COVER UP: There would be a huge outcry if an unidentified jet passed slipped through radar defences [GETTY]
David Learmount, operations and safety editor at the respected Flight Global publication, said countries in the world’s most volatile region might be withholding vital radar data about Flight MH370 for fear it would expose holes in their multibillion pound air defences.
If the unidentified Boeing 777 had passed over their territories without sounding any alarm bells it would be a humiliating failure for radar systems that are meant to alert rulers to enemy attacks.
The countries over which the Malaysia Airlines plane might have flown include Thailand, Burma, China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
Between them they spend some $185billion every year on military defences–and that excludes the amount spent by the US, the UK and other allies securing Afghanistan’s airspace.
Mr Learmount said: “Maybe these states’ air defences, like Malaysia’s, are not what they are cracked up to be.
“And maybe they wouldn’t want the rest of the world to know that.”
Flight MH370 and its 239 people on board has now been missing for nine days, with the 26 countries involved in the search not much closer to finding it. The plane’s transponder was deliberately turned off, making it undetectable to civilian air traffic controllers using secondary radar.
Flight Global’s David Learmount, a former pilot, is one of the most respected analysts in the aviation industry and regularly appears on the BBC and Sky News.
Writing on his blog yesterday, he outlined his latest thoughts.
He questioned why the Malaysian authorities had taken so long to disclose that the Boeing had been detected on military, or primary, radar–after having turned west from its intended flightpath.
That confirmation came last Tuesday.
lThe Malaysia Airlines jet may have passed over militarised zones undetected [EXPRESS]
Mr Learmount wrote: “Clearly they had let an unidentified aircraft pass through Malaysian sovereign territory without bothering to identify it; not something they were happy to admit.”
It was only yesterday, Mr Learmount wrote, that the “signs of really practical thinking and coordination of the search and investigation are beginning to appear for the first time”.
He continued: “The Malaysian government has called upon all the countries to the north-west as far as Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea to check their primary radar records for unidentified contacts in their airspace in the seven hours after the 777 went missing.
“Depending on the actual track the aircraft followed, if it had headed approximately north-west this could include some–if not all–of the following countries: Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.
“If the aircraft had gone that way, surely military primary radar in one of those countries–or several–would have picked up the signal from this unidentified aircraft, and the vigilant radar operator would have scrambled a fighter to intercept the intruder?
“Wouldn’t s/he? Or maybe not. Maybe these states’ air defences, like Malaysia’s, are not what they are cracked up to be. And maybe they wouldn’t want the rest of the world to know that.”
The Malaysia Airlines jet flying over Poland on Feb 5 this year [REUTERS]
Meanwhile, Malaysian officials today confirmed that French experts involved in the investigation of the 2009 Air France mid-Atlantic disaster have flown in to help solve the latest mystery.
Flight AF447 crashed into the Atlantic after a pilot error during a volatile lightning storm en route from Brazil to Paris.
Malaysian authorities also suggested the final voice to be heard from the Malaysia Airlines jet was that of the first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid. In his final call with Malaysian air traffic controllers, 15 minutes after the transponder had been deactivated, he is believed to have said, “all right, good night”.
A recording of the voice patterns are now being analsyed for any psychological stress from a possible hijacking by one or more of the crew or passengers.
Malaysian authorities are also seeking diplomatic permission to investigate the theory that the Boeing 777 have been flown to a Taliban controlled area of northwestern Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is thought the plane may have dropped to an altitude of less than 5,000ft to evade being detected by radar as it flew over other countries.
An official confirmed the plane had flown at a low lever over Kelentan, Malaysia. Speaking to the New Strait Times he said: "The person who had control over the aircraft has a solid knowledge of avionics and navigation, and left a clean track.
“It passed low over Kelantan, that was true. It's possible that the aircraft had hugged the terrain in some areas, that are mountainous to avoid radar detection".
Experts have said only a trained person would have the skills necessary to turn of the plane’s tracking system.
