MH370 book’s wild claim pilot may have ‘robbed passengers then parachuted from doomed jet in bid to start secret new life with mistress’
AN MH370 writer has come out with a wild new theory about the doomed plane – that its suspect pilot parachuted out so he could start a new life with his mistress.
Author Ean Higgins examines the wild claim in his book The Hunt for MH370, about the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people on board travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Higgins highlights one particularly sensational theory - that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah planned the mass murder so he could vanish and start a new life with his mistress who was waiting in a boat in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean.
The pair would then start a new life using stolen identities, reported.
The theory, he says, was originally propagated by Qantas’s former manager of flight training and veteran airline captain, David Shrubb.
Higgins’ book says captain Shah had numerous mistresses over the years but a woman named Rina was his favourite one.
“There are lots of others, but you can exclude them basically.
MH370 - WHAT HAPPENED?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur and was heading to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Passengers included Chinese calligraphers, a couple on their way home to their young sons after a long-delayed honeymoon and a construction worker who hadn't been home in a year.
But at 12.14am on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines lost contact with MH370 close to Phuket island in the Strait of Malacca.
Before that, Malaysian authorities believe the last words heard from the plane, from either the pilot or co-pilot, was "Good night Malaysian three seven zero".
Satellite "pings" from the aircraft suggest it continued flying for around seven hours when the fuel would have run out.
Experts have calculated the most likely crash site around 1,000 miles west of Perth, Australia.
But a huge search of the seabed failed to find any wreckage - and there are a number of alternative theories as to its fate.
Who was Zaharie Amad Shah?
Shah, born July 31, 1961, was described as a veteran pilot who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981.
The 53-year-old had been an airline pilot with Malaysia Airlines for 33 years, and had 18,423 hours of flight time.
He had been a B777 captain for 16 years, and had 8659 hours on that aeroplane type.
Because of his good track record and seniority, he had been designated as a Type Rating Instructor, and Type Rating Examiner, on the B777.
He was recognised as an accomplished and well-respected pilot who had no blemishes on his record.
He was married and had three children.
Zaharie, a passionate cook and keen fisherman, Shah lived with his wife in a luxury gated community where he was said to have built his own flight simulator.
In the wake of the plane's disappearance, rumours surfaced claiming his wife had moved out of their home.
"We know a fair bit now to exclude things. The ones I have are the ones that are consistent with the known facts."
The theory explained in Higgins’ book is just one of a number of theories about what happened to the plane.