At the sidelines of British Graduates Association Malaysia (BGAM) Lecture "MH370: The Search, the Mystery & What Really Happened" by Haji Mohd Fuad Sharuji, Former Crisis Director (MH378 & MH17) Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at Menara BAC Petaling Jaya, I asked my senior alumnus of King Edward VII School (KE7) Taiping, who was seated beside me in front of the Auditorium, OE Engr Sitham Nadarajah, Former Deputy Director of MAS Engineering Division, about the “untold stories” of the biggest mystery in Aviation history. He aptly commented “The aircraft to Beijing did a U-turn while flying to the Vietnam area, flew over Peninsula Malaysia (close to Penang) and went South toward s the Indian Ocean. How come our civil ATC, DCA not pick it up? Neither Malaysian Military ATC not pick up an identified aircraft entering and flying over Peninsula airspace without formal approval. Normally, the air force (RMAF) will immediately scramble the intruder.”
Sitham revealed, “It had happened to our DC10 flight returning from London when due to navigation instrument error drifted into Pakistan territory and was challenged by Pakistan Air Force fighters. This is a sensitive subject with the victims' families, Fuad did his presentation well. I could think of three probabilities: (1) Pilot may have had some ideas and maneuvers it accordingly; (2) Aircraft was hijacked; (3) Aircraft may be carrying secret equipment which certain super powers did not want China to receive it. My personal believe, it is a planned move and nothing technically wrong with the aircraft to drift the way it did. I feel sad about this. May the dear innocent souls RIP and the Almighty bless their families the strength to carry on with their life.”
Post-MAS, Sitham joined the Australian Aviation Consulting Group to turn around troubled airlines. He was later hired as Advisor by Jet Airways India & contributed to its development as the largest private international airline in India. He was the co-project leader for our book “Malaysia Airlines We Built”.
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