Freight News

Updated: Was cargo involved in MH370 mystery?

[ March 18, 2014   //   Chris ]

The Daily Mirror website (www.mirror.co.uk) is carrying a report suggesting that missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 may have been brought down by a cargo fire. It quotes former US Federal Aviation Administration head of security Billie Vincent who suggests that the pilots struggled to save their aircraft after a blaze in the cargo hold broke out until they were eventually overcome by smoke.The cargo may have been improperly packaged or illegally shipped – or both, he adds.

Mr Vincent believes a fire in the cargo hold would have gradually destroyed the plane’s communications systems and while toxic fumes would have quickly overwhelmed the crew, he suggests that one of the pilots managed to put on an oxygen mask and tried to turn the plane back to Kuala Lumpur, hence the change of direction detected by engine radar. The plane may have then continued flying until no fuel remained and crashes – most likely into the ocean.

The West Australian (http://au.news.yahoo.com) meanwhile suggests that the plane might have been hijacked because it was carrying valuable cargo. It says that the plane’s erratic flight path and low altitude could be explained by attempts to avoid military radar.

The paper quotes unnamed cargo sources in Singapore who say that the plane was carrying highly valuable cargo.

However, at a press conference on 17 March,

Malaysia Airlines’ group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that there was no hazardous cargo on the flight – just  3-4 tonnes of mangosteens, reported the Malaysian Insider website.

 

 

 

Tags: FAA, Malaysian Airlines, MH370