No proof that pilot was behind MH370 disaster, says Najib

PETALING JAYA: There is no conclusive proof whether the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was solely or jointly responsible for the air tragedy, says Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“It would have been deemed unfair and legally irresponsible since the black box and cockpit voice recorders had not been found and hence, there was no conclusive proof whether the pilot was solely or jointly responsible, ” said Najib, who was prime minister when the incident took place six years ago.

He was asked to comment on the claim by former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott that Malaysia's top leadership from the outset had considered the disappearance of MH370 in 2014 a mass murder-suicide by pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

“Again, I must stress that this possible scenario was never ruled out during the search effort and investigations, where no effort was spared, ” said Najib.

“The pilot was a known active Opposition party member who had attended various political activities and the Opposition leader had admitted later that the pilot was related to him, ” he told news portal FreeMalaysiaToday.

It was reported that Abbott had said: “My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here they thought it was a murder-suicide by the pilot”.

Abbott had said this in a clip from a documentary that aired on Wednesday (Feb 19) on Sky News in Australia.

He also declined to name any individuals to support his claim.