The chief of the world’s largest international airline has expressed grave concerns that MH370, a Boeing 777, that disappeared off Western Australia on March 8 with 239 aboard will be given up as lost as part of an international cover-up.
Tim Clark President of Emirates told AirlineRatings.com yesterday that he has been inundated by grieving relatives, and theorists pressuring him to continue the pursuit of the truth. “Many mathematicians have done extensive calculations and have detailed them in their emails to me,” said Mr Clark. “None believe the current hypothesis.”
“We cannot allow MH370 to become a “National Geographic” mystery. “We must get to the truth.”
The Australian led search is currently scanning the ocean floor about 1800km south-west of Perth for MH370.
Mr Clark, the world’s most respected airline chief is an expert on the Boeing 777 and was the instigator of the latest models that are the backbone of global fleets. “My instincts tell me something is wrong and there are far too many questions that are unanswered.”
He said he is concerned about both the backgrounds to the passengers and the precise nature of the cargo.
Mr Clark is also perplexed by a total lack of debris. “When a plane crashes into the sea there is always debris that will float yet none has been found despite a mammoth search.”
“We haven’t seen a single thing that suggests categorically that this aircraft is where they say it is – nothing.”
And Mr Clark doesn’t put much credibility in the Inmarsat satellite tracking of the Boeing 777 either. “I think we will know more if there is full transparency of everything that everybody knows,” said Mr Clark. “I do not believe that all the information is on the table.”
Mr Clark also sought to clarify some miss-reporting on his views.
The Emirates chief was quoted as saying that the 777’s transponder and Aircraft Communications and Reporting System (ACARS) either couldn’t be turned off or could only be disabled from the equipment bay underneath the floor behind the cockpit.
“Of course the transponder can be turned off in the cockpit and the ACARS can be partly disabled – although our pilots are not trained to do that.”
Mr Clark has proposed to the industry two methods whereby these two systems can never be turned off that will not compromise safety in any way.
Investigators have also denied any disagreement over serach area for MH370.
