Doubts have been expressed by one of the leading experts into the disappearance of MH370 into claims of a “third entity” being responsible for the plane’s fate.
Ghyslain Wattrelos, who lost family members, traveling on MH370, has claimed the possibility that a “third entity” could be involved.
French authorities continuing with their investigation have suggested new theories to explore. According to an AP story “in particular, the investigators found “inconsistencies” in the Malaysian investigation’s official report, and the presence of “curious” passengers, whom “we should continue to investigate”.
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“Among them is a Malaysian traveler with a troubling profile: he was seated under the Satcom module, and proved to be an expert in aeronautics, according to Ghyslain Wattrelos and his lawyer,” the AP report said.
The French plan to visit Boeing and the FBI, after an earlier trip in September last year was canceled over what is termed after US authorities allegedly opposed the trip.
The suggestion is that this third person may have hacked into the satcom unit to disguise the plane’s flight path.
Responding to the allegations in the AP story Victor Iannello, one of the most respected independent experts into the disappearance of MH370 said in his blog “it’s not clear what additional information the French investigators expect to obtain while in the US. Boeing has cooperated with the Annex 13 investigation team and is unlikely to provide private French investigators with data that has not already been made public. Meanwhile, the FBI is unlikely to release information on matters related to ongoing or past investigations.”
Mr Iannello goes onto say that the mysterious “third entity” referred to by Mr Wattrelos that might be selling software capable of maliciously altering SATCOM data is also unknown, although there are a handful of companies in the US and Canada that supply hardware and software for designing, building, and testing parts of the Inmarsat network.
“Independent investigators that are studying this mystery are at an impasse. Although the overwhelming consensus is that MH370 did indeed crash in the Southern Indian Ocean, the considerable efforts of official and private investigators have not succeeded in locating the debris field on the seabed. The data we have, notably the satellite data, is imprecise, so additional data is needed to reconstruct the trajectory of the plane.”
Leading oceanographers suggest that the debris field lies just outside the area that has been searched to date.
Mr. Iannello adds that “there is always the chance that during Mr. Wattrelos’ visit to the US, some new evidence or insights will be uncovered that help us to better understand the disappearance and to find the plane.”
However, he says “more likely, the existence of helpful new information will be found in Malaysia.”
Another article published in the L’Essor, which is the unofficial and self-described French journal for the military police says that the investigators of the research section (SR) of the Gendarmerie Air Transport (GTA) are waiting for the green light from US authorities to travel to the United States related to the MH370 case.
The article says “the SR of the GTA is responsible for the judicial inquiry, opened in France, on the death of 239 people, including four French, aboard the Boeing 777 which disappeared on March 8, 2014, after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.”
It adds that “the gendarmes work within the framework of an international rogatory commission launched in October 2017 by the French justice. A trip to the United States, scheduled for September, had to be canceled and French investigators are waiting for the green light from the US authorities.”
“The investigators want to check overseas if a US company sells software capable of reprogramming or even hacking the Satcom. This system is used by airlines to transmit messages about the state of the aircraft in flight and its communications,” says L’Essor
Mr. Iannello comments further saying “this story, if true, suggests that the French judiciary system, and in turn the military police that are assigned to the case, are seriously considering whether the Inmarsat data was corrupted by a malicious intrusion into the SATCOM onboard MH370. Considering that the Inmarsat data is consistent with the aircraft crashing in the SIO near the 7th arc and that the timing and location of the recovered parts from the aircraft also suggest that the aircraft crashed in the SIO, to doubt the Inmarsat data implies doubting the veracity of the recovered parts. This is the first time a government investigative body is known to be seriously considering a hack of the SATCOM combined with the planting of debris.”
“To say the least, most private investigators believe there are more productive avenues to pursue. However, an honest, competent investigation of any type is to be welcomed, and there is always the chance some new evidence or insights will be uncovered that help us to better understand the disappearance and to find the plane.”
