In an extraordinary outburst former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has blamed Boeing for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, saying it must accept responsibility.
In the blog reminiscent of Dr Mahathir’s clashes with Australia’s former Prime Minister Paul Keating which prompted the famous ”recalcitrant” tag he claims that Malaysia Airlines is not to blame for the missing jet.
“I would not like to fly in Boeing aircraft unless Boeing can explain how all its system can fail or be disabled,” said Dr Mahathir.
However, Dr Mahathir appears to be unaware that all commercial aircraft are built to essentially the same set of regulations.
“Maybe the plane type should be grounded. But Boeing has shown no interest and had said practically nothing,” Dr Mahathir said.
The blog post lists 16 points most of which demonstrate that Dr Mahathir has little knowledge of aviation, although great passion for all things Malaysian which of course is commendable.
“Boeing must accept responsibility for building an aircraft that can disappear in mid-air so completely,” he said.
He adds that the relatives of passengers on the flight are blaming the wrong people.
“Malaysia Airline flew a plane fully expecting it to perform the task. But the plane has somehow behaved differently. Who is responsible? Not MAS but certainly the makers of the plane – Boeing Aircraft Corporation.”
For the record the Boeing 777 is the backbone of the world’s long haul airlines and is the most reliable wide-body aircraft flying.
The world fleet of 1,170 has accumulated 7.6 million flights and 40 million flight hours.
Until the Asiana accident in San Francisco last year, where three passengers died, the plane had a fatality free record.
The comments of Dr Mahathir are extremely unhelpful in what is a distressing and unprecedented loss of a plane.
Regretfully his comments and accusations will be added to a long list of controversial statements that have marred an extraordinary political career promoting Malaysia.
