KUALA LUMPUR: The authors of a book on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, who had suggested that pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah committed murder-suicide, have defended their work and said that they had carried out a “robust analysis”, a report in The New Zealand Herald said.

Hitting back at Malaysia Airlines (MAS) which had accused them of seeking to profit from the tragedy, one of the authors, New Zealander Ewan Wilson, said the criticism was “unbelievable in light of the fact that a number of families still have not been compensated by Malaysia Airlines for the tragic death of their loved ones...”

Wilson and fellow New Zealander Geoff Taylor had written the book titled “Goodnight Malaysian 370: The Truth Behind the Loss of Flight 370” which had caused a stir with its allegations that, among others, suggested that Capt Zaharie had committed murder-suicide by deliberately depressurising the cabin and locking his co-pilot out of the cockpit, giving passengers only 20 minutes’ oxygen supply.

“The findings in our book...are the result of a robust analysis of the known facts,”  Wilson said in a statement, according to the report which cited APNZ.

“Malaysia Airlines’ assertions that there is no evidence to support those conclusions, while advancing no explanation of their own evidence of what happened to MH370 after nearly seven months, is self-serving,” he added.

Last week, MAS slammed the authors for their “inside” scoop, saying it was appalled at the claims made. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 25, 2014.