MH370 Pilot Cut Lights, Oxygen Before Crashing Jet, New Conspiracy Theory Says

The pilot of missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 cut the lights and oxygen inside the cabin before steering the plane to crash in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, a new theory claimed Wednesday. It's been five years since the Boeing 777-200 disappeared with 239 people on board while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and the mystery still continues.

Journalist Ean Higgins, who authored a recently released book titled "The Hunt for MH370,” blamed Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah of depressurizing the aircraft just 40 minutes into the flight.

“You can just press a button above your head and the aircraft will cut the oxygen. We think he also tripped the circuit of the lights in the passenger cabins to make it dark. He then flew on for about another six hours," he told the Australian broadcaster ABC News recently.

Higgins claimed that there “is a possibility the pilot was flying until the end.” However, his claims could not be independently verified. Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, and has now become the greatest aviation mystery. A multimillion-dollar search for the plane that went on for four years has also become the costliest in aviation history. However, despite several search efforts, the main body of the plane was not found. The biggest lead in the investigation came when a flaperon (a part of the wing) was found by villagers on Réunion Island. Later, authorities confirmed the flaperon belonged to the missing jetliner.

Several conspiracy theories emerged since the plane went missing, with some pointing at Shah as the possible reason behind the crash. Some theorists previously claimed that Shah took the plane into a "murder-suicide mission." But, officials have not confirmed this theory.

Meanwhile, the pilot’s family and friends have vehemently rejected such claims as groundless. They said Shah “loved life” and had a flawless flying record, Sputnik News reported.

In July 2018, Malaysia released a report stating that MH370 deviated from its path "not because of anomalies in the mechanical system. The turn back was made not under autopilot but under manual control.” However, it added that a “third-party interference” couldn’t be ruled out.

Among many theories about what might have happened to the jetliner, some theorists claimed that lithium-ion batteries in the cargo of the plane ignited shortly after the plane took off from Kuala Lumpur. This conspiracy theory has also not been confirmed.

On March 3, Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke, said he was “willing” to restart the search if there were “specific proposals.” “We haven’t given up hope,” he said. “We hope we can continue the search in due course.”