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'I witnessed the MH370 in its final moments and this is what happened'

The Malaysia Airlines flight 370 vanished as it travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 2014. It remains aviation history's biggest puzzle and most fatal incident to date

[TOPSHOT - A relative of passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries outside the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on March 8, 2019. Relatives gathered and demanded to speak with senior representatives of the Foreign Ministry on the fifth anniversary of the plane's disappearance on a flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) ]

The victims' families are still without answers (Image: GREG BAKER, AFP via Getty Images)

One man claims to have seen the doomed Boeing 777, MH370, with 239 people aboard, going up in flames.

The enigma began on March 8 2014 when Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared whilst journeying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It stands as aviation's greatest riddle and deadliest unsolved case to this day.

The account emerged as haunting photographs revealed the interior of a deserted airport that has been left frozen in time.

Back in 2014, a New Zealand oil rig worker got the boot after reporting what he believed was MH370 ablaze. Mike McKay was having a smoke during his break whilst working on the Songa Mercur oil rig off Vietnam's coast on that tragic evening, according to CNN.

McKay, 57, insisted he spotted an aircraft on fire at high altitude. He fired off an email to his bosses detailing his sighting, stating he "observed the plane burning at high altitude at a compass bearing of 265 to 275 degrees from our surface location." The email opened: "Gentlemen. I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines flight come down. The timing is right. I tried to contact Malaysian and Vietnamese officials several days ago. But I do not know if the message has been received.", reports the Mirror.

[A relative of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts during a gathering outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing on March 8, 2024, on the 10th anniversary of the flight's disappearance. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)]

A relative of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370(Image: GREG BAKER, AFP via Getty Images)

It went on: "While I observed (the plane) it appeared to be in one piece. From when I first saw the burning (plane? ) until the flames went out (at high altitude) was 10-15 seconds. There was no lateral movement so it was either coming toward our position stationary (falling) or going away from our location. The general position of the observation was perpendicular/south-west of the normal flight path and at a lower altitude than the normal flight paths."

The email was leaked, including the name of the workplace. McKay said: "Of course, I ended up looking like a fool. But what happened to me is of no consequence considering those who lost family on the flight. I sent an observation in a confidential email hoping it would help find the loved ones of the families.

"This was leaked to the media. I saw something but the distances from the last known position make my observation being the plane unlikely under the generally accepted route the plane took after contact was lost. I have many questions. How did the flight return across the Malay Peninsula and fly over the F16 base at Butterworth and the Penang Airport basically unnoticed?".

"This moved the search away from the South China Sea. Why did it take six days for the primary radar data to be released? What were the two sonar locators investigated in the Indian Ocean? Where is the metal stress reports of the part found on Reunion Is? This would tell how the plane broke up.

[Jiang Hui, whose mother was a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, speaks to the media close to a court building in Beijing on November 27, 2023. A Beijing court on November 27 began hearing compensation cases filed by the families of dozens of Chinese people who died on board a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared almost 10 years ago. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)]

Jiang Hui's mother was a passenger on the flight(Image: PEDRO PARDO, AFP via Getty Images)

"The pilot would have tried to circle until daylight away from the flight paths of other planes. The [seventh] arc on which the plane was lost (if the data is to be believed) could put the break-up back in the South China Sea or immediately south of Sumatra. Not off the west coast of Oz (Australia)."

Vietnamese authorities deployed aircraft to hunt for the aircraft following McKay's report, as stated by NZer. Recent operations by marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity were suddenly suspended in April, with Malaysia's Transport Minister, Anthony Loke, explaining to AFP: "Right now, it's not the season."

The search remains on hold. Loke said: "They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year."

Nevertheless, Ismail Hammad, Chief Engineer at Egyptair, reckons he holds the key to saving everyone "money and time" and ultimately locate the missing aircraft MH380. Ismail challenged the photographs of the aircraft's debris surfacing from the ocean, arguing "the condition of the plane's paint is not consistent with what would happen if it had been lying in salt water for as long as it had."

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