If you have ever wondered what a transportation safety investigation looks like from the inside, or aspire to be an accident investigator yourself, this book is for you.
Nearly four decades ago, I transitioned from being a full-time pilot to become a professional aircraft accident investigator. In my work solving aircraft accidents, I have two main missions – to provide valid information to the loved ones who are left to grieve – and to put in place safety barriers that will prevent another similar accident.
Despite the often traumatic and stressful circumstances that surround investigations, I have never lost my positive outlook on life, or my sense of humour. I love to share funny happenings and stories – doing so has helped sustain me and my fellow investigators through some tragic events.
You might already know me from my media appearances, or maybe from seeing my analysis of the disappearance of MH370 – I wrote about that in my previous book, MH370: Mystery Solved. But you don’t know much about what brought me to the point where I could write that book, or about the life experiences that shaped me both personally and professionally. Soon, you will.
This book is the personal story of my life as an air crash investigator. I hope you learn from it, and I hope you have a laugh (or maybe a dozen) in the process.
On March 8th, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, with 239 people on board, disappeared into the dark of the night, never to be heard from again. The disappearance of MH370 has been described as the 'greatest mystery in the history of aviation'. Despite the efforts of an international investigation team, and millions of dollars spent searching the ocean bottom for the wreckage site, no one has been able to determine what really happened. Until now...
For this book, three professional accident investigators, each with decades of real-world experience in crash dynamics, examined the available evidence. The results of their work reveal the actual sequence of events, and what really happened to MH370. This book uses plain language, easy to understand schematics, and clear photos of the actual wreckage to bring the evidence to life. Even those with little or no aviation connection will be able to understand and appreciate the validity of this eye-opening analysis.
You will see that the official investigation was deficient. They missed, or misinterpreted, crucial evidence that was available on the recovered wreckage pieces. Therefore, they used incorrect assumptions about what was happening onboard MH370 when they calculated the boundaries for their search zones. This book will reveal why the multi-million dollar ocean bottom search efforts had almost no chance of success.
You will be guided through a basic investigation and analysis process to show what caused MH370 to disappear from radar, and to fly on an unexplained and mysterious track that led to the southern Indian Ocean.
Many people have presented theories to try to explain the MH370 disappearance. This book shows you a basic investigation framework where theories that are based on speculation and guesswork can be invalidated. You are left with only one scenario that is totally based on confirmed facts. The known and indisputable evidence fits with only one chain of events, and that is the chain of events presented by the author.
With this book, the mystery of MH370 has been solved.
