Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in 2014 with 239 people aboard, becoming aviation's greatest mystery
08:00, 24 Dec 2025Updated 08:17, 24 Dec 2025
One man believes he spotted the notorious Boeing 777, with 239 people aboard, ablaze in the sky.
The ten-year enigma began on March 8 2014 when Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared whilst travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It remains aviation's greatest riddle and deadliest unsolved case to this day. Back in 2014, a New Zeland oil rig worker lost his position after reporting what he believed was MH370 in flames.
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, reports CNN. McKay, 57, insisted he witnessed an aircraft burning at high altitude. He sent an email to his bosses detailing how he "observed the plane burning at high altitude at a compass bearing of 265 to 275 degrees from our surface location."
The message started: "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."
It continued: "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. 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 officials deployed aircraft to hunt for the aircraft following McKay's alert, as reported by NZer. Recent search operations by marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity came to an abrupt end in April, with Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke explaining to AFP: "Right now, it's not the season."
The hunt remains suspended, with Loke said: "They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year." Meanwhile, Ismail Hammad, Chief Engineer at Egyptair, reckons he's cracked the puzzle that could save everyone "money and time" and finally pinpoint the whereabouts of the vanished aircraft MH370. Ismail challenged the photographs showing the aircraft's debris surfacing from the sea, 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."