MH370 may have been hijacked by CIA, says ex-Malaysian PM

The CIA hijacked the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, a former Malaysian prime minister has said.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote in his personal blog that with the help of the Boeing's advanced technology the CIA or 'certain parties' could have hijacked the aircraft remotely.

According to news.com.au, Dr Mohamad, who was Malaysian prime minister from 1981 to 2003, said it was a waste of time and money to look for debris or oil slick or to listen for pings from the black box.

He added that this is most likely not an ordinary crash after fuel was exhausted. The plane is somewhere, maybe without MAS markings.

He said that someone is hiding something. It is not fair that MAS and Malaysia should take the blame.

According to the report, Dr Mahathir cited a 2006 article on flightglobal.com as the basis for his argument. The article states that the CIA could activate an autopilot installed in order to prevent terrorists from taking control of the flight deck by force.

He added that planes can land safely or they may crash, but just do not just disappear. Certainly not these days with all the powerful communication systems which operate almost indefinitely and possess huge storage capacities.

Dr Mahathir also challenged the availability of satellite tracking data on the plane, saying that MH370 is a Boeing 777 aircraft. It was built and equipped by Boeing, hence all the communications and GPS equipment must have been installed by Boeing, the report added.