LETTER: Dear Ms de Changy,
Firstly, l hope l address you the right way. I'm not familiar how a French name is being addressed.
I made it clear from the very onset, my comment on mystery of MH370 was made based on what was narrated by the Sarawak Report and not on the book you wrote - 'The Disappearing Act.'
That therefore goes without saying, if indeed it had been made on the entire book, it might be different. Be rest assured though, l do not intend to write a book to solely rebuke your book.
I have other better things to do nor to gain financially out of it. I am happy with what l am. This is the thing about allowing bits and pieces of the book to be quoted. I am sure, you as a seasoned writer, can expect this to happen.
As said in my 'rebuttal', nobody asked me to do that, nor do l have any personal interest. However, being a member of that organization at one time, l feel that it is my duty to correct whatever misconceptions that might have been made.
We only wished that, that incident did not happen. Many lives were unnecessarily lost and it hurt not only the loved ones, but also all of us in Malaysia Airlines.
I knew Captain Zaharie personally. I was his Director at one time. And being a Director, you really feel for the loss of your pilots and crew.
Further, losing an aircraft, then another one a few months later, the MH17, tarnished our good safety record. Why that had to happen to us? To any other airline for that matter.
Being an investigator myself before, l can understand how difficult it was to come up with a "fair" investigation report that would please everybody.
Seriously, in any aircraft accident investigation, we rely very greatly on the cockpit voice recording and the digital flight data recording. In the absence of both, nobody can tell for certain, what actually happened to the flight.
Regardless, the other important recording - the aircrafts' communication with the Air Traffic Control Centres, were made available. I believe you too must have listened to that. I must say, the tone of the pilots voices, did not indicate anything but them being normal.
It must also be appreciated that the "Fundamental objective of an Aircraft Accident Investigation, is not to apportion blame or liability."
The fact that the investigation report has been produced and made public, the next-of-kins have received their compensations, and the Airline has received the payout for the insurance covered, it is best that everybody move on with life.
There has to be a closure to the case. Death for everybody, is certain. And that it had to happen that way to those on board, it is really sad and tragic. Nonetheless, nobody must be seen to capitalize or benefit from the tragedy.
I hope to get to read your book one day. That, by the way, is my passion-reading and analyzing aircraft accident investigation reports and reading books written on accidents - my favourite, about the Air New Zealand DC-10 that crashed in the Antartics, "Impact Erebus" by Gordon Vette.
I, however wish, the books on aircraft accidents, were not written in sensational manner. Again, as said earlier, as an aircraft accident investigator before, l work on facts. I will never put theories on paper.
Anyway, l am not sure whether your book is now available in Malaysia. I hope to get to read it one day. It is nice to be able to communicate with you. Let us say some prayers to the casualties.
CAPTAIN MOHD KAMIL
Former Director of Flight Operations, Malaysia Airlines
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times