Indonesian fisherman says he saw MH370 crash

Regular readers of WWW will know of my abiding interest in the flight of MH370, the Malaysian Airlines B-777 which vanished from the face of the earth on 8 March 2014. The Malaysian and Australian governments have been working, off and on, to find more than a few fragments of the plane, but admitted last fall that they still don't know what happened to it, or where. For a recap of the more recent developments, see "More pieces of MH370 (?) spark calls for renewed search", WWW 30/11/18.

Theories, including conspiracy theories, abound. My own, as posted several times in the years between then and now, is that the plane crashed into the northern part of the Indian Ocean, somewhere east of the island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a huge US military base. I believe the Pentagon, which has kept shtum on the matter, knows what happened and who is responsible, if only through a regrettable accident. Of course I could be wrong, but... lifetime pct .988.

Still, the mystery remains unsolved a new clues continue to surface. [Was that pun intended? Ed.] Today Yahoo News UK reports that an Indonesian fisherman claims he knows exactly where the missing aircraft went down. He is seen here pointing to the location, in the Strait of Malacca, a busy shipping lane wast of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Rusli Khusmin, a 42-year-old fisherman, says he saw the plane go down in a plume of thick black smoke. "I saw the plane moving from left to right like a broken kite," he told the meeja. "There was no noise, just black smoke as a result of fires before it crashed into the water." He added that there was a strong smell of acidic fumes in the air before the plane crashed. As he watched he recorded his co-ordinates on a GPS, which has now been handed over to investigators.

Mr Khusmin did not say why he waited nearly five years to come forward, but swore an oath of truth on the Koran. His evidence will be sent to Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. Stay tuned.