Oil Rig Worker Claims He Saw Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Come Down

As the mystery of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 deepens and enters its fourth day, conflicting reports are emanating from various sources. In the latest such report, an oil rig worker stationed off the south-eastern coast of Vietnam claims to have witnessed the plane come down. Michael Jerome McKay, a New Zealander who works aboard the Songa Mercur, has revealed the same in an email sent to his employer which was acquired by ABC Journalist Bob Woodruff. Bob verified the credentials of the email, confirmed it was authentic and then decided to go ahead and share it on his Twitter ID. In the email, the man says, “I believe I saw the Malaysia Airlines plane come down. The timing is right.”

Oil rig worker claims in employer confirmed letter-he saw the plane go down. Vietnamese say they found nothing @ABC pic.twitter.com/k8y02se9aZ

— Bob Woodruff (@BobWoodruff) March 12, 2014

McKay claims he saw what he now believes to be the plane burning at a high altitude. It had not broken up and was in one piece. “From when I first saw the burning (plane) until the flames went out (still at high altitude) was 10-15 seconds. There was no lateral movement, so it was either coming toward our location, stationary, or going away from our location,” he writes. He has revealed the exact co-ordinates of the rig at the time of the incident and has also revealed that the plane might have been at least 50- 70 km from him. He signs off the letter by wishing the authorities “good luck”.

The Inquisitr had earlier today reported about the possibility of Malaysian authorities being aware of the fact that Flight 370 had veered off course just after it took off. There is also speculation that the transponder aboard the flight, an instrument which lets radars identify the plane, was turned off and the plane veered off course soon after.

Officials have earlier today also confirmed that they have now expanded the search area. With it now covering over 27,000 square miles of area – substantially more than that the size of the area being searched a day ago, according to a CNN report. Adding to the mystery behind Flight 370 were reports about the cellphones of passengers aboard the phones still ringing. Meanwhile, following reports that the flight might have reached the Andaman Sea, near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands belonging to India, India too has joined the list of countries who have pressed their resources to trace the missing Flight 370, says the Hindustan Times.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had took off from Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur at 00:41 local time and was scheduled to land in Beijing, China after a six hour flight. It has been missing ever since.