Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said top Malaysian officials believed MH370 had disappeared due to a suicide bomber pilot.

"I received information from the highest levels of the Malaysian government that from very, very early, they thought this was the pilot's suicide, mass murder," Abbott said in a Sky News documentary about MH370 is broadcast today. He served as prime minister of Australia when the disaster struck and Australia was a leader in the search for aircraft in the Indian Ocean.

"I will not say who specifically told whom but to remind myself, I want to make it clear that the highest-ranking officials are almost certain this is the pilot's suicide - mass murder", he added.

Malaysia Airlines MH370 aircraft carrying 239 people disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A series of hypotheses have been given about the mysterious disappearance, including veteran captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's theory of suicide aircraft. Zaharie's family and friends rejected this theory as baseless.

In response to comments from Abbott, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was in power when the disappearance occurred, today told Free Malaysia Today that Malaysian officials considered the suicide pilot theory during the investigation. but not public opinion. "Doing so is unfair and legally irresponsible because the black boxes and cockpit recordings have not been found. Therefore, there is no conclusive evidence that the pilot has to take full responsibility or There is a part of responsibility, "he said.

"But I also want to emphasize that this scenario has never been excluded during search and investigation," Najib added. He said there were a number of reasons for the authorities to suspect Zaharie, including his possession of a home flight simulator and MH370's transmitter that was turned off shortly after the plane left Malaysia's airspace.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, former director of the Malaysian civil aviation agency, criticized Abbott's comment and said there was not enough evidence to prove it. "It was just a hypothesis," Azharuddin said, thinking that such speculation could hurt the pilot's relatives.

Malaysia Ministry of Transport declined to comment. Officials previously said there was nothing suspicious in the captain's background, training or mental health, but did not rule out the possibility of someone deliberately changing flight routes.