Ex-Australian Prime Minister Abbott Says Malaysia Suspected Pilot's Suicide Downed MH370

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Senior Malaysian officials and investigators have suspected from the very beginning that the pilot operating the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing in 2014, committed suicide, killing everyone aboard, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday.

"My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot. I'm not going to say who said what to whom but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot - mass murder-suicide by the pilot", Abbott was quoted as saying by the Sky News Australia broadcaster.

A girl writes a condolence message during the Day of Remembrance for MH370 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

© AP Photo / Vincent Thian

Several pieces of debris believed to have come from the aircraft have been found at different locations, including Mozambique, South Africa and the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

Flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from radars on 8 March six years ago, less than an hour after takeoff. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board.