Malaysia Airlines MH 370 : Lawyer, Steve Marks Suggest No Terrorism or Pilot Suicide

Steve Marks, a lawyer at the US firm Podhurst Orseck, which represented relatives of victims of a SilkAir crash in Asia in 1997 and the Air France crash in 2009, said he was suspicious of information being released by Malaysia.

 On Tuesday Malaysian investigators said they were still looking at a range of theories including hijacking and possible sabotage by a passenger or crew member. Marks said: “In my opinion terrorism and pilot suicide are very remote and farfetched.

It can’t be ruled out 100% but it certainly shouldn’t be the focus. That kind of speculation without proof is very damaging and hurtful to the families.” Marks thinks the most likely explanation for the plane’s disappearance was a sudden technical failure. “It is not uncommon in plane crashes over water to have a very extended search,” he said.

 “What is so mysterious here is the complete absence of any information, which to me tends to support a complete catastrophic failure at altitude. If the aircraft had come under control it would have been picked up by some radar, or some radio communication. “The complete absence of any information suggests there was a big failure and it was very sudden.”

 Iranian authorities confirmed the identities of the two men traveling with stolen passports on flight MH 370 as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, 29, and Pouria Nourmohammadi,18. Interpol previously reported Nourmohammadi’s age as 19. Interpol chief Ronald Noble said in a statement that its National Central Bureau in Tehran confirmed the two Iranian nationals used authentic passports to travel to Kuala Lumpur.

The two men then used stolen Austrian and Italian passports to board the now missing Malaysian Airlines flight. “NCB Tehran has also confirmed that neither of the men had a criminal record and both left Iran legally, and we are now calling on the public’s assistance in providing additional information about their movements,” Noble said in a statement.