What an amazing book. I enjoyed every moment that I read
this very short and fascinating dissection of the mystery surrounding the
disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight in March 2014.
Peter Lee is an alias.
The book begins with a short author bio, which is a must not
be skipped. The reader begins the book with an understanding that this book is
not written by a plane watcher, bereaved relative, or conspiracy fanatic. It’s
written by an aviation expert with a professional background in aviation. Or
rather, this is what the book states. And I do believe that if the reader is to
enjoy the book as intended, the writer’s professional expertise needs to be
taken as a given.
The first paragraph
of the bio follows:
Peter Lee has a military and intelligence background. He
trained first as a pilot and then became a military air traffic controller,
holding licenses for both terminal (airfield) and area (transit) duties. He was
a fully qualified controller holding every possible military ATC licence. He
worked at the three principal Royal Navy air stations in England, at Shetland
Radar at RAF Saxa Vord on the island of Unst, the northern-most of the Shetland
Islands, and at the London Military Air Traffic Control Centre (LATCC (Mil))
then based at RAF West Drayton, as both a radar controller and as an allocator,
as well as on various warships.
About MH370 - By
accident or design?
I opened this book just before bed, intending to read for
five minutes and get a bit of a handle on the style of the book then go off to
sleep. I couldn’t put it down.
I approached it with suspicion and distrust, almost sure I’d
dislike it. I don’t read non-fiction for fun, and I’m not much into conspiracy
theories.
But let’s be clear from the start: this book isn’t a
conspiracy theory (although some of the more entertaining conspiracy theories
were mentioned in the book, and provided some levity on an otherwise fairly
sombre subject). The book is one man’s theories about the disappearance of an
entire Boeing 777 aircraft - something which most of the world cannot believe
is possible in this modern era of internet, satellites, and mobile phones.
And I found it absolutely mesmerising.
Lee starts with the basics - the facts. What we know
happened. He also adds in the conflicting reports from different countries,
adding a political element to the story and giving his opinions about why they,
at times, are completely at loggerheads to each other. And then he adds his own
embellishments to flesh out the story, based on his experience in air traffic
control and his knowledge of satellites and aircraft equipment.
Lee makes clear distinction between what is accepted as
fact, and where he has added detail, completing the picture for interested
readers in a way that is entirely plausible. He does not present his theory as
the only one, instead giving many alternate scenarios and inspecting each in
turn.
I think that this very short book is a must-read for all
those who are interested in knowing - or at least surmising - what might have
happened to the Malaysian flight.
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