Why did Tony Abbott claim Malaysia suspected pilot suicide?

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Tony Abbott Claimed Malaysian Government Suspected Pilot Suicide Early On

Former Australian Prime Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that senior figures within the Malaysian government conveyed to him, within a week of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370's disappearance in 2014, their belief that the incident was a murder-suicide involving the pilot. Abbott made these remarks in a documentary, MH370: The Untold Story, asserting that the understanding at the "highest levels" of the Malaysian government was that the pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was responsible for the tragedy.
Abbott's Understanding of Government Beliefs

Abbott articulated his understanding, stating that the Malaysian government believed "very, very early on" that the disappearance was a "mass murder suicide by the pilot." He clarified that this was his "very clear understanding" from top Malaysian government officials, though he did not specify individuals by name. Abbott, who was the Prime Minister of Australia at the time of the incident, suggested that if the investigation had been influenced by an assumption that the pilot was not involved, then those assumptions should be discarded to allow for further exploration.
Official Reports and Contradictory Findings

An official report released in July 2018 concluded that MH370 was deliberately taken off course by an unknown person or persons. This finding contrasts with a specific theory of pilot involvement. Furthermore, a 2018 report by the Malaysian International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team indicated "nothing negative" regarding the pilot's conduct. Despite these points, Abbott urged for the investigation to be reopened if the assumption of the pilot's non-involvement had limited the scope of previous searches.
Re-emergence of Pilot Suicide Theory

The theory of pilot suicide as the cause of MH370's disappearance has been revisited by others, including US writer and former pilot William Langewiesche. Langewiesche had also posited that the pilot hijacked the Boeing 777 in a murder-suicide plot. In response to such claims, former Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had previously urged the public not to pay heed to theories he deemed attempts to profit from the mystery, stating that authorities could easily debunk them.

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Why did Tony Abbott claim Malaysia suspected pilot suicide?

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