A FORMER Malaysian airlines pilot from York has spoken of his fears for the missing flight MH 370.

George Marray, who lives in South Bank, had a career in the air industry and has been following news of the plane’s disappearance in horror.

Mr Marray, who flew for the stricken airline in the late 1980s when they were testing Boeing 737 400 series planes, now says he believes the plane has landed and been hidden in a remote airfield.

“It has clearly been taken away by the flight crew.

“My worry is for whoever has got it now and what they are planning to do with it.”

The Malaysia Airlines plane has now been missing for more than a week with 12 crew and 227 passengers.

Authorities have revealed they believe the flight was manually diverted from its planned route, but investigators still do not know where to.

Mr Marray said he believes the aircraft has been subject to a carefully orchestrated plan to spirit it away, and has not come to any harm.

“I think they have a purpose for the plane. It is worth a couple of hundred million dollars, but nobody has offered any it back for any kind of ransom.

“It seems to have been carefully planned and the aircraft is now in a hangar in some remote destination.”