COMMENT Before stepping into a plane, the co-pilot would have assembled and mapped out the route to arrive at the destination, both safely and quickly.

The pilot and co-pilot/first officer would have to stick to the flight plan because it has been filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot must, with the co-pilot's assistance, use the most up-to-date aeronautical charts, utilise navigational aids, maintain a constant altitude appropriate to the flight direction and estimate en route position times.

The above is an excerpt from a website detailing the duties of a co-pilot.

Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin today offered an interesting argument on the audit of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), likening it to the AirAsia plane crash last December.

Kadir noted how the Indonesian government suspended the air traffic controllers to prevent any manipulation of data.

So Kadir wondered about the efficaciousness of the 1MDB audit, with the 1MDB board of directors and top management remaining in office and having access to the record books.

He said this in expressing support for Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who wanted the heads of 1MDB directors to roll and for the police to investigate.

Muhyiddin also revealed how Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak turned a deaf ear to his call .

The Red Baron

Employing the same aeronautical analogy, should not Muhyiddin shoulder the blame for this aerial acrobatic 1MDB misadventure as well?

The prime minister was given the mandate, albeit through the ‘first-past-the-post-system’ and not the majority of voters, to pilot the nation with Muhyiddin at his side.

And if the pilot appears incapable of flying the plane in a safe manner or is hellbent on crashing it, then it is up to the co-pilot and crew to intervene.

The co-pilot and crew, vis-a-vis ministers, have a moral and legal obligation to ensure the safety of the passengers, who have invested their trust in them.

So what was Muhyiddin doing all this while?

Perhaps he was contented with the notion of having elevated himself to the position of co-pilot and has a parachute, which can be deployed when the situation necessitates.

But now, he makes moves that indicate he is attempting to grab hold of the flight controls.

Is Muhyiddin coming under intense pressure from the crew and first class passengers, who have no parachutes and are fearful Najib would crash the plane and with it, their future and livelihood?

Worse still, he might crash it straight into the compound of the Sungai Buloh prison.

Is the co-pilot being forced to seize command of the aircraft, which is in a downward spiral? Being the next in line, he is expected to step up to the plate.

Muhyiddin’s auto-pilot mode was abruptly turned off when the cockpit came under fire from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian version of the Red Baron, the antiquated fighter pilot with an impressive kill record.

But as Rafizi Ramli of PKR pointed out, Muhyiddin has been there since the inception of 1MDB and chose not to utter a single word in protest regarding the firm until now, when it can no longer be ignored and threatens the future of Umno.

The question is: is it too late?

As for Najib, Malaysians are more interested in knowing if the prime minister will survive the next five months as opposed to whether he will achieve the goals outlined in the national blueprint for the next five years.

RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini Team