A man investigating the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which claimed six Australian lives is in hiding after receiving death threats.

American “plane hunter” Blaine Gibson, who has delivered debris to the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, has been warned he will be murdered if he continues to probe what happened to MH370.

It follows the assassination of a Malaysian ambassdor in 2017 who was believed to be on the verge of delivering new evidence to the government about the plane’s disappearance.

The Sun reports that Mr Gibson first hit the headlines in February 2016 when he claimed he had found debris from the Malaysian Airlines jet washed up on a sandbank in Mozambique.

media_camera Self-appointed MH370 investigator Blaine Gibson with a local fisherman in Madagascar with debris from the plane. Picture: Supplied

The metal fragment had the words “No Step” written on its side and was said to be from the doomed passenger jet.

Gibson has since found more than 16 pieces of suspected wreckage which turned up on the Indian Ocean islands of La Reunion, Rodrigues, Madagascar and Mauritius and the coastlines of South Africa.

However, a respected aviation expert has now revealed since making his startling finds, the self-proclaimed adventurer has been receiving chilling death threats.

media_camera Pilot turned writer William Langewiesche. Picture: Facebook

William Langewiesche, a pilot turned writer, told The Atlantic after the sleuth found the first piece of wreckage “he began receiving death threats”.

“One message said that either he would stop looking for debris or he would leave Madagascar in a coffin.

“Another warned he would die of polonium poisoning ... he has been traumatised,” he added.

Langewiesche said he hooked up with Gibson in Kuala Lumpur where he is in “hiding”, reports The Sunday Times.

“He largely avoids disclosing his location or travel plans, and for similar reasons avoids using email and rarely speaks over the telephone,” the author revealed.

“He frequently swaps out his SIM cards. He believes he is sometimes followed and photographed.”

media_camera MH370 families posted photographs of personal items found on the beach of Madagascar where other suspected aircraft debris was found. Picture: Facebook

media_camera Another personal item thought to be from the wreckage of MH370. Picture: Facebook

Mr Gibson’s fears follow the gunning down of a diplomat investigating the disappearance just as he was about to deliver “new evidence” to Malaysian investigators.

Honorary Consul of Malaysia Zahid Raza was shot dead in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo in an apparent assassination in September 2017.

media_camera Zahid Raza was shot dead in Madagascar. Picture: Supplied

At the time Mr Gibson revealed he was left severely rattled by news of the killing.

He said he had planned to keep details of his latest finds under wraps until they had been safely transported off the island but changed his mind after Mr Raza was killed.

“For the protection of those involved we decided not to make this report public until the debris was safely delivered to Malaysia,” Mr Gibson reported in his blog.

“However tragic events have intervened. Under the agreement between the two countries, debris is supposed to be collected by Hon. Zahid Raza, the Honorary Malaysian Consul in Madagascar, and delivered by private courier to Malaysia.

“On August 24, the Hon. Zahid Raza was assassinated in Antananarivo.”

Malaysian Airlines flight 370 vanished on March 8, 2014, 40 minutes into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board.

media_camera Blaine Gibson and helper Cyriak with a piece of possible MH370 debris in Madagascar. Picture: Facebook

Satellite data indicates it travelled south for several hours before crashing into the remote southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia.

However, a three-year search by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) failed to find any trace of the plane.

A second mission by underwater exploration company Ocean Infinity last year also failed to locate the wreckage.

media_camera A recovered Boeing 777 wing flap identified to be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Picture: AFP

This story first appeared in The Sun and has been reprinted here with permission.

Originally published as Plane hunter’s MH370 death threats