Who was MH370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah? – The sun

WHEN Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 mysteriously disappeared on March 8, 2014, attention was quickly drawn to the plane’s captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Here you will find everything you need to know about the Malaysian Airlines pilot in the eye of the media storm.

1

Who was Zaharie Amad Shah?

Born on July 31, 1961, Shah was described as an experienced pilot who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981.

The 53-year-old had been a pilot with the airline for 33 years and had 18,423 hours of flying time.

There is no point. It’s hard to reconcile with the man I knew. But it is the necessary conclusion.”

The unnamed pilot told The Atlantic

He had been captain of the B777 for 16 years and had 8,659 hours of flying time on that aircraft type.

Due to his good service record and seniority he was appointed Type Rating Instructor and Type Rating Examiner on the B777.

He was recognized as an experienced and respected pilot with no flaws on his record.

He was married and had three children.

A passionate chef and avid fisherman, Zaharie lived with his wife in a luxurious gated community where he reportedly built his own flight simulator.

In the wake of the the disappearance of the planeRumors surfaced that his wife had moved out of their home.

What was discovered about him after the crash?

A fellow pilot and lifelong friend of Shah claims the pilot locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit and then the plane crashed in a murder-suicide.

“It doesn’t make sense. It’s hard to reconcile with the man I knew. But it’s the necessary conclusion,” the unnamed pilot said. The Atlantic Ocean.

The pilot said that as a senior officer and examiner, it would have been easy to lead co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, out of the cockpit and then lock the door.

The fellow pilot speculated that Shah’s mental state could have been a factor in his decision.

Aviation expert Larry Vancealso stated that the crash could have been a murder-suicide.

He claimed the pilot or co-pilot made the decision “to take it to a remote part of the ocean and make it disappear forever.”

According to the Independent Group which worked on the case, Captain Shah the ‘troubled and lonely’ captain deliberately killed all 238 on board the plane by flying to 40,000 feet to depressurize the cabin and suffocating the passengers.

Psychologists claimed the pilot was ‘self-destructive’ after sending in 26-year-old sisters. Lan Qi Hui and Qi Min Lan messagesand begged them to come over Kuala Lumpur.

He sent the Malaysian twin sisters sexually suggestive messages.

Once, he commented under a photo of Qi Min Lan in a bathrobe with the comment, “Just showered?”

He repeatedly asked the girls when they were coming to his hometown, despite being ignored.

Zaharie also used his Facebook to call Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak an “idiot”.

He also denounced the government that owned the airline he flew for.

Zaharie urged his followers: “There is a rebel in all of us. Let him out!”

Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said he should have been fired for his political rants.

He told Australia’s Daily Telegraph: “It should have raised serious alarm bells at the airline that someone with such strong anti-government views is flying.

“If a Qantas pilot did something like that he would be cited and grounded.”

Who was the co-pilot?

The co-pilot was Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, who was on his first flight on a 777 as a fully cleared first officer.

He had flown five times before under the supervision of a ‘check co-pilot’.

But he had 2,763 hours of experience flying other jets before moving to the larger plane.

Fariq was reportedly planning to marry his girlfriend.

What happened to flight MH370?

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 departed from Kuala Lumpur and was heading to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Passengers included Chinese calligraphers, a couple on their way home to their sons after a long-delayed honeymoon and a construction worker who had not been home for a year.

But on March 8, 2014, at 12:14 p.m., Malaysia Airlines lost contact with MH370 near Phuket Island in the Strait of Malacca.

Previously, Malaysian authorities believed that the last words heard from the aircraft, either from the pilot or co-pilot, were “Good night Malaysian three seven zero”.

Satellite pings from the plane indicate it continued flying for about seven hours while it reportedly ran out of fuel.

Experts have calculated the most likely crash location to be about 1,600 kilometers west of Perth. Australia.

But a large-scale search of the seabed found no wreckage – and there is some some alternative theories about his fate.

The landing gear door of the Boeing 777 used to be found in the home of a fisherman from Madagascar in November 2022 – and it is believed to be the first physical evidence to suggest the plane crashed deliberately.

It is claimed that the plane’s engine was found in the Cambodian jungle.