Police still probing flight simulator, background of MH370 passengers

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — Police are still in the midst of investigating the background of the crew on flight MH370 and the flight simulator seized from the pilot’s home, inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today.

The country’s top-cop declined to give details of the probe, despite having confirmed with the media yesterday that they have already interviewed everyone necessary.

“The area of focus is still the four areas, and I’m not ready to release any findings as yet because it could jeopardise ongoing investigations,” he said at the daily press conference on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, here.

Khalid was referring to the four aspects covered by the police investigation into the plane’s disappearance on March 8, which includes hijacking, sabotage, personal and psychological problems faced by any of the 239 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 777-200.

Yesterday, Khalid told a press conference that the focus of their investigations was on the plane’s 12 crew, though the scope also included officers from the Department of Civil Aviation and the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

He reiterated that he could not reveal any details of the probe, though he confirmed that they have yet to eliminate any of the four areas of investigation.

Khalid today added that investigators are still studying the flight simulator seized from the home of the plane’s pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

“The investigation into the simulator is still ongoing. We are waiting for the report from our foreign colleagues,” he said, referring to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is assisting the Malaysian police to analyse Zaharie’s self-made machine.

Malaysian authorities had earlier confirmed that investigators had interviewed over 100 family members of the MH370 crew, as police narrowed the focus on Zaharie, his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and the 10 cabin crew.

Khalid, however, stressed that the 12 crew members are still considered innocent unless they find proof that they had something to do with the plane’s disappearance.