Malaysia looking at pilots background By Kate Ward @KateWardBustle39 minutes ago
U.S. Navy/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Sunday, March 16, 7:44PM
investigators are examining data from the pilot’s flight simulator, which they seized from his home, and are also looking into his political activism. Captain Zaharei Ahmed Shah was a big supporter of Anwar Ibrahim, a Malaysian opposition leader who was jailed on sodomy charges the day before Flight 370 departed, and had planned to attend Ibrahim’s trial. (It’s unclear whether or not he actually did.)
Meanwhile, 22 countries are now involved in the search for the plane, several of which have criticized Malaysia’s handling of the crisis.
Sunday, March 16, 2:22PM
The search area has been expanded yet again to encompass an area extending as far north as Kazakhstan, CNN reports. However, it’s unlikely that the plane actually took this route, as that would have involved flying over multiple countries with tightly controlled and heavily monitored airspace, including China and Pakistan. India has since announced that no such flight appeared on any of its radar; Pakistan said the same, and added that the plane would have been treated as a threat if it had been spotted.
Saturday, March 15, 8:05PM
After authorities searched the pilots’ homes following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, U.S. intelligence is now pointing fingers at “those in the cockpit,” according to CNN. According to sources, officials had wanted to search the homes of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid for several days since the Boeing 777 flew off the radar, but were only able to following information that indicated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was taken off course by “deliberate action.”
Whether the focus is on one pilot or both remains in question.
Saturday, March 15, 6:30AM
Confirming days of speculation, the Malaysian Prime Minister said early Saturday that investigators have now concluded that the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was hijacked, taken off course by “deliberate action.”
“Based on new satellite communication, with a high-degree of certainty, we can say that aircraft’s communication system was disabled. Shortly afterwards, near the border between Malaysia and Vietnamese air space, the plane’s transponder was switched off. Malaysia Airforce’s data showed that an aircraft believed to be MH370 flew in the opposite direction,” said the PM. “These movements are consistent with deliberate action from someone on the plane.”
Far from solving the mystery, however, the PM’s announcement has just opened a new bag of questions. Where was the plane taken? And why?
Friday, March 14, 7:45PM
According to the New York Times, Malaysian military radar shows that the plane abruptly changed directions multiple times after losing touch with ground control. The radar track, which the Malaysian government has shared with the U.S. and China, indicates that the plane ascended to 45,000 feet (which is higher than its approved altitude) turned sharply west toward the island of Penang, then descended to 23,000 feet (which is below its cruising level) and turned northwest. ABC says that the search is now focused on two quadrants: One off the west coast of Malaysia in the Malacca Strait, the other in the northern Bay of Bengal, hundreds of miles away.
Friday, March 14, 6:10PM
After conducting a data analysis, the United States and Malaysian governments are considering the possibility that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed in either the Bay of Bengal or the Indian Ocean. CNN reports authorities are looking into two different flight paths that would lead the jet to one of the two locations.
Friday, March 14, 5:18PM
Following news that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might have been diverted — possibly in an “act of piracy” — Malaysian officials say they’re investigating the two pilots who flew the missing Boeing 777 jet. Said Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia’s Transport Minister when asked about whether or not Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid might be involved in the plane’s disappearance, “We are looking at that possibility.”
Though authorities are investigating Shah and Hamid, their homes have yet to be searched, according to Hussein.
Up until this point, there had been no indication that Shah or Hamid were involved in anything nefarious, or that they were anything but experienced pilots, having logged 20,000 hours collectively in the air. One woman, however, told Piers Morgan Live earlier this week thatHamid allowed her to sit in the cockpit during her flight. Malaysia Airlines, in response, said it could not confirm the allegations, but were “shocked” by the claims.
Friday, March 14, 3:47PM
It’s been nearly seven days since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, and authorities seem zero steps closer to solving the mystery of the missing Boeing 777. Or, at least, whatever headway has been made still is leaving passengers’ families — and inquiring media — in the dark about what happened to the airplane, and where it might be. On Friday, the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 widened to include the Indian Ocean following the Pentagon’s findings that it might have crashed there, and a report that the plane was diverted towards the Andaman Islands has some speculating that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might have landed.
But the only thing that any of this information proves is that new information is changing the story (and speculation) on a daily basis. And, whereas, earlier Friday, efforts to recover the plane still seemed slim, a small break in the search might actually lead authorities to wherever Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed, or landed. Satellite communications company Inmarsat said it had received signals from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 the day it disappeared, a revelation that could make it easier to locate the whereabouts of the Boeing 777. These signals could reveal which direction the plane was flying when it disappeared, and, more helpfully, after its transponder was manually shut down.
Though the location of the plane might now be easier to find, the motive is still hanging in the air. Earlier this week, terrorism was ruled out as a possible cause after two fraudulent passwords used on the plane were determined to have no tie to terrorist organizations. Now, however, with the news that the flight might have been redirected, investigators are reportedly looking into piracy, or sabotage as a motive. And, in that case, whoever redirected the plane would be an experienced flyer — after changing course, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 used a flight path used to travel to Europe or the Middle East.
Though this latest beat in the news makes a catastrophic mid-air explosion less likely, new leads might change the story’s direction in the coming days. As Malaysia’s transportation minister Hishamuddin Hussein said about the transponder shut-off:
It could have been done intentionally. It could have been done under duress. It could have happened as a result of an explosion.
So, really, it could have been turned off for any reason at all.
And there will undoubtedly be new leads — with a total 13 countries looking for the jet and its missing 239 passengers (not to mention thecrowdsourcing efforts of those at home attempting to help locate the plane), new information — however non-definitive it might be — seems to be piling in every minute.
Until the next beat, however, let the speculation continue.
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