[h1]Malaysia Airlines pilot 'chief suspect' in plane's disappearance: authorities[/h1][h2]Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah — the pilot of the plane that vanished on March 8 and was carrying 238 other passengers — has been named as the top human suspect in the plane’s disappearance, though authorities have still not ruled out mechanical problems or an act of terrorism.[/h2]
BY
David Harding
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, June 22, 2014, 9:54 AM
The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 airliner has been identified as the "chief suspect" in the plane’s disappearance by Malaysian police after they found flight simulator evidence at his home.
Investigators discovered that Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah had programmed a flight simulator at home to practice a flight far out at sea in the Indian Ocean and landing on an island with a short runway.
These were deleted but recovered by investigators. They also found that the captain, an outgoing individual, had made no social or work commitments for the future.
This was in stark contrast to his co-pilot onboard the Boeing 777, Fariq Hamid, and the rest of the crew.
Shah, the experienced pilot who had three children, used to regularly post aviation videos on the Internet.
There are also rumors of the captain having problems at home, but these have been denied by family and friends.
One of his daughters, Aishah, has denounced as "lies" speculation about her father.
After running intelligence checks on all the other 238 people onboard, authorities think Shah is the chief suspect if the greatest aviation mystery of modern times turns out to be the result of human intervention,
reports the Sunday Times.
Investigators, however, have still have not ruled out mechanical failure or an act of terrorism.
The results of their investigation have not been made public but have been shared with foreign governments.
Suspicions have fallen on the captain before, with the Malaysian government saying on March 15 that the plane's loss was due to the "deliberate action by someone on the plane."
Flight MH370, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8.
No crash site or debris has yet been found, despite a huge international search led by the Australian government in the southern part of the Indian Ocean.
Searches are continuing.