FBI to quiz wife of Flight MH370 pilot amid fears of cockpit hijack of missing plane
Mar 24, 2014 00:00
By David Collins
American intelligence wants the backgrounds of Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, 53, and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, examined
Enterprise News
In the frame: Shah with wife and two of his children
The wife of pilot Zaharie Ahmed Shah is to be interrogated amid growing suspicions he may have hijacked missing flight MH370.
Mother-of-three Faizah Khan faces questioning in an investigation supported by the FBI as the search for the plane enters its third week.
American intelligence agents are said to be steering Malaysian officials towards examining the backgrounds of Captain Shah, 53, and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
However a source close to the probe revealed today that vetting on Hamid is almost complete – and has so far thrown up nothing untoward.
It means Shah has now become the primary focus.
The insider said: “There seems to be nothing in the life of Fariq Hamid to suggest a motive for hijacking.
“The personal life of Zaharie Shah, however, is far more complex and is in the process of being unravelled.”
It appears the pilot’s marriage had deteriorated to the point where he was no longer in a relationship with Faizah, despite them still living together with their children.
His unstable domestic situation together with his support of a political opposition leader recently jailed in Malaysia means his background is coming under close scrutiny.
Police are also examining reports that he received a two-minute phone call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile number obtained using a false identity.
They are treating the call as significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their
identity card or passport number.
The number was traced to a shop that sells SIMs in Kuala Lumpur.
It is still hoped clues may emerge from Shah’s three-screen home flight simulator, on which he played three games – Flight Simulator X, Flight Simulator 9 and X-Plane 10.
FBI agents in the US are continuing to examine the simulator’s hard drive in an effort to glean any clues about what may have happened, or what files he may have deleted.
Officials have also seized the financial records of all 12 crew members, including bank statements, credit card bills and mortgage documents. But investigators are now increasingly convinced the most plausible explanation for the jet’s disappearance with 239 on board lies in the cockpit.
They believe the cabin crew – either together or one person working alone – locked themselves in and hijacked the Boeing 777
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-fbi-3276536#ixzz2wvfLwirc
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
Mar 24, 2014 00:00
By David Collins
American intelligence wants the backgrounds of Captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, 53, and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, examined
Enterprise News
In the frame: Shah with wife and two of his children
The wife of pilot Zaharie Ahmed Shah is to be interrogated amid growing suspicions he may have hijacked missing flight MH370.
Mother-of-three Faizah Khan faces questioning in an investigation supported by the FBI as the search for the plane enters its third week.
American intelligence agents are said to be steering Malaysian officials towards examining the backgrounds of Captain Shah, 53, and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
However a source close to the probe revealed today that vetting on Hamid is almost complete – and has so far thrown up nothing untoward.
It means Shah has now become the primary focus.
The insider said: “There seems to be nothing in the life of Fariq Hamid to suggest a motive for hijacking.
“The personal life of Zaharie Shah, however, is far more complex and is in the process of being unravelled.”
It appears the pilot’s marriage had deteriorated to the point where he was no longer in a relationship with Faizah, despite them still living together with their children.
His unstable domestic situation together with his support of a political opposition leader recently jailed in Malaysia means his background is coming under close scrutiny.
Police are also examining reports that he received a two-minute phone call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile number obtained using a false identity.
They are treating the call as significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their
identity card or passport number.
The number was traced to a shop that sells SIMs in Kuala Lumpur.
It is still hoped clues may emerge from Shah’s three-screen home flight simulator, on which he played three games – Flight Simulator X, Flight Simulator 9 and X-Plane 10.
FBI agents in the US are continuing to examine the simulator’s hard drive in an effort to glean any clues about what may have happened, or what files he may have deleted.
Officials have also seized the financial records of all 12 crew members, including bank statements, credit card bills and mortgage documents. But investigators are now increasingly convinced the most plausible explanation for the jet’s disappearance with 239 on board lies in the cockpit.
They believe the cabin crew – either together or one person working alone – locked themselves in and hijacked the Boeing 777
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-fbi-3276536#ixzz2wvfLwirc
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
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