MH370: FBI investigators to examine flight simulator used by pilot (2024)

We’re going to tie up this live blog. Here’s a summary of where things stand:

The 13th day of the search for MH370 has opened in the southern Indian Ocean, with five merchant ships answering a call to search alongside surveillance aircraft from Australia, the US and New Zealand.

Frustrated relatives of missing passengers were ejected from a news conference with Malaysian officials Wednesday. The relatives accused authorities of withholding information. “We can’t stand it any more,” one shouted. Malaysia Airlines promised to provide more updates to families.

Malaysian officials said the search for MH370 was “now a truly international effort” involving 26 countries. FBI investigators were asked to help recover deleted files from a flight simulator the pilot used and to analyse other electronic files.

MH370 may not have used waypoints to navigate after losing contact with ground control, Malaysia’s defense minister suggested, contradicting a Reuters report last week.

The 13th day of the search for MH370 has opened in the southern Indian Ocean, with five merchant ships answering a call to search alongside surveillance aircraft from Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

“To date, neither the ships nor the aircraft have reported sighting anything in connection to the aircraft,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The pilots’ families are facing a double agony of having no news from their loved ones while dealing with intense – in their eyes unjust – media scrutiny, the Washington Post reports:

“It is very agonizing for the family, and the media is not helping at all,” said Mohammed Ghouse, a longtime friend of [pilot] Zaharie [Ahmad Shah]’s brother-in-law. “The daughter especially is very upset. She was very close to her father.”

Zaharie’s 27-year-old daughter, Aishah, was living in Melbourne, Australia, when the plane vanished, and she returned the following day to be with her mother. None of the family members have spoken to journalists, but relatives released a tribute to “loving Uncle Ari” on YouTube this week.

“Loving, reflective, generous, cool, sporting, intelligent and supportive, the list goes on,” one caption reads, in between photos of Zaharie posing with his family, doing volunteer activities and working as a pilot in his younger days.

Read the full piece here.

Malaysian officials portrayed the search for MH370 as “now a truly international effort” involving 26 countries. Newly supplied Thai radar data was said to back up the theory that the plane turned west after disappearing.

US investigators in Quantico, Virginia, were examining “hard drives belonging to [the] two pilots”, CNN reported. Malaysian officials said some material had been deleted from a flight simulator used by the pilot.

MH370 may not have used waypoints to navigate after losing contact with ground control, Malaysia’s defense minister suggested, contradicting a Reuters report last week.

Frustrated relatives of missing passengers were ejected from a news conference with Malaysian officials Wednesday. The relatives accused authorities of withholding information. “We can’t stand it any more,” one shouted. Malaysia Airlines promised to provide more updates to families.

The authorities in the Maldives have dismissed reports of a possible sighting of the plane over the islands. The Maldives government told the Malaysian authorities the reports were “not true”.

CNN reports that US investigators at Quantico, the site of the large Marine Corps base and FBI labs, already are examining “hard drives belonging to two pilots”:

The Malaysian defense minister goes for inspirational:

Malaysian officials have sought aid from the FBI in analysing electronic files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of MH370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, AP reports:

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name, says the FBI has been provided electronic data to analyze.

Malaysia’s defense minister says investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the simulator used by the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Files containing records of simulations carried out on the program were deleted Feb. 3.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday U.S. investigators are prepared to help any way they can.

Malaysian defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein this morning appeared to contradict reporting by Reuters that MH370 navigated by waypoints after losing contact with ground control.

In an exclusive report published on 14 March, Reuters quoted two unnamed sources “familiar with investigations” as saying that “an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints when it was last plotted on military radar off the country’s northwest coast.” The Reuters report says the plane flew past waypoints Igari, Vampi, Gival and Igrex.

But in a news conference Wednesday, Hishamuddin said no waypoints were added to the aircraft’s flight routing beyond Igari:

I am aware of speculation that additional waypoints were added to the aircraft’s flight routing. I can confirm that the aircraft flew on normal routing up until the waypoint IGARI. There is no additional waypoint on MH370’s documented flight plan, which depicts normal routing all the way to Beijing.

Reuters photographer Edgar Su boarded one of the many Malaysia Airline Boeings that continue to travel to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

Here’s an excerpt from his blog about the experience:

Flights from to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur continue to operate. They still follow the same flight path and the same type of aircraft is still being used, with the same departure time at the same airport. The only difference is that it is no longer called the MH370, out of respect for the passengers and crew members on the missing aircraft. It is now called the MH318 ...

Before taking on the assignment, I asked myself: “will lightning strike twice…?” But of course there was not much time to think. I booked my tickets, took a shower, had a coffee and a chat with my colleagues and then was on my way to the departure hall to board the plane.

At the departure gate, there were a fair few passengers although not enough to fill a whole 777. A number of them were using the benches as beds, catching up on sleep before the overnight flight.

Among them, one Chinese passenger whom I spoke to said that he wasn’t nervous about taking the flight at all. “Life still goes on, work still has to be done. In fact, I believe that what happened to the MH370 may make it an even safer flight for me”.

Other Chinese passengers standing nearby started to chip in. They realised that I was a journalist and began to ask me questions too: “Do you think the authorities are hiding something?” “They must know something that we don’t right?” “Do you think they will find it?” As one asked, all the others looked to me for an answer. It was a stressful moment. I have heard all the conspiracy theories, but my guess about what happened to the plane is just as good as anyone else’s. We have no real clue, and until we do everything is pure speculation.

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The home-made flight simulator recovered from the pilot’s home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah included five practice runways, according to the Australian news site News.com citing a Malaysian media report.

The thinly sourced report is sure to fuel speculation and theories about what happened to the missing plane. It said:

The Berita Harian Malay language paper quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying that the airport runways were Male International Airport in the Maldives, Diego Garcia and three runways in India and Sri Lanka.

“We are not discounting the possibility that the plane landed on a runway that might not be heavily monitored, in addition to the theories that the plane landed on sea, in the hills, or in an open space,” the Malay Mail Online quoted the source as saying.

Today the Malaysian authorities revealed that files had been deleted from the simulator in early February. They are trying to recover the files.

Last week video emerged of Zaharie explaining an air conditioning system in front of his simulator.

Malaysia’s prime minster Najib Razak has thanked David Cameron for satellite data provided by the British company Inmarsat.

Malaysia is urging more countries to volunteer satellite and military radar data to help with the search.

Following a phone call between the two prime ministers, Downing Street said

Prime Minister Najib thanked [David Cameron] and said it remained a very difficult ongoing operation. He appreciated the support of the Air Accidents Investigation Board and the satellite data provided by Inmarsat.

Satellite pings registered on the Inmarsat network suggested the missing plane flew on for hours after its transponder was switch.

MH370’s last ping suggested it was in one of two flight corridors: one between Thailand and Kazakhstan, and another between Indonesia and the southern Indian Ocean. The last confirmed communication was at 08.11 am on the day it went missing, which would indicate that the Boeing continued flying for nearly seven hours after contact was lost.

Here’s a summary of the latest developments today:

• The Malaysian government has ordered an inquiry after scuffles between police officers and relatives of the missing passengers overshadowed today’s press briefing on the continuing search operation. Malaysia’s acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he understood the frustration of relatives and regretted the chaotic scenes.
• At least two Chinese relatives were thrown out of the press conference in Kuala Lumpur when they tried to protest at the lack of information being released by Malaysia. The police also prevented journalists from talking to the relatives after they voiced their frustrations.
  

• Malaysia Airlines promised more support and information updates to relatives. It pledged to send out text messages and operate a support centre for the families around the clock. Malaysia is also sending a high-level delegation to Beijing to liaise with relatives of those missing on the Beijing-bound flight.
  

• The authorities in the Maldives have dismissed reports of a possible sighting of the plane over the islands. The Maldives government told the Malaysian authorities the reports were “not true”.

• Investigators are trying to recover deleted files on the home-made flight simulator recovered from the home of the pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. But the authorities have stressed that the passengers and crew on the flight are innocent unless proven others, and urged the media to avoid “unnecessary speculation”. The files were deleted on 3 February.
  

• Malaysia has again appealed to other countries to volunteer more satellite and radar data about the fight, after Thailand released radar data 11 days after the flight disappeared. The Thai radar data backs up Malaysia conviction that the plane took a deliberate westerly turn.

• Other countries are taking a lead role in the search operation over their territories. No major breakthrough has been reported in narrowing the search area from the two long flight corridors currently being examined.

• Investigators examining the plane’s disappearance believe it flew into the southern Indian Ocean, a source told Reuters.“The working assumption is that it went south, and furthermore that it went to the southern end of that corridor,” said the source, referring to a search area stretching from west of Indonesia to the Indian Ocean west of Australia. But Hishammuddin insisted that both the northern and southern flight corridors were of equal interest to the investigators.
  

The BBC has video of its reporter Jonah Fisher being prevented from talking to relatives of the missing passengers by Malaysia police in Kuala Lumpur.

There’s also footage of the scuffles as police ejected relatives from the press conference.

AFP has more details about what relatives were demanding at the press conference protest in Kuala Lumpur, while frustration also boiled over in Beijing.

Amid chaotic scenes, the relatives were besieged by camera-wielding reporters awaiting the start of a daily press briefing by Malaysian officials on the search for the missing aircraft.

Shouting and crying, they unfurled a banner that accused the Malaysian authorities of withholding information and not doing enough to find the plane.

“Give us back our families,” the banner said.

“They give different messages every day. Where’s the flight now? We can’t stand it anymore,” one woman wailed.

Security intervened to stop the uproar at the Kuala Lumpur briefing room - located in a hotel near Malaysia’s international airport.

The family members were bundled out of the room, with two of them having to be physically carried out, still protesting and shouting ...

At a hotel in Beijing, tensions also boiled over at a daily meeting between company officials and family members.

“We do not have any other way of dealing with this other than to be angry and to cry. Your way of dealing with it is either lying or playing a shameful role,” one relative shouted, waving his arms furiously at a representative from the airline.

“Look what we have been talking about today - trivial matters,” the man shouted angrily. “What are we coming here for? We just want to know where our relatives are and where the plane is.”

The questioning from relatives was briefly interrupted as a noisy row erupted at one of the airline’s administration desks.

A woman marched to the front of the hall demanding to know why she had to present her marriage certificate to prove her husband was on the plane, in order to get a room at the hotel.

“My husband was on board, and our relatives have had nowhere to stay for two days!” the woman shouted as other family members encouraged her to confront the airline official.

Amid angry exchanges one of her male relatives lunged aggressively at the neck of a man he believed to be an airline administrator, and another shouted: “What sort of person would pretend that their husband is on board the plane?”

The Malaysian government has ordered an inquiry into the scuffles between police officers and relatives of the missing passengers that overshadowed today’s press conference.

In a Twitter update the ministry of transport said it “regretted” the scenes.

The account carried a new statement from Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin which said:

One can only imagine the anguish they are going through. Msia is doing everything in its power to find MH370 and hopefully bring some degree of closure for those whose family members are missing.

I have ordered an immediate inquiry into the events in the press room today.

The Malaysian authorities gave a little more details about deleted files on the pilot’s home made flight simulator.

Data was cleared on the 3 February, an official said. He added: “The experts are looking at the logs at what has been cleared.”

Hishammuddin also played down a report by Reuters which claimed investigators had a “working assumption” that the plane is likely to be lost far into the southern flight corridor in the southern Indian ocean.

Asked whether the investigators were more interested in the southern corridor he said: “It is not [more] interesting it is much more challenging. They [both corridors] are both equally important. But the southern corridor is much more challenging.”

Responding to the protest by the relatives, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin said:

I fully understand what they are going through. Emotions are high. This is something I discussed with the French delegation [who dealt with aftermath of the Air France crash in 2009] – engaging with the families ... One of our main priorities is how to manage emotions and how to appease the families ... We are sending another high-level team to travel to Beijing to explain what we are doing. Though we understand their concerns we are trying our very best. It is heart wrenching even for me.

At least two female relatives of missing passengers were thrown out of the conference room before the daily briefing got under way Sky News reports.

Speaking to a scrum of reporters and photographers one said: “We don’t know how long we will be waiting. It’s been 12 days where’s my son? Why aren’t you giving me any answers.”

Another relative said: “We need to know the truth. We need to know where the plane is. We don’t need someone to look after us every day.”

Later Malaysian police officer preventing the media from talking to the relatives.

During the press conference the Malaysian authorities also dismissed a report that the plane was programmed to change course before the co-pilot issued the “all right, goodnight” sign off.

Citing an unnamed source CNN said:

The aircraft’s first major change of course was almost certainly programmed by somebody in the co*ckpit. The change was entered into the plane’s system at least 12 minutes before a person in the co*ckpit, believed to be the co-pilot, signed off to air traffic controllers.

Asked to respond to the story civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said: “that’s not correct”. He did not elaborate.

More images have emerged of the extraordinary scenes outside the press conference room where frustrated relatives were prevented from storming the event.

Here are the key points to emerge from the press briefing:

• Malaysia has dismissed reports of a possible sighting of the plane in the Maldives. The authorities in the Maldives have told Malaysia the reports are “not true”, according to acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

• Hishammuddin said he “fully understands” the frustration of relatives of the missing passengers after they tried to storm the press conference. He said Malaysia would send a high-level delegation to Beijing to liaise with the families. Earlier Malaysia Airlines promised more support and information updates to relatives.
  

• Investigators are trying to recover deleted files on the home-made flight simulator recovered from the home of the pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. But the authorities have stressed that the passengers and crew on the flight are innocent unless proven others, and urged the media to avoid “unnecessary speculation”.

• Malaysia has again appealed to other countries to volunteer more satellite and radar data about the fight, after Thailand released radar data 11 days after the flight disappeared. The Thai radar data backs up Malaysia conviction that the plane took a deliberate westerly turn.

• Other countries are taking a lead role in the search operation over their territories. No major breakthrough has been reported in narrowing the search area from the two long flight corridors currently being examined.
  

The unusually brief daily press conference has come to an end.

Hishammuddin said he understands the frustration of the relatives protesting outside the press conference. “Emotions are running high,” he said.

Here’s the full text of Hishammuddin’s opening remarks to the press briefing:

The search for MH370 continues. As I stated at yesterday’s press conference, this is now a truly international effort.

Our focus remains the search and rescue operation. We are working on narrowing the search corridor by:

gathering satellite information
analysing radar data
increasing air and surface assets, and
increasing the number of technical experts.
We are also taking further steps to address the needs of the families at this difficult time.

Operational update

I will start by giving a brief operational update.

As we have said, the search for MH370 involves diplomatic, technical and logistical challenges.

Accordingly, the main technical team organising the search and rescue operation has been broken into three groups: a diplomatic team, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; an assets deployment and logistics team led by the Armed Forces; and a technical group retaining overall operational control, which is led by the Department of Civil Aviation.

On the diplomatic front, all 26 countries involved in the search and rescue operation have verbally agreed to assist the operations, and Malaysia has written to all countries formally requesting co-operation. A number of assets which have already been committed are awaiting diplomatic clearance to begin operations. Once we receive formal clearance, we can then speed up the deployment of assets along the search corridors.

As I stated yesterday, although the search is still co-ordinated by Malaysia, our partners are increasingly taking the lead in their own territory and in agreed search sectors. We welcome this, and again would like to thank all our partners for their continued assistance and support.

I can confirm that we have received some radar data, but we are not at liberty to release information from other countries. I appeal to all our partners to continue volunteering any and all information that could help with the investigation and the search for MH370.

Regarding reports that the plane was sighted in the Maldives, I can confirm that the Malaysian Chief of the Defence Force has contacted his counterpart in the Maldives, who has confirmed that these reports are not true.

Waypoints

I am aware of speculation that additional waypoints were added to the aircraft’s flight routing. I can confirm that the aircraft flew on normal routing up until the waypoint IGARI. There is no additional waypoint on MH370’s documented flight plan, which depicts normal routing all the way to Beijing.

Police investigation

On the police investigation, as the Inspector General of the Police confirmed, the case has been classified under Section 130C of the Penal Code. All passengers, crew and ground staff handling the aircraft are being investigated.

We are sharing all information relevant to the case with all relevant international investigative agencies that require it. We have received passenger background checks from all countries apart from Ukraine and Russia, both of which had nationals on board. So far, no information of significance on any passengers has been found.

Local and international expertise has been recruited to examine the pilot’s flight simulator. Some data had been deleted from the simulator and forensic work to retrieve this data is on-going.

I would like to take this opportunity to state that the passengers, the pilots and the crew remain innocent until proven otherwise. For the sake of their families, I ask that we refrain from any unnecessary speculation that might make an already difficult time even harder.

High level team

I would like to announce that in addition to the team that is already on the ground, Malaysia is currently assembling a high-level team that will immediately travel to Beijing. The team will give briefings and updates to the next of kin on the latest situation, and on search and rescue plans.

The team will include representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the Department of Civil Aviation, and Malaysia Airlines.

The team will be led by Lieutenant General Dato’ Sri Ackbal bin Haji Abdul Samad RMAF (Air Operation Commander, Royal Malaysia Air Force), assisted by Ahmad Nizar bin Zolfakar (Director, Air Traffic Services, Department of Civil Aviation) and will include a senior 777 pilot.

Concluding remarks

We will persevere. Our immediate focus is the search and rescue operation. We are pursuing every means possible to narrow the two search corridors.

Sky News and BBC has broadcast more footage of relatives trying to storm the press conference outside the hotel room where it is taking place. Malaysian police have surrounded the relatives to prevent them talking to the media.

Hishammuddin confirmed that Malaysia has received some new radar data, but would not reveal where it came from.

Thailand said its radar confirmed that the plane took a westerly turn. Hishammudin said the source of the data was sensitive and that it was up to the host country to release it.

Hishammuddin confirmed that files found on the home-made flight simulator recovered from the home of the pilot have been deleted.

Hishammuddin dismissed reports that the plane had been seen over the Maldives. This is “not true” he said citing a Maldives official.

Malaysia’s international partners are taking an increasing role in the search, Malaysia’s acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein told the briefing.

The latest daily media briefing is under way. No major breakthroughs have been announced as the Malaysian authorities say they continue to try to narrow the search area.

Malaysia Airlines has promised to do more to keep relatives informed of the continuing search operation.

In its latest briefing issued minutes after relatives stormed a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur the company announced it would be sending out regular text messages to the families and keep its support centre open around the clock.

The statement insisted that the concerns of the relatives is a “at the centre of every action Malaysia Airlines has taken” since the plane disappeared. It added:

The Family Support Centre will continue to proactively provide relatives waiting for news at home with daily updates. In addition to personal phone calls, Malaysia Airlines will now send out SMS blasts with brief updates to the families. We have also set up an email address for family members as a channel for them to communicate with us. Updates via the Malaysia Airlines website are also available.

This Family Support Centre will be open round-the-clock and will house family support representatives trained to assist those who are seeking answers and further information. The representatives will be divided into four shifts with ten staff handling each shift. This will ensure that someone is available to attend to the families at all times. The centre will also have Mandarin speaking personnel.

The authorities in the Maldives are examining eye witness reports of a “low-flying jumbo jet” over the islands, AFP reports.

While the islands’ National Defence Force said that no trace of Flight MH370 had been picked up on radar, police and the civil aviation authority were investigating reported sightings on a remote island.

The investigations were sparked by a report by the Haveeru news website which said that several local residents had spotted a large plane flying over the remote southern island of Kuda Huvadhoo on March 8.

In a statement Wednesday, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) said that studies of military radar had yielded nothing so far.

“Based on the monitoring up to date, no indication of flight MH370 has been observed on any military radars in the country,” it said.

The civilian radars at the Maldives airports had also “been analysed” but there was no “indication of the said flight,” the statement added.

The Maldives police and civil aviation authority separately confirmed that a more detailed national inquiry was underway and they were hopeful of giving a progress report later in the day.

“We are looking at everything from radar reports and records of the air traffic control,” Hussain Jaleel, chief executive of Maldives Civil Aviation Authority, told AFP.

Relatives of those missing on the plane have been thrown out of the daily press conference by the Malaysia authorities in Kuala Lumpur after seeking more information on the search.

Both Sky News and the New Straits Times report scuffles and chaotic scenes.

“We can’t stand it anymore” one of the relatives shouted, according to Sky.

On Tuesday desperate relatives in Beijing threatened to go on hunger strike in protest at the lack of information.

China has found no evidence the missing plane entered its airspace, according to the the Wall Street Journal.

It quotes foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei as saying: “We haven’t discovered any sign of the Malaysia Airlines plane entering Chinese territory.”

But according to the BBC’s Beijing’s correspondent Celia Hatton Lei did not rule out the possibility that the plane reached China.

Files in the home-made flight simulator recovered from the home of the missing plane’s pilot were found to have been deleted according to the Malaysian government.

The country’s interior minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said computes experts are working round-the-clock to retrieve the files , according to the New Straits Times.

He said the police were not accusing the lead pilot of the flight of any wrong-doing or to pressure any of his family members but were conducting a thorough and intensive investigation.

Extensive background checks into the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, and his co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, have found nothing to suggest why they may have deliberately diverted the flight.

US investigators were initially denied access to the recovered flight simulator but now appeared to examined the devise. US officials told CNN that nothing suspicious was discovered.

Welcome to our ongoing coverage of the continuing search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane more than 12 days after it went missing with 239 people on board.

Here’s a summary of the latest developments:

• Investigators examining the plane’s disappearance believe it flew into the southern Indian Ocean, a source told Reuters. “The working assumption is that it went south, and furthermore that it went to the southern end of that corridor,” said the source, referring to a search area stretching from west of Indonesia to the Indian Ocean west of Australia.

• Thailand has released military radar data that backs up Malaysia’s conviction that the plane changed course and flew west over the Malacca Strait. The late release of the data underlines how the search for the plane has been hampered by a reluctance of countries to share military information.

• Continuing profiles and background checks into the pilots suggest no motive for deliberately diverting the plane. A new Reuters profile of the pilot and co-pilot reveals a “picture of normality.”
  

• Twenty-six countries have continued searching two vast arcs of land and sea with no sign of a breakthrough in the investigation. The search area now covers 2.24m square nautical miles – an area larger than Australia and stretching from central Asia down to the southern Indian Ocean.

• A day by day account of how the search has unfolded over the last week and a half lays bear a confusing and sometimes contradictory flow of information. Peter Walker summarises the twists and turns of the search operation.