Missing plane: Now police probe whether passenger who was flight engineer for private jet firm was involved in hijacking

  • Police probing MH370 passengers with technical knowledge of planes
  • Passenger Mohd Khairul was a flight engineer with a private jet firm
  • No trace of the plane has been found more than a week after it vanished
  • Authorities believe that the plane was flown deliberately off-course

By Ted Thornhill

PUBLISHED: 04:02 EST, 17 March 2014 | UPDATED: 10:38 EST, 17 March 2014

A flight engineer who was a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane is being investigated as the suspicion that it was hijacked hardens.

The aviation engineer is Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, 29, a Malaysian who has said on social media he had worked for a private jet charter company.

The pilots are also under intense scrutiny, after it was revealed that the co-pilot said  'all right, good night', after someone had begun disabling one of the plane's automatic tracking systems.

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Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, an aviation engineer, who was onboard the missing flight
Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat

Probe: Malaysia police are investigating the background of Mohd Khairul (above), a flight engineer on board MH370

Loved ones: Erny Khairul, whose husband Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight

Loved ones: Erny Khairul, whose husband Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight

Painful wait: Malaysian Selamat Omar shows pictures of his son, Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat

Painful wait: Malaysian Selamat Omar shows pictures of his son, Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat

Malaysian investigators are trawling through the backgrounds of the pilots, crew and ground staff who worked on the missing Boeing 777-200ER for clues as to why someone on board flew it hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of miles off course.

‘Yes, we are looking into Mohd Khairul as well as the other passengers and crew. The focus is on anyone else who might have had aviation skills on that plane,’ a senior police official with knowledge of the investigations told Reuters.

 

More...

As he's investigated, his wife, Emy, waits in hope.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference Monday that finding the plane was still the main focus, and he did not rule out finding it intact.

'The fact that there was no distress signal, no ransom notes, no parties claiming responsibility, there is always hope,' Hishammuddin said.

No trace of the plane has been found more than a week after it vanished but investigators believe it was diverted by someone with deep knowledge of the plane and of commercial navigation.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday evidence pointed to a deliberate diversion of the flight, given the controlled way it was apparently turned around and flown far to the west of its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

CCTV footage captures Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of the Boeing 777 flight, being frisked while walking through security at Kuala Lumpar International Airport

CCTV footage captures Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of the Boeing 777 flight, being frisked while walking through security at Kuala Lumpar International Airport

Artists express hope: Students gather around a three dimensional artwork, based on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that was painted on a school ground in Makati city. According to the artists, the artwork is their way of expressing sympathy towards the relatives of passengers onboard the missing Boeing 777-200ER

Artists express hope: Students gather around a three dimensional artwork, based on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that was painted on a school ground in Makati city. According to the artists, the artwork is their way of expressing sympathy towards the relatives of passengers onboard the missing Boeing 777-200ER

Thoughts and prayers: Children write a message at the Wall of Hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia

Thoughts and prayers: Children write a message at the Wall of Hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia

 

A flight engineer is responsible for overseeing systems on a plane during flights to confirm they are working correctly and to make repairs if necessary. As an engineer specializing in executive jets, Khairul would not necessarily have all the knowledge needed to divert and fly a large jetliner.

Khairul had said he worked for a Swiss-based jet charter firm called Execujet Aviation Group, but the company declined to say whether it still employed him.

In a picture posted on Khairul's Facebook account in 2011, he identified himself as an employee of Execujet's Malaysian operations.

Passengers in their seats onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing at approximately 1.30am on Monday. MH318 replaces the flight number of the missing airplane, MH370, as a mark of respect to the passengers and crew

Passengers in their seats onboard Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER flight MH318 as it cruises towards Beijing at approximately 1.30am on Monday. MH318 replaces the flight number of the missing airplane, MH370, as a mark of respect to the passengers and crew

How MH370 would have looked: Flight MH318 to Beijing sits on the tarmac as passengers are reflected on the glass at the boarding gate at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the early hours of Monday

How MH370 would have looked: Flight MH318 to Beijing sits on the tarmac as passengers are reflected on the glass at the boarding gate at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the early hours of Monday

Mystery: The aircraft that's vanished photographed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2001

Mystery: The aircraft that's vanished photographed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2001

 

‘We can't disclose anything. We want to protect the family's privacy,’ an official at the company's Malaysian office said.

Khairul, a father of one daughter, had recently bought a house on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and had more than 10 years’ experience as a flight engineer, his father Selamat Omar told Reuters.

He declined to say whether he believed his son could have been involved in any foul play.

Sudden ascent and dive points to cockpit takeover

Possible last known position of MH370

Possible last known position of MH370

 

Selamat said he and other family members were supposed to visit Khairul's new house this month.

But Khairul had told his father on Thursday he had to go for a job in Beijing and that they would reschedule. That was the last time they spoke.

‘Khairul was doing well in his job and was a good son. He would come visit us at least once a month,’ Selamat said.

Police have raided the luxury home of Fariq Abdul Hamid in Kuala Lumpur
Activist: Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah

Probe: Police in Malaysia have searched the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah (right) and Fariq Abdul Hamid (left) after officials confirmed the plane was taken over by a 'deliberate act'

The final picture: The missing jet is pictured here in February this year above Polish airspace

The final picture: The missing jet is pictured here in February this year above Polish airspace

The final words - 'all right, good night' - from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were spoken after its communication equipment was disabled, it has been revealed, as footage emerged showing the aircraft's pilots walking through security for the final time before take-off.

These words from the cockpit of the missing plane were spoken - believed to be by co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid - as it was leaving Malaysian-run airspace and being handed over to air traffic controllers in Vietnam.

The sign-off came after one of the plane's data communication systems, which would have enabled it to be tracked beyond radar coverage, had been switched off, Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Sunday.

The informal hand-off went against standard radio procedures, which would have called for him to read back instructions for contacting the next control centre and include the aircraft's call sign, said Hugh Dibley, a former British Airways pilot and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Investigators are likely to examine the recording for any signs of psychological stress.

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It would not be possible for one person alone to hijack a plane with 238 people on board - there must be a team of people involved.

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There is no evidence because there is no missing plane!

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Wake up people! There is no missing plane! The whole thing was a long-planned hoax!

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This is ABSOLUTELY APPALLING. The ONLY true evidence they have that explains everything and answers all questions is the EYE WITNESS EVIDENCE of the guy on the rig who saw bits of plane falling and burning up in the atmosphere, near the exact site of last transmission, and at the time. Yet no-one is sending deep sea divers to investigate - because they didn't see plane pieces a few days after (they can surface a LONG time after impact), they have poo-hooed this! Satellite "pings" could have been emitted days after impact if the device was waterproof or left undamaged - it means very little, I believe. All these people are doing is chasing fairstories in the HOPE they MIGHT (it seems) be able to BLAME someone for "hijacking" the plane. I say: stick with commonsense and the eyewitness. Stop chasing moonbeams. How horrible for the families to have to hear all this ROT.

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I think it has been made clear that they are checking everyone DM and looking into all their backgrounds. Crickey join the conspiracy theory club !! Report on news !

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How can someone hijack the plane - they have no guns! Or if they did, Malaysian security is in big trouble.

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All we can do is sit and wait until the powers that be decide to tell us what happened to it.

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I still think their clutching at straws. Get down to the nitty gritty and give some answers!!

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Reposted from CNN, but I wish I'd posted it; We have three new Godwin's Laws: Godwin-alpha: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone asking why passengers didn't text or call someone approaches 1 Godwin-beta: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone asking why transponders can be turned off approaches 1 Godwin-gamma:As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone stating that two Iranians using stolen passports proves terrorism approaches 1

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Wow how wrong is it to assume and drag potentially innocent people's reputation through the mud? They have families worried sick this is not right. Ignorance should never write articles

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