Flight simulator found at home belonging to MH370 cabin crew member

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Police confiscate flight simulator from home of MH370 captain
Male member of cabin crew also had flight simulator at home
Authorities will be analysing flight paths used on the simulators
Captain Shah was passionate about his home-made simulator
Malaysian Airlines 777 vanished mysteriously over a week ago

By Ted Thornhill

PUBLISHED: 07:23 EST, 17 March 2014 | UPDATED: 10:21 EST, 17 March 2014

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A member of the cabin crew on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane reportedly had a flight simulator at his home.

The revelation comes after police confiscated a flight simulator from the home of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

Authorities will be analysing the virtual flight paths used on the simulators as suspicions that the plane was hijacked harden.

A message posted to an online flight simulator community by Captain Zaharie (above, with his home simulator) asked for 'buddies' to contact him about his 'awesome' simulator to take it 'to the next level. Motion!'

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

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.

Captain Shah, a father-of-three, was passionate about his simulator, which he built using off-the-shelf parts.

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Zaharie had joined an online flight simulator community called X-Sim and after making his simulator, in November 2012 he posted a message about its 'awesome view' inviting 'buddies' to get in touch so they could take the simulator 'to the next level of simulation. Motion!'

'Elo guys, zaharie here,' says the post.

'Awesome view on 3 panasonic 32 in. LCD HDMI and and 3 touchscreen Dell 21 inches for main (MCP) , center pedestal, overhead panel.

'Time to take to the next level of simulation.Motion! looking for buddies to share this passion.

'Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah, BOEING 777 MALAYSIA AIRLINES.'

Police dismantled the flight simulator and then reassembled the parts at police headquarters.

Then experts began to probe the simulator’s programme to find out if there was anything there to show that he had been ‘practising’ how to make his aircraft ‘invisible’.

Malaysian acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein, centre, director general of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, right, and Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamzah Zainudin during a MH370 press conference near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday

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

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

Malaysia says search now involves 25 countries

On Monday it emerged that a flight engineer who was a passenger on MH370 is being investigated as officials probe anyone on board who had aviation skills.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

‘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.

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

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

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.

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 - 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, Mr 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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Joseph, San Francisco, United States, 13 minutes ago

An airline pilot with a flight simulator? Thats like finding it suspicious that a plumber has a wrench. Idiots.

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Kristof, London, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

Boring.

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Heliflyer, Greensboro NC, 2 hours ago

We could vote on what happened to the plane. Obama coud not recognize the vote, rendering the whole issue moot. Then the plane might reappear! - Heliflyer, Greensboro NC, 3/18/14 2:24

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Heliflyer, Greensboro NC, 2 hours ago

Three people on board had flight simulators in their houses. Revealed that nearly all passengers AND CREW had kitchens or bathrooms OR BOTH in their homes!