Malaysia plane pilots, passengers back under scrutiny

 

People write well wishes for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at a viewing gallery at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 16, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

Flight crew under scrutiny

It was not clear if police have yet searched the homes of the other crew on Flight MH370, including that of First Officer Fariq, 27. His record and personal life have already come under scrutiny.

An Australian television report broadcast an interview with a young South African woman who said Fariq and another pilot colleague invited them into the cockpit of a flight he co-piloted fromPhuket,ThailandtoKuala Lumpurin 2011.

Since 9/11, passengers have been prohibited from entering cockpits during a flight. Malaysia Airlines has said it was "shocked" by the report, but that it could not verify the claims.

The son of a high-ranking official in the public works department of a Malaysian state, Fariq joined Malaysia Airlines when he was 20.

He is a mild-mannered "good boy" who regularly visited his neighbourhood mosque outsideKuala Lumpur, said the mosque's imam, or spiritual leader.

The far more seasoned Zaharie joined MAS in 1981 and had logged 18,365 hours of flying time.

Malaysian media reports quoted colleagues calling Zaharie a "superb pilot", who also served as an examiner, authorised by the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department, to conduct simulator tests for pilots.

The whole passenger manifest is likely to be re-examined.

If hijackers are suspected, then the glare of suspicion will fall again on two passengers who boarded with stolen EU passports.

Interpol had identified the two men as Iranians: Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, who used a stolen Italian passport, and Pouria Nourmohammadi, who used an Austrian one.

Both passports had been stolen inThailand.

Interpol chief Ronald Noble said last Tuesday that the men were thought to be illegal immigrants who had travelled fromDohatoKuala Lumpurin a round-about bid to reach Europe.

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