Australia: MH370 captain's simulator had Indian Ocean route
KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian officials confirmed on Thursday that data recovered from a home flight simulator owned by the captain of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 showed that someone had used the device to plot a course to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed.

There has been confusion over exactly what was found on Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah's flight simulator since New York Magazine reported last week that an FBI analysis of the device showed Zaharie had conducted a simulated flight to the southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished along a similar route. The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain.

Malaysia immediately rejected the report as false. Malaysia's national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar said Malaysian police had never handed any document or information to any authority abroad including the FBI — a perplexing statement, given that Malaysia's own transport minister confirmed two years ago that Malaysia was working with the FBI to analyze data from the simulator's hard drives.

Adding to the confusion, Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Center — which is overseeing the search for the plane off Australia's west coast — subsequently issued a vague statement that seemed to imply such a route had been found on Zaharie's machine. The agency then cautioned that evidence of the route did not prove that Zaharie had planned to steer the plane off course and showed only "the possibility of planning" for such an event.

Pressed for clarification, the agency confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that the captain's simulator did show that "someone had plotted a course to the southern Indian Ocean."

The confirmation appears to directly contradict repeated assertions from Malaysian officials that no such route had been found on the captain's simulator. On Wednesday, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai insisted there was no evidence to prove that Zaharie had plotted the same course as the doomed airliner into the machine.

Earlier this week, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to offer any details on what evidence had been found on the simulator, saying it was a matter for Malaysia, which is leading the investigation into the missing plane.

"I just note that even if the simulator information does show that it is possible or very likely that the captain planned this shocking event, it does not tell us the location of the aircraft," Turnbull told reporters.

Officials have been stymied in their efforts to explain why the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people veered so far off course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Theories have ranged from a deliberate murder-suicide plot by one of the pilots, to a hijacking, to a mechanical catastrophe. Similarly, search crews have been unable to find the main wreckage of the plane despite a sweeping underwater hunt of a remote stretch of ocean off Australia's west coast.

Last week, officials from Malaysia, Australia and China announced that the underwater search will be suspended once the current search area has been completely scoured. Crews have fewer than 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) left to scan of the 120,000-square-kilometer (46,300-square-mile) search area, and should finish their sweep of the region by the end of the year.

___

Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-28

Antartica boys........you're on the right track.

a little further south and west of australia

Best explanation yet to my mind is this video by national geographic.......watch the whole thing if you can....but if not, start at 33 minutes for the last 17 minutes of video

malcolm brenner,who has investigated many airline crashes shows us how easy it can be done........

National geographic have many documentaries on airline crashes.......facts, not your crappy You Tube conspiracy theorists!

The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain

If it looks like a duck......................

The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain

If it looks like a duck......................

.......yes.....then start quacking

The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain

If it looks like a duck......................

.......yes.....then start quacking

I started a long time ago.

The fact that it has taken two years for this to come out stinks to high heaven.

Now that it is transparently all linked to Malaysian politics, how can we be sure the Malaysians haven't suppressed all sorts of other evidence, such as a suicide note?

And why were both America and Australia so easily coerced/blackmailed into keeping quiet about this crucial clue?

The fact that it has taken two years for this to come out stinks to high heaven.

Now that it is transparently all linked to Malaysian politics, how can we be sure the Malaysians haven't suppressed all sorts of other evidence, such as a suicide note?

And why were both America and Australia so easily coerced/blackmailed into keeping quiet about this crucial clue?

Indeed.........the malaysian government don't want the truth now.....Too many 'serious' lawsuits!!!

i don't think the simulator clue is that crucial....but certainly of 'interest' and help in finding the damned plane!

I think the clue is conclusive by any reasonable standard of inference. What are the chances that it was pure coincidence?

Given the effective certainty of the cause, there was really no need to waste all that time and money on the search at all. Australians, who footed most of the bill, should be asking questions about the transparency of all this.

It was clear from the beginning that there was a problem with the crash investigation. The lack of debris indicated that they were looking in the wrong area. With todays satellite coverage and the number of vessels involved in the search, debris should have been seen/founded just after the crash. The fact that debris washed up on African shores indicate that there was debris so why was it not seen after the crash ? Even if the pilot glided the plane into the water it is nearly impossible not to breakup the plane in the process.

The fact that it has taken two years for this to come out stinks to high heaven.

Now that it is transparently all linked to Malaysian politics, how can we be sure the Malaysians haven't suppressed all sorts of other evidence, such as a suicide note?

And why were both America and Australia so easily coerced/blackmailed into keeping quiet about this crucial clue?

The simulator flight was reported in Australia within a few weeks of the disappearance.

I think the clue is conclusive by any reasonable standard of inference. What are the chances that it was pure coincidence?

Given the effective certainty of the cause, there was really no need to waste all that time and money on the search at all. Australians, who footed most of the bill, should be asking questions about the transparency of all this.

the fact the captain had a flight simulator at home was known 2 months into the investigation.He was regarded as a tech whiz-meaning he liked

to play at home doing all sorts of 'things' on his simulator.With 25 years or so experience,this guy was in the top 5% of pilots worldwide.

So the fact the australian indian ocean route was found on the database could have meaning or may not.

I know an Australian company has the contract for the sea-bed search,but i'm not sure if the malaysians are footing the bill....

I'm quite sure this came to light quite soon after the plane went missing. I remember watching a report a couple of times that said the pilot had a simulator at home, that was a well known fact and he'd actually flown a number of routes, including the Indian Ocean one??

Is there a single person in the world who would pay any attention to/ be reassured by a statement from a Malaysian official? Seriously....

Is there a single person in the world who would pay any attention to/ be reassured by a statement from a Malaysian official? Seriously....

They even supersede the egyptians on your inference....the egyptians had a similar incident in 1999 leaving JFK....the NTSB fully investigated the crash and determined pilot suicide......Egyptian investigators disagreed. One of the family members of the accused pilot made me chuckle stating "egyptians don't commit suicide"....yet the same man at a hotel in NY propositioned maids changing bed sheets.And then eventually ringing 2 female patrons from room phone asking them to look out of the window........he flashed his 'old fellow' thru his window at them....

Click at 38.30 minute of video to see the great man in action

I think the clue is conclusive by any reasonable standard of inference. What are the chances that it was pure coincidence?

Given the effective certainty of the cause, there was really no need to waste all that time and money on the search at all. Australians, who footed most of the bill, should be asking questions about the transparency of all this.

the fact the captain had a flight simulator at home was known 2 months into the investigation.He was regarded as a tech whiz-meaning he liked

to play at home doing all sorts of 'things' on his simulator.With 25 years or so experience,this guy was in the top 5% of pilots worldwide.

So the fact the australian indian ocean route was found on the database could have meaning or may not.

I know an Australian company has the contract for the sea-bed search,but i'm not sure if the malaysians are footing the bill....

Australia has paid the lion's share of the costs - all the more controversial as it had nothing to do with them.

Yes, Zaharie proved he had an active practical imagination with his elaborate simulator set-up - that's just another psychological indicator that he would do this. I don't think the fact that he programmed an otherwise senseless Southern Ocean route to nowhere was known until now - that's why it's in the news.

Nothing in the real world is absolutely certain outside of logic and mathematics, but a reasonable degree of inference is perfectly valid. It's silly to cling to minuscule possibilities if it blinds you to the obvious. He did it and the full facts now need to come out.

I think the clue is conclusive by any reasonable standard of inference. What are the chances that it was pure coincidence?

Given the effective certainty of the cause, there was really no need to waste all that time and money on the search at all. Australians, who footed most of the bill, should be asking questions about the transparency of all this.

the fact the captain had a flight simulator at home was known 2 months into the investigation.He was regarded as a tech whiz-meaning he liked

to play at home doing all sorts of 'things' on his simulator.With 25 years or so experience,this guy was in the top 5% of pilots worldwide.

So the fact the australian indian ocean route was found on the database could have meaning or may not.

I know an Australian company has the contract for the sea-bed search,but i'm not sure if the malaysians are footing the bill....

Australia has paid the lion's share of the costs - all the more controversial as it had nothing to do with them.

Yes, Zaharie proved he had an active practical imagination with his elaborate simulator set-up - that's just another psychological indicator that he would do this. I don't think the fact that he programmed an otherwise senseless Southern Ocean route to nowhere was known until now - that's why it's in the news.

Nothing in the real world is absolutely certain outside of logic and mathematics, but a reasonable degree of inference is perfectly valid. It's silly to cling to minuscule possibilities if it blinds you to the obvious. He did it and the full facts now need to come out.

good post!!...........i'm not sure if the 'route' was found 2 months into investigation-that's why it's in the news now most likely.

Yes.....it's silly to dismiss minuscule facts to discover the big picture......one piece of the jigsaw as they say!

Is there a single person in the world who would pay any attention to/ be reassured by a statement from a Malaysian official? Seriously....

on second thoughts........i'll take your question as being rhetorical

Topic still seems to be off-limits to the major news agencies - no mention of it on the BBC, which is bizarre considering the size of the revelation - not only that we can now see that the captain obviously did it, but that the Malaysian authories, presumably at the highest level, are guilty of a cover-up. Why isn't this all over the front pages?

Topic still seems to be off-limits to the major news agencies - no mention of it on the BBC, which is bizarre considering the size of the revelation - not only that we can now see that the captain obviously did it, but that the Malaysian authories, presumably at the highest level, are guilty of a cover-up. Why isn't this all over the front pages?

just done quick google search......a lot of conjecture on was it there(on simulator)..does the FBI know?......a rabble really!

It doesn't really prove the captain did it,even though you and I (and many others) know he did

ADD......isn't it ridiculous the route on the database has just been discovered/detailed now........2 years they've had it in front of them....

Try to remember the initial reports. When the disappearance first hit the news, they said that three hours into the flight the plane left Malaysian airspace northeast of Kota Baru. Huh? Kota Baru is at most one hour by air from KL. It was downhill from there.

I, of course, don't know anything about what happened, but sure as hell someone was dodging for some reason. Yes, two years for this flight simulator thing to be revealed. Maybe this stuff coming out now has something to do with the PM being on the skids with the scandals coming his way.

BS. The BIG question nobody answers is why the world's most powerful radar station on the US Air Force Base of Diego Garcia didn't got involved with its data....From the start Malaysian authorities disclosed that the pilot's home flight simulator was programmed for a LANDING in Diego Garcia.... Coincidence????

It's creeping out into the world's media. Still nothing on the BBC though. Hopefully they are preparing a serious investigative piece on it. .

It's been a 'three-pipe problem' but how about this for a theory:

- Zaharie knew that such a devastating act of political activism would embarrass the government to the extent that they would certailny suppress any vital clue about it - because they would need to deflect any hint that it was connected with Malaysian politics. Check.

- He planned the crash position carefully - not right in the middle of the ocean where recovery would be impossible, but close enough to Australia for recovery planes and ships to get there and eventually find it. Check (though he underestimated the difficulty of recovery).

- He knew that eventually the truth would come out (perhaps he left a message on the black box) and the Malaysian government would be exposed for having deceived the world. Plausible.

- This would bring down the government and usher in Anwar, of whom Zaharie was a fanatical supporter. Fair assumption.

- Zaharie could therefore rationalise his actions morally (as did Breivik in Norway) as having a net beneficial effect in future - not just politically but in terms of human rights for gays (especially if assuming that Zaharie was gay himself). Quite plausible.

QED?

It's creeping out into the world's media. Still nothing on the BBC though. Hopefully they are preparing a serious investigative piece on it. .

It's been a 'three-pipe problem' but how about this for a theory:

- Zaharie knew that such a devastating act of political activism would embarrass the government to the extent that they would certailny suppress any vital clue about it - because they would need to deflect any hint that it was connected with Malaysian politics. Check.

- He planned the crash position carefully - not right in the middle of the ocean where recovery would be impossible, but close enough to Australia for recovery planes and ships to get there and eventually find it. Check (though he underestimated the difficulty of recovery).

- He knew that eventually the truth would come out (perhaps he left a message on the black box) and the Malaysian government would be exposed for having deceived the world. Plausible.

- This would bring down the government and usher in Anwar, of whom Zaharie was a fanatical supporter. Fair assumption.

- Zaharie could therefore rationalise his actions morally (as did Breivik in Norway) as having a net beneficial effect in future - not just politically but in terms of human rights for gays (especially if assuming that Zaharie was gay himself). Quite plausible.

QED?

Definately an act of extreme political activism........yes he was a very staunch supporter of anwar(who i think was charged with sodomy on a boy)

i agree with everything you point out.

But why didn't he just keep flying until fuel ran out or military planes shot it down(which they would)...maybe he knew as you say how hard the malaysian government would suppress the truth....a quick demise into a malaysian enemy country building could of achieved his aim.

if he wanted to hurt the government,why not get the ball rolling early!