Pilots’ possible role in plane’s vanishing is ‘unthinkable’ to friends

One was only a few years out of flight school and still living at home with his family, but he was getting serious about a girlfriend, another pilot, and talking about getting married. The other, a grandfather and veteran pilot widely respected by his colleagues, brimmed with enthusiasm for flying, cooking and home repair hobbies.

The two men, who sat at the controls of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8th, led by nearly every measure ordinary lives revolving around family and work. That is why even the suggestion that the captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah (53), and the first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid (27), somehow had a hand in the disappearance of Flight 370 has been met with disbelief from friends, family and colleagues.

It is still a mystery what happened to the jetliner and the 239 people on board. But increasingly, the evidence shows the disappearance was most likely not an accident, and that whoever changed the plane’s flight path and turned off its communications systems had expert knowledge of the aircraft.

That has inevitably led investigators to look into the lives and backgrounds of the pilots. Officials have not accused the pilots of responsibility and have emphasised that they are scouring the backgrounds of everyone on the flight. Further, if one or both of them intentionally diverted the plane, there appears to be no obvious motive.

Relatives, friends and colleagues have lined up in the pilots’ defence, saying the mere suggestion of their involvement was unimaginable. “Quite unthinkable,” Sivarasa Rasiah, a member of parliament, said in an interview on Monday. Sivarasa said he got to know Zaharie when the pilot volunteered to work on his political campaign last year.

“He was a very likable, very sociable kind of guy,” Sivarasa said. “He would not have actively, in any way, endangered the lives of his passengers.”

The pilots’ immediate family members have said little publicly about the case. Officials have released scant information about the investigation of the men’s backgrounds. But in interviews this week with relatives, friends and colleagues, a fuller picture has emerged – one lacking any obvious indicators that might support a theory of the pilots’ involvement in a hijack plan.

Zaharie’s marriage appeared to be breaking up, according to a friend and colleague as well as Malaysian news reports, although he and his wife had continued to live together in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Friends and colleagues said he remained upbeat and continued to embrace his passion for flying.

Among Malaysia’s aviators, Zaharie had a reputation for professionalism and bonhomie, and was regarded by younger pilots as something of a mentor.

Peter Chong, a staff member for Sivarasa, said Zaharie would occasionally help out with community service projects and events run out of Sivarasa’s office, including open houses for poor constituents.

The younger pilot, Fariq, was less well known in Kuala Lumpur and on social media, but those close to him and his family have been equally protective of his reputation. "They're a quiet family; they don't really mingle," said Khairuddin bin Zakaria, who lives near Fariq's family's house in a middle-class neighbourhood. Fariq's romance with another pilot was apparently heading toward marriage, acquaintances said. – (New York Times)