Who was MH370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah? A glimpse into the prosperous life of the plane captain at the helm of the missing plane

Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, was the pilot of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, shortened to MH370, which went missing on March 8, 2014.

MH370 was scheduled to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, but its radars were disabled shortly after takeoff. All 239 people on board were lost.

Ten years later, the BBC looks back at how the plane went missing in their documentary Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370.

But what about the experienced pilot who had thousands of hours of flying time under his belt and lived a seemingly idyllic life?

Read more about Zaharie Ahmad Shah and the rumors that emerged about him after the plane’s disappearance below.

Who was Zaharie Amad Shah?

Zaharie Amad Shah was 53 when MH37 went missing and came from a poor background in the Malaysian state of Penang.

He became a cadet pilot with Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and two years later was a second officer with the airline.

His sister, Sakinab Shah, told the BBC in 2016 that becoming a commercial pilot was “a dream come true” given his background, and in 1991 Mr Shah was promoted to captain of the Boeing 737-400.

Another seven years later, he was captain of the Boeing 777-200 – the aircraft type he would ultimately fly on March 8, 2014.

Mr. Shah amassed 8,659 hours on 777s and was a respected and experienced veteran in 2014.

He was also married at the time and the father of three children, and enjoyed cooking and fishing in addition to his work and family life.

His family lived in a mansion in the Laman Seri complex – a luxury gated community in Kuala Lumpur – where he reportedly built his own flight simulator.

What was discovered about Zaharie Amad Shah after the plane disappeared?

After MH370 disappeared, rumors spread that Mr Shah’s wife had left the house, causing the pilot to crash the plane in a murder-suicide.

The Atlantic Ocean reported in 2019 that the pilot’s friends claimed he was “lonely and sad,” even “clinically depressed,” at the time of the flight.

An unnamed friend and a fellow pilot suggested that Mr Shah may have led his co-pilot out of the cockpit and locked the door before the plane crashed.

The Independent Group that worked on the case claims he killed the people on board by flying at a dizzying altitude of 40,000 feet to depressurize the cabin and suffocate the passengers.

Psychologists also claimed Mr Shah was ‘self-destructive’ after sending sexually suggestive messages to 26-year-old twin sisters Lan Qi Hui and Qi Min Lan, begging them to come to the Malaysian capital.

He also used social media to target his government, which owns the airline he worked for, calling Prime Minister Najib Razak an “idiot.”

He also urged his followers: “There is a rebel in each of us. Let it go!’

Aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey claimed in a report in May 2021 that Mr. Shah’s route appeared “carefully planned.”

He said the changes in direction and speed were intended to “give a clear idea of ​​where he was going.”

The aircraft made an unexpected turn from its planned flight path and was instead tracked on military radar over the Straits of Malacca before losing contact altogether.

Despite a four-year, $200 million international search that covered more than 120,000 square meters, the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane was never found, sparking the world’s biggest aviation mystery.

Although the plane has never been found, pieces of debris have been recovered from the sea in Mauritius, Madagascar, Tanzania and South Africa, suggesting the crash site could be in the Indian Ocean – with currents carrying the debris towards Africa .

Who was the co-pilot of Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s M370?

The co-pilot of MH370 was Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, who was on his first flight on a 777 as a fully cleared first officer, but had flown five times before with a ‘check co-pilot’ supervising him.

He also had 2,763 hours of experience flying other jets before moving to the larger aircraft.

Mr. Hamid appeared to be the last person to communicate from the cockpit after the communications system was shut down.

Theorists have also suggested that Mr Hamid may have been responsible for the crash, again citing personal issues, but on the other hand, Fariq was reportedly planning to marry his girlfriend.

He was engaged to Captain Nadira Ramli, a then 26-year-old pilot with another airline.