International

Malaysia MH370 investigators: Files deleted from flight simulator

Authorities investigate what information was erased from simulator found at home of missing plane’s pilot

March 19, 2014 8:23AM ET Updated 5:16PM ET

Artwork conveying well-wishes for the passengers and crew of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at a viewing gallery in Kuala Lumpur's international airport.

Edgar Su/Reuters

As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 entered its 12th day, Malaysian investigators discovered that data from a flight simulator found at the pilot’s home was erased, adding more confusion and frustration to an already tense hunt for the jetliner that disappeared with 239 people on board.

Malaysia's police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said an examination of the flight simulator showed its data log had been cleared on Feb. 3.

"The experts are looking at what are the logs that have been cleared," he told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

The flight simulator was one of several items taken from the homes of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.

Malaysian authorities gave the FBI access to electronic data generated by both pilots on Wednesday, including data from a hard drive attached to the captain's flight simulator and from electronic media used by the co-pilot, a U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters.

The official said he could not confirm that some data had been wiped from the simulator and stressed that there was no guarantee the FBI analysis would turn up any fresh clues.

A Chinese relative of a Flight MH370 passenger is carried out by security officials as she protests before a press conference at a hotel in Sepang, Malaysia, on Wednesday.

Vincent Thian/AP Photo

Shortly before Wednesday's press conference, some Chinese family members of the missing passengers were physically removed from the area by security following protests against Malaysian authorities, who the relatives believe are withholding information about the flight.

Two relatives held up a banner saying "Truth" in Chinese, and started shouting before security personnel escorted them out.

"I want you to help me to find my son!" one of the women said.

The acting minister of transport, Hishammuddin Hussein, addressed the protests in a statement issued after the press conference.

"We regret the scenes at this afternoon’s press conference, involving some of the relatives of passengers on board MH370," the statement read. "One can only imagine the anguish they are going through. Malaysia is doing everything in its power to find MH370 and hopefully bring some degree of closure for those whose family members are missing."

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from air-traffic-control screens off Malaysia's east coast at 1:21 a.m. local time on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.

An unprecedented search for the Boeing 777-200ER is underway involving 26 nations in two vast search corridors: one arching north overland from Laos toward the Caspian Sea, the other curving south across the Indian Ocean from west of Indonesia's Sumatra island to west of Australia.

Officials believe the plane is most likely in the southern end of the search zone, based on the lack of any evidence from countries along the northern corridor, and the failure to find any trace of wreckage in searches in the upper part of the southern corridor.

Australia is leading the search in the southern part of the southern corridor, with assistance from the U.S. Navy.

The search field has shrunk based on satellite tracking data and analysis of weather and currents, but it still covers an area of 230,000 square miles, roughly the size of Spain and Portugal.

The methodical shutdown of the aircraft’s communications systems, together with the fact that the plane appeared to be following a planned course after turning back, have been interpreted as suggesting strongly that foul play, rather than some kind of technical failure, was behind the disappearance.

U.S. government sources said intelligence agencies had extensively analyzed information about people on the flight, but came up with no connections to terrorism or possible criminal motives.

A senior U.S. official said he was "not aware of any stones left unturned." China has said there is no evidence that Chinese passengers, who made up more than two-thirds of those on board, were involved in a hijack or act of sabotage.

Al Jazeera and wire services