A comprehensive story of the people on board the MH370.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah piloted the MH370. The 53-year-old passionate pilot is from Penang Free School and happens to be an avid chef and a handyman.
- Social media has been filled with outpourings of love and support for Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who piloted the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight that went missing around 2.40am yesterday.
- A tribute article, titled "Tribute: Who exactly is Malaysia Airlines Captain Zaharie Shah of MH370" has been widely shared across Twitter and Facebook since the news of the missing flight broke. The article, accompanied by pictures of the 53-year-old pilot, described the Penangite as an individual passionate about fyling.
- "Even when not piloting the massive Boeing 777, he flies remote-controlled aircraft. When he was away from piloting an actual Boeing 777, he built his own simulator to practise even more. That's just how passionate he is about flying," the author of the tribute said.
- According to the tribute, Zaharie was an avid chef and had uploaded several photos of the dishes he cooked on Facebook. Zaharie joined the airlines in 1981 and has a total flying hours of 18,365 hours.
Fariq Abdul Hamid (left) co-pilot of MH370 is seen here with CNN reporter Richard Quest in this picture. He is said to have made a 'text-book perfect landing' when being filmed for a CNN program.
- Fariq, the youngest son of Selangor Public Works Department deputy director Abdul Hamid Mad Daud, has recorded more than 2,763 hours of flying time. He began his career with MAS in 2007.
- Fariq Ab Hamid, 27, had recently switched to the Boeing 777-200. He landed it in a flight captured on video last month by CNN. The network was shooting video of the landing for use in a "CNN Business Traveler" program. "It was interesting to watch the way he brought the aircraft in to land," Quest recalled about the February 19 landing, which the captain described as textbook-perfect.
Apart from the two pilots, there were 10 cabin crew members on board MH370
- The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) has confirmed that there were 10 cabin crew members and two pilots onboard flight MH370, which lost contact with air traffic controllers early this morning. Nufam said that it had contacted some of the families of the missing cabin crew and convey the news to them.
- "Our team has also contacted the family of the affected crew members, who were the operating crew onboard the flight, who informed us that they had been unable to contact their spouses on phone. "For now, our hopes and prayers go to families of those who onboard MH370. We will pray for the best," it added.
One of the Malaysian passengers on board the missing MH370 is Singapore scholarship holder Tony Tan Wei Chew. Tan was on the way to Beijing for a holiday with his parents.
- 19-year-old Tan is a recent graduate of the republic's St Andrew's Junior College. Tan was on the way to Beijing for a vacation with his parents, according to his former roommate of two years and compatriot Aaron Quek. He added that Tan had two younger siblings who were not on the flight.
- Schoolmates said they last saw Tan on Monday when they went back to school to receive their A-level results. Quek, who attended St Andrew's Junior College with Tan and shared a room in the school's hostel with him, said Tan did think about applying to universities in the US. Tan came to Singapore on a scholarship when he was 15, and attended Catholic High School together with Quek.
Paul Weeks, a 39-year-old engineer, father of two from New Zealand moved to Perth after Christchurch earthquakes. He was on his way to Mongolia for a month.
- Paul Weeks moved from New Zealand to Perth in search of a better life for his young family, but now hopes are dwindling that he will be found alive after the plane he was travelling in went missing.
- Paul was travelling to Mongolia for his first shift in a fly-in-fly-out job. His wife, Danica, told The Sunday Times newspaper she was trying to come to grips with the tragic news. The couple have a three-year-old son named Lincoln and a 10-month-old son named Jack.
- He was born in New Zealand and moved to WA in 2011, following the devastating Christchurch earthquakes. His LinkedIn profile shows he had been working with MTU Detroit Diesel Australia in WA and had previously worked as a vehicle mechanic for the New Zealand army for more than five years.
This Brisbane couple Catherine and Robert Lawton were reportedly on a holiday with friends Mary and Rodney Burrows. Catherine's last Facebook post said "Off to China".
- In Queensland, the Lawtons are being described as passionate travellers who doted on their three daughters and two grandchildren. "Bobby's a very good father, such a good person," Robert Lawton's brother David Lawton told News Corp. His wife Rhonda said the couple, in their mid-50s, had planned the trip to China with their good friends the Burrows. "Cathy's last comment on Facebook was `Off to China'," she said.
- In Middle Park, neighbours Mandy Watt and Don Stokes said the Burrows were hard-working parents of two adult daughters and a son, and had downsized just a fortnight ago. "The kids had moved on ... they're all successful, all happy. This was their time," Mrs Watt told News Corp. "I hate to use the cliche but they were soulmates."
Freescale Semiconductor's 20 employees were confirmed passengers aboard the MH370. Among them 12 people were from Malaysia and another 8 from China.
- "At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families," president and CEO Gregg Lowe said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event."
- "The entire Freescale Semiconductor community is deeply saddened by this news. The company is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide more information as it becomes available," the Austin, Texas-based firm said. Freescale said it was making counselors and other professionals available to employees as part of "around-the-clock support for those impacted by this tragedy."
A woman displays the driver's licence of a friend who may be a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight at a hotel in Beijing
A possible relative cries at the Beijing Airport after news of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane in Beijing
There were also 19 prominent China artists on board MH370. They were part of the 35-strong delegation who attended an art exhibition themed Chinese Dream: Red and Green Painting in KL.
- Daniel Liau, who is the director of Art Peninsular Enterprise, the exhibition organiser, said he last contacted the delegation head Hou Bo when they boarded the plane on Friday midnight.
- "He (Hou Bo) told me on the phone that everything was fine with them. I regret this thing happened to them. Most of them are old people and very professional. Despite their age, they stayed at the exhibition venue from 10am until 10pm and yet didn't complain of tiredness," Liau said when contacted yesterday.
- Liau said he had never met the artists before but they had since become friends during the brief stay in Malaysia. "We had really good communication. I am very saddened by the incident, more so as I have a very good friend (Hou Bo) in the group. All of them are very famous in China. Some of them are national-class artists while others are provincial-level artists," he said.
- The artists, from Beijing, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Xinjiang, included notable personalities such as China Calligraphy Artists Association vice-chairman Meng Gaosheng, Wang Linshi and Liu Rusheng. Association chairman Ma Yong'an said 13 of the artists on the delegation are members of the association, including Meng.
A father of MAS engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, who was assigned to Beijing to carry out repair works on MH370, is shocked over news of son missing. He had invited the family to visit him at his new home in Seri Kayangan.
- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat was assigned to Beijing to carry out repair works on MAS aircraft but unfortunately, the 28-year-old never made it to his destination. His 60-year-old father Selamat Omar said he was expecting a phone call from his son today but got a call from MAS instead.
- He said a MAS official had informed him that the plane his son was travelling in went missing and could not be located. A shocked Selamat Omar then broke the news to other family members and neighbours before they travelled from their house in Kampung Balik Papan here to Sepang.
- He said Khairul, the youngest of three siblings, had called him last Thursday and invited the family to visit him at his newly-purchased home in Seri Kayangan, Shah Alam. "My son told me to bring the entire family to visit him at his new place but I informed him that I was a little busy. Khairul then told me that he would go to China this week.
- "I reminded him to have a safe trip and take care of himself during his working trip to China. I could not believe my ears when told about the missing plane," he said when contacted during his journey to Sepang today. Selamat described Khairul as a very caring son, who would return to his hometown every month. "Sometimes he would make a day trip just to spend a few hours with us," he said adding that his family was still clueless on the whereabouts of his son.
Norliakmar Hamid and her husband Razahan Zamani, smiling for the camera, were on board flight MH370
- Norliakmar Hamid and her husband Razahan Zamani were among the 239 people on board flight MH370 when it vanished over the South China Sea in the early hours of Saturday. Norliakmar's father Hamid Ramlan handed out the picture as he desperately awaits news.
- He said it was taken alongside two other relatives at Kuala Lumpur airport shortly before the couple left for Beijing.
Family members of those onboard the missing MH370 cry at a hotel in Putrajaya
A relative of a passenger of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 talks on a mobile phone as journalists attempt to interview her at a hotel in Beijing
Family members of those onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are interviewed by media at the waiting area at KLIA
A team of 5 psychiatrists are stationed at the KLIA and nearby hotels to offer help to the family members
- Ministry deputy director-general Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Sinnadurai said the members would also be stationed at the two hotels where the families have been put up.
- "The psychiatrists will work on a rotation basis. They will be replaced by a fresh team every six hours," he said. Dr Jeyaindran said the assistance involved staff from all psychiatric departments at the government hospitals in the Klang Valley.
- "But only a few doctors are taken from each department as regular hospital services must not be interrupted," he said in a text message yesterday. Dr Jeyaindran noted that the team was providing psychosocial and psychiatric support to the families without charge, and that the number of doctors would be rotated based on need.
Official name list of passengers and crew members onboard the flight MH370 as released by Beijing Airport
It has been over 38 hours since Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with MH370 that was carrying 239 passengers, including crew. Read about it all here:
Our hearts and prayers go out to all those onboard MH370 and their family members
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