Manufacturer of flight simulator says Captain Zaharie was well-known accomplished pilot
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- Manufacturer of flight simulator says Captain Zaharie was well-known accomplished …
Malaysia Airlines captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pic), who has had aspersions and suspicion cast at him because he has a flight simulator at home and has the necessary skills to divert the plane from its flight to Beijing, has a defender in the company that made the flight simulator software.
In a statement posted on the website of the simulator’s manufacturer, Precision Manuals Development Group (PMDG), CEO Robert Randazzo said the pilot’s avid interest in flight simulation does not mean he was involved in altering the aircraft’s course.
"As is always the case when something cannot be explained, there are many folks attempting to explain the event to the public using theories, guesswork and good, old-fashioned imagination,” he wrote.
“Some of these commentators have focused on Captain Zaharie’s love of the flight simulation hobby as a suggestion that he may somehow have played a role in the disappearance of MH370.
"Such wild conjecture is not only insulting to those of us who wear or have worn the stripes of a captain, but has the potential to be damaging to the flight simulation hobby.”
On Saturday, investigators took possession of a flight simulator Zaharie had built in his home and are examining the device for clues, including doing forensics on deleted material, as to whether the pilot had used it to practice specific manoeuvres.
Last year, US-based PMDG released the Boeing 777 version of its flight simulator software, which replicates in detail every facet of flying the long-range jetliner.
“Captain Zaharie was well known to many in the flight simulation community because he had developed an online presence in which he dedicated many hours of his time to promoting the enjoyment of flying generally, and flight simulation specifically,” Mr. Randazzo wrote.
“In a manner of speaking, our community appears to have lost one of our own by virtue of the fact that he was also an accomplished 777 captain flying for a well-respected airline." – March 19, 2014
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