Mental state of pilot raises alarm

Even as the search for the missing Malaysian flight MH370 has led no leads yet, recent media reports raise shocking queries of the mental state of the 53-year-old pilot in the weeks preceding the incident.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had been distracted and withdrawn, Daily Mail quoted his wife and daughter as saying. However, the family is convinced that he was  not responsible for the plane’s disappearance.

His wife told investigating officials that Zaharie had stopped speaking to her in the weeks before the fateful flight on March 8 and that he had spent time alone in his room building a flight simulator.

Meanwhile, his 28-year-old daughter said she barely “recognised the man who used to dote on her. He wasn’t the father I knew. He seemed disturbed and lost in a world of his own”, Dailymail quoted her as saying.

His wife of 30 years, disclosed that the couple had spoken of separating recently but no clear steps for divorce was initiated.

Zaharie had also spoken to his daughter about his marital problems and she inturn had suggested he seek the help of elders to mend the relationship. However, she doesn’t know if there was another woman in his life, the report added.

Apparently, political developments also affected Zaharie. According to his daughter, he was upset over the jail sentence given to Anwar Ibrahim.

His two sons said they had barely spoken to their dad in the weeks before the flight went missing, though they stayed in the same house.

Investigators also confirm that the family has no obvious financial problems.
 

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