The family of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, has broken its silence, defending his reputation and revealing new information about his activities, in tonight's episode of Four Corners.
The program will also include a forensic reconstruction of the baffling disappearance of the plane, along with an interview with Malaysian minister of defence and acting transport minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein.
Flight MH370 vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the early hours of March 8 with 239 people onboard. Two-thirds of those onboard were Chinese nationals, and six were Australians.
It is believed the flight ended in the Southern Indian Ocean off the West Australian coast, where the search for the plane is ongoing.
Captain Shah's brother-in-law, Asuad Khan, says the 53-year-old pilot has been the subject of false rumours and inaccurate reporting.
"From what I can see, a lot of people are saying a lot of things about him which are untrue," he said, speaking on behalf of Mr Zaharie's wife, Faizah Khan.
Captain Zaharie supported the political Opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim and in the early days of the MH370 disappearance, Malaysia's government-controlled newspapers ran stories that suggested he had crashed the plane due to disappointment at the guilty verdict of Anwar's sodomy trial. Found not guilty by the High Court, Prime Minister Najib Razak's government won a highly controversial appeal that reversed Anwar's acquittal. This trial took place just the day before the MH370 departed the KL airport for its ill-fated flight to Beijing.
Captain was not suicidal, says brother-in-law
Mr Khan has refuted multiple allegations levelled against Captain Shah regarding his personal life and his professional activities.
He also denies that the captain could have been a rogue pilot on a suicide mission, and claims the authorities may be using Captain Shah as a scapegoat.
Photo: Mr Khan says claims of his brother-in-law committing suicide for life insurance are untrue. (ABC News)
"Put it this way, this is a promise - if they blame him I'll fight. I just won't sit down, keep quiet," he said.
"Because if you say that he wanted to [commit] suicide in the Indian Ocean, I say prove it.
"If he wanted to [commit] suicide he wouldn't - he would want to kill 238 people with him? Why would he be so stupid? He is not.
"He was not suicidal. We enjoy our life to the fullest because life only happens once."
He also says claims of the captain committing suicide for life insurance are untrue.
"If you are talking about life insurance he didn't have one. Trust me, check. He didn't have one. He didn't believe in it so why would he want to [commit] suicide?" he said.
"Why would a person in their right mind want to suicide?
"He had a good life. He had a lot of money, and he loved his daughter very much."
A staunch supporter of the political Opposition
Captain's wife found out about disappearance through news
Mr Khan says his sister found out that her husband's plane was missing only after watching the news. Malaysia Airlines failed to ring her to break the news.
"She told me that she saw the news saying that the Malaysia Airlines flight to Beijing went missing. At first, she said, 'Wow, missing.' She didn't know whose flight that was," he said.
"And then suddenly she checked the roster, then she knew that her husband had went missing.
"The first person she called was me. When she called me, my wife could hear that she was crying like hell. I can't even understand what she's saying. I said, 'Hold on, hold on.'
"To my thinking somebody has died if she cries like that. I said, 'Just be patient, wait for them to call you.'"
Mr Khan says his sister quickly tried to ring her husband's mobile phone.
"She did try but it went to the voicemail. It didn't ring," he said.
'He was a sane man'
Describing the captain as a happy, generous and kind man, Mr Khan also sheds light on Captain Shah's movements on the day before piloting MH370.
According to Mr Khan, his brother-in-law spent the day at home doing DIY work around the house.
"He's a DIY person. He likes to repair a lot of things by himself at home," he said.
"On that day, my sister told me he was repairing the door for the bathroom if I'm not mistaken."
Four Corners understands police in Malaysia have interviewed Captain Shah's wife and their maid, three or four times each.
Police questioned both women about his movements before piloting MH370.
"[The police] asked normal questions," Mr Khan said.
"How's your husband? Is he depressed? Or is he having problems with anything or if they have any [marriage] problems. All sorts of questions, [including about] his mental state.
"But he was a sane man. I don't think he was a crazy man."
'Aviation geek' captain was passionate about flying
Mr Khan told Four Corners that Captain Shah - a practicing Muslim, family man and an avid cook - was passionate about flying, describing him as an "aviation geek".
"He's crazy about his job," he said.
"He even had those little remote control (RC) planes, the helicopter and the plane. I kept asking him, 'You have been flying every day and yet during your off day you still fly this RC? Are you crazy or what?' And then he would just laugh."
Mr Khan says his sister Faizah has been hounded by the media since the disappearance of flight MH370 and is not coping well.
"I can see that. I was there for a week, I'm looking at her, I'm seeing that she's breaking, totally breaking," he said.
Mr Khan also raises questions about what Malaysian authorities, particularly the military, were doing during the hours MH370 deviated off course.
"When I heard about this plane going missing I said, 'What happened to our Air Force? Are they sleeping or are they working?'," he said.
"Because as we know, even if you [turn] off the transponder, the primary radar still can detect the plane.
"I may be stupid but the primary radar will detect the flight object and MH370's flying so I became dumbfounded.
"I said, 'Look, if this is how they say they are defending our country, man, I'm worried.'" - Agencies
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