MH370 report clears my brother of blame, says pilot’s sister

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's sister, Sakinab Ahmad Shah, says her brother has been vindicated and disputes allegations that he may have been suicidal.

A family member reads the safety investigation report on MH370, released in Putrajaya yesterday. (Reuters pic)

PUTRAJAYA: It was a relief for Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s family when the safety investigation report on MH370 released yesterday showed “nothing negative” about the pilot flying the plane.

His sister Sakinab Ahmad Shah said she was happy that her brother was cleared of blame.

“I’m so happy that he is cleared but at the end of the day, we want the plane or wreckage to be found,” she told the media after attending a briefing by the Malaysian International Civil Aviation Organization safety investigation team for MH370 here.

She said the report proved there was nothing negative about her brother’s character, the nature of his work, his professional record or family conditions before the disappearance of the passenger jet four years ago.

“All the suicidal allegations and others, we rebut completely,” she added.

MH370, piloted by Zaharie, disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

There were 12 crew members and 227 passengers on board the 777-200ER aircraft. The bulk of the passengers were Chinese citizens.

Grace Nathan, whose mother Anne Daisy had been one of the passengers on MH370, urged the authorities to continue the search for the aircraft.

She said the government should consider any offers by companies who were willing to conduct the search on a “no cure, no fee” basis.

“Our ultimate goal is that the search for MH370 continues to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

“We must remember that millions of people are flying every day. Safety is not something to be taken lightly,” she said.

Meanwhile, a relative of a crew member on board MH370 who only wanted to be identified as Fong said he was unsatisfied, disappointed and annoyed by the briefing as it only told the next-of-kin something “they already knew”.

“The team is unable to determine the real cause for the disappearance of MH370. What we want to know is whether the government will continue the search. We were informed that we need to wait for a decision from the (transport) ministry,” he said.

Meanwhile, Intan Maizura Othaman, whose husband Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan was a steward on MH370, said she was “surprised, mad and shocked” as the team had failed to answer questions posed by family members during the briefing.

“It is so frustrating as nobody during the briefing could answer our questions. We hope someone will come to us and tell us what happened to MH370,” she said. -FMT