Malaysian Airlines pilot deleted data from his home flight simulator just before taking control of missing plane

The FBI has been called in to help analyse the home flight simulator belonging to the pilot of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. A US official, speaking anonymously, says the FBI is currently working on data from the simulator while Malaysia’s defense minister says investigators are trying to restore files.

It is thought the files were deleted last month by pilot Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Files containing records of simulations carried out on the program were deleted February 3.

Malaysia’s defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing, and that members of his family are cooperating in the investigation.

Deleting files would not necessarily represent anything unusual, especially if it were to free up memory space, but investigators would want to check the files for any signs of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went.