More secret MH370 documents released

Mick Rooney, aka @Airinvestigate, has released further documents from the secret Royal Malaysian Police investigation into the disappearance of MH370. I asked him if he could tell me anything about how the documents were sourced or why they are being released now, but he says that he is bound by an oath of confidentiality not to discuss further.

Those familiar with recent events surrounding the case might be able to hazard a guess.

Here are the files:

data-from-flight-simulator-computer

This 14-page document includes technical information about the data found on Zaharie’s flight simulator hard drives. It appears that the machine crashed multiple times in the months before MH370’s disappearance. The document also includes a log of when the flight sim was played, the last time being on March 15, 2014, a week after the plane disappeared (presumably this reflects activity by investigators.) Prior to that, the sim had last been played on February 20, two weeks before the disappearance. This suggests that Zaharie was not using his flight simulator to practice vanishing in the weeks before his disappearance.

data-from-prelim-exam-report-translated-from-malay

This 7-page document seems to have been machine-translated from Malay, and appears to describe a preliminary investigation of the computer hard drives by a Malaysian police technician. It lists the various hard drives found with the flight-sim computer. Among the information recovered were passwords and account information for Zaharie’s hobbies and interests, as well as information about an online bookstore, Zaharie’s various social media accounts, and online shopping. Of particular note, investigators found a deleted folder labeled “777TwinTower” which contains pictures of a Malaysia Airlines plane flying toward the Kuala Lumpur city center. Given widely held suspicion that Zaharie took MH370 on a suicide flight, and that fact that terrorists flew two planes into New York’s twin towers in 2001, this will no doubt raise eyebrows. However, this document notes that: “These images have been taken from the computer screen to play a simulated airplane. The assessment believed that the owners of these computers have taken one of those images for the purpose of being used as an icon on the account.” That is to say, an innocent interpretation of this folder and its contents would be that Zaharie, a proud Malaysian 777 pilot, wanted to create an image of his plane flying past an iconic Malaysian landmark.

After a section discussing the seven deleted points from the flight simulator, which have been much discussed in this forum, the report concludes with a brief Summary: “The results of the examination of the goods were found that no any activity outside the common. The overall computer use to host gaming Flight Simulator only. Nor has any information source which directly indicates there any plans to eliminate MH370 found.”

sim-data

This 31-page document appears to contain all of the saved data in the seven above-mentioned flight simulator points. Hopefully independent flight simulator experts will look it over and render an opinion for the rest of us who lack the expertise to properly grapple with it.

Overview

How does this new information alter our understanding of the MH370 mystery?

For me, it is noteworthy that so little incriminating information was found on any of Zaharie’s computers, even (especially) among the deleted files. The way we use computers these days, they are essentially extensions of our brains. Any passing fancy that drifts through our head is likely to be reflected in our internet search history, in notes we write to ourselves, and so on. When Andreas Lübitz was in the throes of his final mental dissolution, he spent a great deal of time online reading about mental disorders and researching ways to commit suicide. It’s all right there to be seen. Yet on Zaharie’s computer there is nothing. Indeed, he seems to have been spending his time prior to the disappearance doing things like making instructional DIY home-repair videos and pretending to fly an antique DC-3 airplane. Not, it would seem, the behavior of someone contemplating his imminent extinction.

In the light of this newly released information, it is easier to understand why the Malaysian police came to the conclusion that nothing about Zaharie’s behavior points to him  being the culprit.

384 thoughts on “More secret MH370 documents released”

  1. @CliffG

    So where is your theory of the MH370 crime? What are you suggesting as an alternative?

    My advice is to move out of your parent’s house, and to start thinking about this issue.

  2. @CliffG

    Have you ever told the forum that you live with your parents?

    @DennisW

    Trouble of dealing with cause & effect.

    I’m waiting to see if also you are a liar.

  3. @trond – he and everyone else being strung along by the liar or liars’ group. Same as those who release select info to their means of delay.

  4. In the latest release of the MYP report,in Folder 6, the last two pages, something has me puzzled. why is the True Heading in the takeoff report at 16:41:58 (at 344 feet) per data frame 18676, -349 degrees True, and in the climb report at 16:52:21 (at 22278 feet) per data frame 19299 (623 frames later) it is 275 degrees True. The time interval is 10 min 23 seconds, which is 623 seconds, so the data frames are obviously every second.

    The question is, had the aircraft already turned west onto 275 whilst on climb, when only 55 Nautical Miles from KL ?

    Is it “false data”, and if so, why, or how ?

    If true data, is the whole “IGARI Story” false ?

  5. @DennisW @Jeff Wise @buyerninety

    You say: “I was afraid of that. I don’t think that info can be relied upon based on the source.”

    This could well be true but do you know for sure the source is not thrustworthy?

    Abdul Karim Fakir Ali is realy a Maxis Head of Network and before that he was a CTO at Digi:

    https://nl.linkedin.com/in/abdul-karim-fakir-ali-6a86b11b

    The two locations named in that post are exsisting and possible locations.

    @buyerninety’s question to Jeff Wise ( and mine) if he can/wants to check this out (being a journalist) could give clearness about this issue and possibly important information. Ignoring or rejecting it as untrustworthy on forehand won’t give anwsers at all.

    So I repeat the question to Jeff Wise.

  6. @TBill:

    As to “authors [who] tend to bash others”, who is the champion basher around here?

  7. @Ventus45. Looks like a wrong descriptor to me. It is not something one would expect in an engine report, is out of place vis a vis adjacent data and has no units attributed. Besides -349 makes no sense. The THDGs listed at p46 look right.

    Hence the figures under THDG and/or its description in the engine entries are a measure of something else IMO, presumably to do with throttle.

  8. @Ventus. My reference is FI Appendix 1.6B for engine and other ACARS data. I do not know of Folder 6.

  9. @Ventus, @David

    In the EHM report the THDG is given in units of one-tenth of a degree, compare to ACARS position report.

  10. @Ge Rijn

    I would be very wary about other, as yet unsubstantiated, mobile contacts. If there had been any, the RMP would have referred to them in their “secret” report, and Victor would have undoubtedly leaked it to Jeff, Victor being the honest broker that he is.

    If a mobile is switched to flight mode, doesn’t that mean it wouldn’t log on to a network? That’s how I understand it. The passengers’ phones would have been in flight mode, or switched off, IMO.

  11. @ROB

    What VictorI ‘leakes’ to Jeff seems to be selective as Jeff states himself.
    What is in the RMP-report we don’t know for 99%.
    Regarding there seems to be a lot of ‘smoke and mirrors’ in this investigation IMO it’s not a bad idea to check possible important information yourself if you have the means and opportunity. That’s why I (and I suppose @buyerninety) asked Jeff (being a well known and respected journalist).

    Could be all phones were in flight mode or switched off.
    But then at least Faric’s phone was switched on again.
    Which leaves IMO the quite credible possibility other crew members and/or passengers also switch on their phones again trying to make contact.

  12. @All

    Very interesting news (to me at any rate) in the ATSB weekly report: a category 2 contact has turned out to be a shipwreck, not a geological feature. Could be there is another category 2 contact somewhere in the current search zone, awaiting a closer look – the wreck of MH370.

  13. @ DennisW
    I don’t have a specific theory as to what happened on MH370.
    But I DON’T BUY the following theories:
    – Shah did it
    – the Russians spoofed the BFO
    – mechanical failure

    I used to believe in the ‘controlled ditching’ theory, but now I’m leaning towards the ‘loiter’ over Andamans.

    I also used to believe the perps were the Russian military intelligence. But now I’m thinking it could have been ethnic Russians working privately (non-state) for the contractors of the Sochi Olympics.

    BTW this is all speculation but I wouldn’t hang out at this forum if not for the fact that Jeff Wise shares many of the same ideas.

  14. @CliffG

    Thanks. Honest answer.

    Being an atheist myself, I do not consider it necessary to have an alternative in order to reject hypotheses.

  15. @Ge Rijn, ROB
    I’m also skeptical about the ‘other mobiles’ report, but more because
    it misspelt Abdul Karim Fakir Ali’s name, and as Ge Rijn implied, I don’t
    believe that person was ever CTO at Maxis, but had a different title.
    If Jeff wants to chase it up, I have two possible email addresses for that
    person. (Actually, there is another manager that I would contact, instead/
    additionally).

    (I actually emailed Celcom more than a week back to get comfirmation about
    another minor matter , annnnnd… yep, still got no reply
    – …when you go to contact a company, and the first words on their
    contact page are “Are you a Journalist?“, you get a sinking feeling & don’t
    have high hopes for a reply…)
    _______________

    @Ventus45
    We know from FI:
    page 1; “Flight MH370″…”departed from Runway 32R”
    and, APPENDIX 1.18C page 10 of 14;
    1640:40 UTC”…”MAS 370 Three Two Right clear for take-off Malaysian
    Three Seven Zero thank you bye.”
    Presumably within seconds thereafter occured the takeoff roll.

    Refering to eAIP documentation for runway 32R, and applicable SIDs;
    http://aip.dca.gov.my/aip/AIP2016/graphics/18740.pdf
    http://aip.dca.gov.my/aip/AIP2016/graphics/19202.pdf

    (and taking as an approximate position the Lat/Longs that are listed
    next to the THDG’s you quoted in the FI),

    I would guess that the -349 readout would be occuring either
    on that part of (I presume, magnetic) track 341 before
    the MCA 2500 graphic marking (so could 349 be the resulting true
    heading if wind were acting on the aircraft?), or
    along that part of the curve after the MCA 2500 marking.
    (Note- I suggest that an alternate theory to the minus sign being
    a mistake, is that perhaps the minus sign is meant to indicate that
    the readout is trending in a particular direction, e.g. may indicate
    aircraft is turning right).

    I theorize the 275 readout may be a typo – the Lat/Long location
    suggests MH370 had been flying (almost) parallel to that section
    of the PIBOS 1C track that is shown as being 27°, but offset to
    the left of that track and also (by this time) somewhere north
    of PIBOS.
    Therefore, I am theorizing the actual readout may have been 27.5° ,
    which is in accord with what we would expect the actual heading
    to be at that location at that time, i.e. a bit more than 27°.

  16. EDIT to my above post;
    …”trending in a particular direction, e.g. may indicate
    aircraft is turning left or right, from whatever the
    immediately previous readout number was.”

  17. The willingness to freely accept Captain Shah becoming a mass murderer by planning and executing a flawless mass execution without having shown outward signs of erratic, irregular, emotional behavior is something I cannot get past.

    The, you never know what people are capable of, makes me nuts, because yes, you pretty well do. I have always been extremely intuitive yet I have been blindsided a few times. If I were to equate it on a percentage basis the percentage would be insanely low, a few to the thousands of people I have interacted with in life. The serial killer “that was just an ordinary everyday person” is more a reflection of desire or ability to evaluate someone, rather than the average joe going commando.

    This guy was about as consistent as they come; no shady financials, no history of gambling, hanging out in bars or strip clubs. No illegal or prescription abuse drugs, no psychiatric history, 30+ years on the job. He had plans of retiring close to one of his children, he was a DIY YouTube nerd, he didn’t have a padded secret life insurance policy….he was a father, a grandfather, a brother, an uncle, a friend, whose earned reputation should dictate major consideration from the, oh he did it alright camp. My beef is not whether he is guilty or not, it is in the manner which you discard his life without 100% surety. Take a hard look and put yourself against his profile prior to this.

    Yet this constant conviction of his guilt comes with no acknowledgement that this would be the rarest of the rare. Not pilot suicide by crash, not mass murder, not a political execution, rather an action on a much grander scale, incorporating an idea, a plan and an execution which could rival 9/11 for it’s completion. No, the Shah did it folks with their sarcastic bravo, poke fun at the minions who are simply unable to see the logic.

    Then we have Najib, swimming in a cesspool of crossover fraud and corruption from MBD1 to Malaysian Airlines that was beginning to reek of desperation. Getting that boxed in normally provokes serious thought of exit strategies. Golly though, that’s not specific motive, he wasn’t in the cockpit, he didn’t save old newspaper headlines secretly coded for home project videos, he didn’t play flight sim games on his computer..

    I haven’t a clue or even a basic understanding of the charades or the cheap thrills by manipulation some must get from this fiasco. I do have a clear understanding that this plane was intentionally flown in the manner it was, either for good or bad. I realize that it is pretty darn feasible that this is being orchestrated and we often look like idiotic dogs chasing our tails, round and round and round we go.

    Sarcasm is shamefully fun at times but rarely beneficial, and a level playing field is always more productive.
    Happy Thanksgiving

  18. @RetF4
    Is this statement from Mike Chillit generally agreed to?
    “if the time interval and flight path obtained by RMAF radar as the plane flew back across the Malay Peninsula and NW into the Andaman Sea are correct, its total distance during the hours that remained are about half of the official estimate. The plane flew somewhere between 300 and 350 kph according to RMAF; much less than that required to fly all the way to Broken Ridge and beyond.”
    I do not recall that point being made previously. Seems hard to believe all of the experts were wrong about that. I believe the flight duration was a little longer than the early ACARS fuel report data estimate before ACARS was lost.

  19. @Ventus45
    Re-checking the line to IGARI, I note that my statement that we
    “expect the actual heading to be at that location at that time,
    i.e. a bit more than 27°”, is not correct if we purely are
    figuring it out on the basis of the (direction) angle to IGARI
    – instead, I now see the (magnetic) angle to be 27°, or tending
    to be less, so 26° .

    The theory that the readout may actually have been 27.5° is still
    applicable, however, if we remember that 27.5 is a ‘True Heading’,
    not magnetic, so if wind were affecting the aircraft, 27.5° is
    still within the bounds of reason.
    Cheers

  20. @TBill

    “if the time interval and flight path obtained by RMAF radar as the plane flew back across the Malay Peninsula and NW into the Andaman Sea are correct, its total distance during the hours that remained are about half of the official estimate. The plane flew somewhere between 300 and 350 kph according to RMAF; much less than that required to fly all the way to Broken Ridge and beyond.”

    Not sure where this assertion is coming from. I have the plane at a ground speed of ~500knots between the time of the cell phone registration and the last radar contact at 18:22.

    I wish Chillit had shown the location of the FMT on his graphics. It appears to me that it is far to the West of anything published to date.

    His terminus seems to be in good agreement with a path I hung together in response to Jeff using the idea of the Cocos being an overflown waypoint. Also compatible with the Iannello and Godrey paper using McMurdo as a waypoint.

    Chillit’s drifter data is GREAT to know if it is correct.

    http://tmex1.blogspot.com/2016/11/path-to-cocos.html

  21. @Susie Crowe

    It’s not simply a case of being willing to accept Shah as a mass murderer.

    It’s more a case of simply assessing the available factual evidence. This evidence points to Shah as the perpetrator of a preplanned act of mass murder. I also have a well developed intuition. My intuition tells me that Shah is the guilty party.

  22. @Susie C, I so agree with you on Najib. A guy you wanna puke all over. This mouse will have a very long tail, just watch!!! If only we could see his hard drive.

  23. @SusieC
    Happy Thanksgiving!
    Good words are in the forward section of the Factual Information…it states that the spirit of the investigation is not to access blame, but to try to find the cause(s) of this accident. I hope that is also the spirit of our discussions.

  24. Had a quick read.
    One thing that I did not know and suprised me is that I understand Faric was doing the radio talks while still on the ground and taxiing and Zaharie was doing the radio talks while in the air till end of radio contact.

    Suggesting to me Zaharie did the taxiing and Faric did the flying, at least till end of radio contact.

    Confusing.
    Maybe I misunderstood something and have to read it again one more time..

  25. @TBill
    “Is this statement from Mike Chillit generally agreed to?”
    “if the time interval and flight path obtained by RMAF radar as the plane flew back across the Malay Peninsula and NW into the Andaman Sea are correct, its total distance during the hours that remained are about half of the official estimate. The plane flew somewhere between 300 and 350 kph according to RMAF; much less than that required to fly all the way to Broken Ridge and beyond.”

    I do not know, asit is not the area of my expeertise. I hoped to find an answers from the experts here.
    Maybe he meant something else. If MH370 flew like the radar track with the speeds above 500kts and the altitude variations further to the northwest than the initially assumed FMT, then it used considerable more fuel. To achieve the required endurance in order to meet the ISAT data it would have to fly slower for the rest of the flight. That would move the crash point further north from the search area, where Mike sees it.

    But that is just pure personal unfounded speculation.

  26. @ all,

    Mike Chillit’s analysis always needs to be taken with a grain [or two] of salt. He is a long way behind the rest of the crowd with his BTO analysis, and seems to think that Inmarsat is hiding some bias values for when the aircraft was at altitude. That alone clearly shows that he still doesn’t understand the BTO issues.

    He created some very strange triangulation calculations a little time back that were essentially meaningless. This time it is unclear if he has taken into account the 3F1 orbital parameters, nor whether the earth is actually an oblate spheroid, and hence a simple radius from a nominal sub-satellite position will not do.

    However, he has convinced himself [and maybe a few of his followers] that the 7th arc is either meaningless, or positioned 170km out of place. Of course, that means that Inmarsat is wrong, and that all the other BTO analysts are wrong, but that he, after 2 1/2 years, is right.

    His data collection work on some of the drift analysis may be helpful, but the rest is mostly garbage.

  27. @DennisW

    “Shah was very fond of that aircraft for some reason. He even built a scale model, and posted pictures of it on Facebook.

    Damn! That’s crazy! Another thing that seems to stack up against Z (for those who gravitate towards that camp).

    @TBill

    “Recently on Reddit fyi Shah YouTube post PBY Catalina:”
    https://youtu.be/e8hLjlvTMkY

    I remember the ghost plane vid being mentioned couple weeks ago, but the account named ‘Ahmed Shah’ is a different one to ‘Zaharie Shah.’ Did Z have more than one YouTube account?

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