Police investigate deleted files - Flight 370

KUALA LUMPUR (AP):

Investigators are trying to restore files deleted last month from the home flight simulator of the pilot aboard the missing Malaysian plane, to see if they shed any light on the disappearance, Malaysia's defence minister said yesterday.

Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference that the pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, is considered innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing, and that members of his family are cooperating in the investigation. Files containing records of simulations carried out on the programme were deleted February 3, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said.

not unusual

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.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people aboard disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanations, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next.