Malaysia confirms Flight 370 course was on pilot's simulator

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia acknowledged for the first time that one of the pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had plotted a course on his home flight simulator to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed.

New York Magazine reported last month that an FBI analysis of the device showed Zaharie had conducted a simulated flight to the southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished along a similar route.

The magazine cited the discovery as strong evidence that the disappearance was a premeditated act of mass murder-suicide at the hands of the captain.

[...] today, this theory is still under investigation.

In Malaysia, Jacquita Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was a crew member, said there were many unanswered questions about the Indian Ocean flight path in the captain's simulator.

Malaysia's national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, has said investigations will not be conclusive until the black boxes — the cockpit voice recorder and a data recorder — are recovered.

"There is no clear reason why the Malaysian government is doing this, but it does seem to be connected with wanting the disaster to have as little impact as possible on the standing of the airline, which is already in deep financial trouble," said Damien Kingsbury, professor of international politics at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.