Published on 05:27 PM, June 22, 2014

MH370 pilot 'prime suspect': report

MH370 pilot 'prime suspect': report

Zaharie Ahmad Shah
Zaharie Ahmad Shah

The official Malaysian police investigation of the disappearance of the airliner MH370 has identified the captain as the prime suspect after checks cleared all the other people on board, reports The Sunday Times.

The criminal inquiry does not rule out the possibility the plane was lost due to mechanical failure or terrorism, but the police view is that if it was the result of human action, the captain was the most likely perpetrator.

Malaysia’s special branch focused the inquiry on Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, after intelligence checks failed to substantiate any suspicions about the other people on board the jet, which was lost on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew.

Its disappearance on March 8 is one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.