FBI authorities in Quantico will be attempting to retrieve deleted files from the flight simulator that belonged to the pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, once it arrives at their Virginia laboratory, according to a report by Fox News.
Files containing records of simulations carried out on Shah’s machine were deleted Feb. 3, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said. The Telegraph, citing Malaysian police, reported that Shah played the popular games Flight Simulator X, Flight Simulator 9 and X-Plane 10.
FBI agents in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysian officials have asked for the assistance. It’s not known when the simulator will reach Virginia.
It’s not unusual for old files to be deleted from flight simulators, so authorities are uncertain if they’ll find anything useful in their investigation of the missing plane. Any data recovered is expected to be sent back to Malaysia for review by authorities there.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people on board while 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.
Authorities have been searching for possible debris based upon reported sightings; however, they have yet to find anything related to the plane’s disappearance. For now, the search is on hold.
An international air search in the Indian Ocean for possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has ended for the day, officials have said.
Australia, New Zealand and the US said bad weather had hampered their efforts in the area 2,500km (1,550 miles) south-west of Perth.