Friend says MH370 pilot 'disciplined and professional'

Peter Chong said he and fellow friends of Captain Zaharie had been discussing the disappearance of the aircraft, but "none of us believe any of the speculations that have been made against Captain Zaharie."
The 53-year-old pilot joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had more than 18,000 hours of flight experience.
Mr Chong described his friend as "disciplined and professional" and said he was sure Captain Zaharie would have reacted in the correct manner to any unauthorised attempts to enter the cockpit of the Boeing 777.
Last week Malaysian police searched Captain Zaharie's home and confiscated a flight-simulator but Mr Chong said there was no reason his friend should be considered a suspect.
"He has never hidden the fact he has a simulator at his house. It's in Facebook, and everybody is proud of it.
"When I've asked him before why he has built the simulator in his home, it's because that is his hobby, he enjoys flying and he wants to share that joy of flying with his friends," he said.
The aircraft disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March. The search area where more than 24 countries are involved in trying to locate the plane now covers 2.24 million square nautical miles
Source: ITN / AP

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