The co-pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, Fariq Abdul Hamid (pic), underwent the required test and is fully capable of co-piloting the Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft.
MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, when giving his assurance on Fariq's ability to handle the plane, said the co-pilot had passed the test the first time he took it.
Ahmad Jauhari added that Fariq, 27, who joined MAS in 2007 and has clocked about 2,800 hours of experience, was also “flying with an examiner (the pilot), and not anybody less” on the MH370 flight which went missing on March 8.
"MAS is very strict with its training. This (MH370) is his (Fariq) sixth flight which does not require the co-pilot checklist," he told the daily media briefing on the search and rescue operation for the missing plane at the Putra World Trade Centre today.
Also present at the briefing were acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the Department of Civil Aviation's director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
On the cargo manifest, Ahmad Jauhari stressed again that the MH370 did not carry any hazardous items and all packaging and procedure complied with the International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.
"There are fruit in boxes (mangosteen from previous briefing), 200kg of lithium batteries which are considered as non-hazardous, normal luggage and also electronic devices... radios manufactured here to take to China," he said.
Meanwhile Azharuddin said no distress signals from the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter have been detected by vessels or aircraft involved in the search and rescue (SAR) operation, which entered its 17th day today.
MAS Flight MH370 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing about an hour after taking off from the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8.
Although the multi-national search for the aircraft has yet to bring about concrete findings, the SAR operation has entered a new phase, in the northern and southern corridors.
Australia and Indonesia are now leading the search in their respective regions in the southern corridor. – Bernama, March 24, 2014.
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