MH370 Crew/Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah

MH370 DECODED
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Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah
Source: ATWMY-019-2

Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah

Captain (Pilot-in-Command)

Zaharie Bin Ahmad Shah joined Malaysia Airlines as a Cadet Pilot in 1981.

Zaharie had 33 years flying experience on various aircraft: Fokker F27 and F50, Airbus A300 and A330, and Boeing 737 and 777. In total he had 18423 hours experience of which 8659 hours were on the Boeing 777.

Captain Shah's good record and seniority led to his appointment as a Type Rating Instructor (TRI) and Type Rating Examiner (TRE) on the Boeing 777. On flight MH370 Captain Shah was conducting the last phase of the Co-pilot’s training as a Boeing 777 First Officer, in the capacity of a TRE.

Zaharie Shah was married with three children.

Profile

1) Personal Profile of Pilot-in-Command

Sex Male
Age 53 years
Marital Status Married with 3 children
Date of joining MAS 15 June 1981
Licence country of issues Malaysia
Licence type Air Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL)
Licence number A751
Validity Period of Licence 14 May 2014
Ratings Boeing B777
Medical Certificate First Class (valid until 30 June 2014)
Aeronautical experience 18423:40 hours
Experience on type 8659:40 hours
Last 24 hours 0:00:00 hours
Last 72 hours 07:00:00 hours
Last 07 days 20:39:00 hours
Last 28 days 91:04:00 hours
Last 90 days 303:09:00 hours
Last line check 08 April 2013
Instrument rating check 15 November 2013
Last proficiency 15 November 2013
Last promotion B777 Captain (22 September 1998)

Source: Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 1.5.3 Pilot-in-Command

Notes

The following notes are based on Section 1.5.3 Pilot-in-Command from the Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018.

Zaharie Shah was born in the Island of Penang. He completed his Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) - the equivalent of the United Kingdom Ordinary (UK ‘O’) Level - at the Penang Free School, where he sat for his MCE Examination in 1978. In 1981 he was accepted as a Cadet Pilot with MAS under the sponsorship of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), a People’s Trust Council of the Malaysian Government.

Zaharie was sent to Manila in the Philippines to be provided ab-initio pilot training and graduated 2 years later with a Commercial Pilot Licence & Instrument Rating (CPL & IR). He joined Malaysia Airlines as a Second Officer in 1983 and was posted on the Fokker F27 where he obtained his initial airline flying experience. He was then posted to the Boeing 737-200 in 1985, thereafter the Airbus A300B4, and stayed on as First Officer (FO) until March 1990. In July 1990 he was promoted to Captain and took his first command on the Fokker F50 aircraft.

By the end of 1991 he was promoted to Captain on the Boeing 737-400 until December 1996. His next promotion was to the Airbus A330-300 and stayed on the fleet until September 1998 when he was promoted to the Boeing 777-200-ER fleet until the day of the event [Flight MH370]. By virtue of his good track record and seniority he was made a Type Rating Instructor (TRI) and Type Rating Examiner (TRE) on this present fleet effective November 2007.

Captain Shah's flying record for the last 72 hours and preceding 28 days’ cycle were well within the Company’s specified limits. His last flight as an operating Pilot-in-Command was to Denpasar, Bali, in the Republic of Indonesia on 03 March 2014. This was a daily return flight with a sector time of approximately 3 hours. On the day of the event, he was conducting training for the First Officer, Fariq Bin Ab Hamid, who was functionally checked out.