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The FBI is aiding the Malaysian government's search for a Malaysia Airlines jet missing
for more than a week. The US investigators are believed to be helping
the Malaysians examine a home flight simulator belonging to one of the pilots of flight MH370
for clues. The pilot is said to have deleted some files
from the computer simulator. Teams from 26 countries are trying to find
flight MH370, which went missing on 8 March with 239 people on board.
The flight was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
US-Malaysia co-operation The FBI, through its legal office in Kuala
Lumpur, "continues to engage with appropriate Malaysian authorities and provide support
where necessary to the Malaysian government in their investigation of the missing aircraft",
according to a statement issued on Wednesday. The agency would not comment on the specifics
of its investigation, nor what had been communicated to its investigators by Malaysian authorities.
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama said "we have put every resource that we have available
at the disposal of the search process". Speaking to a Fox News affiliate, the US leader
said there had been "close cooperation" with the Malaysian government, and "anybody who
typically deals with anything related to our aviation system is available".
Earlier, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Malaysia was also speaking to US aviation
and transport accident investigation agencies. "We are finding that the level of co-operation
with the Malaysian government is solid, and we are working closely with the Malaysians
as well as our other international partners in this effort to find out what happened to
the plane and why it happened," he said. A US law enforcement official told the Reuters
news agency the Malaysian officials gave the FBI access to data generated by both pilots
including from a hard drive attached to the captain's flight simulator and electronic
media used by a co-pilot. No necessarily suspicious
But the official stressed there was no guarantee the FBI analysis would yield further clues.
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said some data was deleted on 3 February from the simulator
found at Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's home and that investigators were trying to recover
the deleted files. The acting transport minister, Hishammuddin
Hussein, stressed the captain should be considered innocent until proven guilty and that members
of his family were co-operating with the investigation. Deleting files would not necessarily be suspicious,
particularly if it were done to free up memory space.
The Malaysian authorities have said the evidence so far suggests the Boeing-777 was deliberately
turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca with its communications systems
disabled. They are unsure what happened next. Investigators have identified two giant arcs
of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about seven hours after take-off.
This is based on its last faint signal to a satellite - an hourly "handshake'' broadcast
even when communications are switched off. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in
central Asia and deep into the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia.
Investigators are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues
related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board.
Earlier on Wednesday, frustration with the lack of progress boiled over into chaotic
scenes as Chinese relatives were dragged away from journalists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's
capital. They were attempting to speak to Chinese journalists
outside the daily press conference. A BBC reporter was pushed away from the relatives,
who were carrying banners criticising the handling of the case.
One of the relatives, a middle-aged woman, cried: "They give different messages every
day! Where's the flight now? Find our relatives! Find the aircraft!"
The Malaysian government said later it regretted the scenes and ordered an investigation, saying
"one can only imagine the anguish they are going through".