Missing Malaysian jet pilot, co-pilot not ask to fly together

Police have visited pilot and co-pilot homes, and neither of them has asked to fly together on flight MH370, a Malaysian official said here Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference, Malaysian Transport and Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that police have visited the homes of both of the plane's pilots and spoke to the captain's family members and experts are examining his flight simulator.

"According to Malaysia Airlines, the pilot and the co-pilot did not ask to fly together on fight MH370," Hussein said.

He didn't mention whether it was the first time the police had done so since the passenger jet with 239 people on board vanished eu route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing more than a week ago.

Reports say that Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old captain of the flight, has more than 18,000 hours of flying experiences and is keen on cooking and had great enthusiasm for flying. While family and friends of Fariq Ab Hamid, the 27-year-old co-pilot, said that the man was religious and serious about his career.

The search of homes came after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the disappearance of the airliner deliberate, but stopped short of terming it as being hijacked.

Citing Malaysian air force radar data, the prime minister revealed that the missing flight did indeed turn back, then flew westward back over Peninsula Malaysia before turning northwest.

"These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane," he said.

The last confirmed signal between the plane and a satellite came at 8:11 a.m. Malaysian time on March 8, about seven hours and 31 minutes after takeoff.

As Malaysian officials uncovered new data on the possible flight path of MH370 that point to two new corridors and search operation keeps on demanding immense resources, Malaysian government has asked assistance of as many as 25 countries.

It also requested the United States, China and France to share more satellite images along with many other countries.

A week-long multinational hunt for the missing passenger jet, carried out mainly in the South China Sea, has been futile.