School principal defends flight MH370 pilot over allegations

GEORGE TOWN: The principal of Penang Free School (PFS) today came to the defence of the pilot of a lost Malaysian airliner.
Jalil Saad said Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah (pix), pilot of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, should not be held 'solely responsible' for what happened.
Reporters from Cable News Network (CNN) and The Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) came to the school last week during the school holidays to obtain information about Zaharie, said Jalil, who was a school-mate of Zaharie in the 1970s.
"I told them (CNN and AWSJ) that I do not agree with their previous reports, especially CNN, which portrayed a negative image of Zaharie and linked him to terrorists," he told reporters after the Monday morning assembly at the school.
He said Capt Zaharie, two years his junior at school, was an ambitious man and had worked hard to achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.
"I hope all foreign media do not speculate about Zaharie until investigations into the mysterious and unprecedented aviation tragedy are completed," he said.
At the assembly, the teachers and 1,045 students of PFS, the oldest school in Southeast Asia, observed a minute's silence as a mark of respect for the passengers and crew of Flight MH370.
The school also lowered the Malaysian flag to half-mast. – Bernama