in ma maisha. i ve just spoken to a politician from that party. he told me that, yes, he knows captain zaharie used to attend their meetings and social events. he wasn t terribly vocal. i said to him, was he an extremist? he said absolutely not. it would be absurd to say that or to believe that. he was just a member of the community who wanted to be a part of our party, which is a party for change within a democratic system. christine? all right, saima mohsin, thank you. many of the people who had family members on board that plane are still holding out hope that this was something other than a terrible accident, and perhaps, their loved ones may still be alive. still, they re not one bit happy at the slow pace of the search and lack of information that is coming in. pauline chiou is live in beijing with that part of the story. good morning, pauline. reporter: good morning to you, john. yeah, there s still this steady
a friend he met through social activism, working in the community, for example that he was simply a man enthusiastic about flying, that liked to take it home, set himself challenges. and of course, as jim says, if that course was reset trying to save the plane, should it have been catastrophic failure, it would lend itself. here is a man who would have practiced these scenarios and sadly, then, he would have faced that in real life. let me tell you about the pilot, captain zaharie. a lot of questions being raised about his political affiliations. was he a thripolitical activist? we ve been going through the checklist, trying to tick off what we know about that. i ve spoken to a member of the people s justice party, a party that he was affiliated with. his friends told me he was a silent member of that party. earlier today i spoke to a politician who says, look, yes, he was a member of the party. he would come to our events, our
structures like the white house, the eiffel tower? big questions. again, no answers this morning. as for the men at the control of that plane, the pilot, the co-pilot, they are still part of the focus of this investigation. 53-year-old pilot, a 27-year-old 1st officer are being closely looked at to see if there is any reason, any reason at all they might have decided to do something to take this plane off course, some intentional action. our saima mohsin is live in kuala lumpur. she has been following the investigation into these pilots. what do we know this morning, saima? reporter: well, so far, john, i ve been speaking to members of the political party, the people s justice party, that captain zaharie was, i m told by a friend of his, a silent member of. i ve just spoken to a politician from that party who says, look, he was a member of the party, yes. he came to our events. he was socially active, too.
rallies sometimes i spotted him there, mostly social events, but he was an activist in the sense that he was a citizen of malaysia, of kuala lumpur, who wanted to contribute, who wanted to make a change, and my party represents change in malaysia within a democratic system. there is simply nothing sinister about captain zaharie, what this politician told me. he also said, when i asked him straight up, is he an extremist, did he hold extreme political views, he said no, not at all. please don t go down there. this is not what our party stands for. we are not extremists, and he certainly wasn t. and of course, his friend also told me that, you know, this was a guy who was a family man, committed to his career, committed to his family. he had three children, a grandchild, a doting father and grandfather. and also, in his community work, by the way, he used to work with underprivileged children in kuala lumpur, taking them out, taking them on day trips, and i saw a photograph of him settin
that keeps the spotlight on the co pilot in this story. and kyung lah has a closer look at this pilot. reporter: the investigation continues to zero in on the two men in the cockpit. and particularly the most skilled pilot, the captain, zaharie ahmed shah. so passionate about flying that he is what s known as a home-simmer. he built his own flight simulator, as seen in this youtube video. and he talked about it online, writing on a flight simulator chat site, looking for buddies to share this passion. curiously, captain zaharie also posted a series of do it yourself videos, like how to repair an ice maker. malaysian investigators are now combing through every part of the pilot s home and his life. this youtube video shows him as a loving father of three. he was also active in malaysia s volatile politics. captain zaharie was a public