done this without the other one realizing it? absolutely. during the preflight preparation on the ground, typically you ll have a pilot walk around the outside of the plane to do the preflight to make sure the plane is sound. a lot of the time, the other pilot will be in the cockpit doing cockpit duties to include building the flight management flight plan, so you ll have a guy by himself putting in the route. he could build a primary flight plan from kuala lumpur to beijing. without the knowledge of the other pilot that was checking out the plane. correct. we ve also learned more about the pilots. each day, the mystery surrounding the pilot deepens. we now know he has two homes. why would a well off pilot hijack his own plane, friends ask? bright, intelligent, inquisitive. and a family man.