Probe into mystery call to captain MH370: Unknown woman used a fake ID when buying phone to bypass security checks

Probe into mystery call to captain of doomed jet: Unknown woman used a fake ID when buying phone to bypass security checks


Call was made to Captain Shah just hours before he took off in MH370
Pay-as-you-go phone which made the call was bought with fake ID
Fake ID was used to get around security measures put in place after 9/11
Increases fears Captain Shah may have links to terrorism
Investigators will soon question the captain's estranged wife in detail



The captain of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 received a two-minute call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile phone number obtained under a false identity.

It was one of the last calls made to or from the mobile of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah in the hours before his Boeing 777 left Kuala Lumpur 16 days ago.

Investigators are treating it as potentially significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their identity card or passport number.

Introduced as an anti-terrorism measure following 9/11, this ensures that every number is registered to a traceable person.

But in this case police traced the number to a shop selling SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur. They found that it had been bought ‘very recently’ by someone who gave a woman’s name – but was using a false identity.

The discovery raises fears of a possible link between Captain Zaharie, 53, and terror groups whose members routinely use untraceable SIM cards. Everyone else who spoke to the pilot on his phone in the hours before the flight took off has already been interviewed.

In a separate development, The Mail on Sunday has learned that investigators are now poised to question Captain Shah’s estranged wife in detail.

They have waited two weeks out of respect, but will now begin formally interviewing Faizah Khan following pressure from FBI agents assisting the inquiry.

Although the couple – who have three children – were separated, they had been living under the same roof. A source said: ‘Faizah has been spoken to gently by officers but she has not been questioned in detail to establish her husband’s behaviour and state of mind in the days leading to the incident.

DESERT ISLAND PLANE CRASH COMPUTER GAME IS SHELVED

The latest release of a war-themed computer game – centred on a passenger plane that crashes on to a desert island in the South China Sea – has been delayed as the search for missing flight MH370 continues. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike, an update for the Battlefield 4 game which has sold millions of copies worldwide, was due for release last week – but has now been put back until Tuesday.

.‘This is partly for cultural reasons. It is not considered appropriate in Malaysia to subject people in situations of terrible bereavement to the stress of intensive questioning.’

The softly-softly approach has been challenged by the team of FBI agents working with Malaysian police.