Malaysian model ‘questioned’ by police over MH370 pilot’s Facebook obsession with her
A MALAYSIAN model has revealed police questioned her over MH370 pilot Zaharie Shah’s obsession with her ... yet did not consider his behaviour warranted investigation.
EXCLUSIVE
Malaysian model QiMin Lan has revealed police questioned her over MH370 pilot Zaharie Shah’s Facebook obsession with her yet did not consider his behaviour warranted mention in confidential or public reports.
QiMin Lan, more than 30 years younger than the 53-year-old Malaysia Airlines pilot, confirmed to News Corp Australia via email that police had spoken to her after the plane’s disappearance in 2014.
“Yes,” she said. “But police know I dunno him at all.”
The pilot of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 posted more than 90 personal comments to her Facebook site over the year before the plane’s disappearance.
Asked if she thought Malaysian police viewed Zaharie’s posts to her as a problem, QiMin replied: “Hmm.. I think so. Anyhow the pilot no disturb my life because I no reply him at all.”
In 2014, a Royal Malaysian Police report, which was leaked in 2016, showed investigators used “Facebook Stalker” to examine Zaharie’s online activity, which revealed his obsession with QiMin.
But the report did not say what his comments were. It was not until News Corp went back to the model’s site and found his posts from 2013 that the nature of his fixation was revealed.
Likewise, police were aware of Zaharie’s political activism but said there was “no indication” it was germane to the investigation — even though in April, 2013, Zaharie posted 119 comments urging the overthrow of his government.
A posthumous psychological evaluation of Zaharie from 2014, contained within the same police report, gave him a clean mental bill of health.
The Malaysian government’s official “Safety Investigation Report” into MH370, released in July, promised to reveal all it knew but did not mention the pilot’s online activities relating to girls or politics.
Zaharie, a married man and father, sent Facebook messages to QiMin such as: “Hi Cute.” “Cun Cun (Beautiful).” “Come to KL.” “How about KL?” “HI PRINCESS.” “Amazing.” “Gorgeous.”
When QiMin posted a photo of herself in a bathrobe as she prepared for a photo shoot, Zaharie sent a message asking: “Just shower?”
QiMin told News Corp in one email: “Hi, actually I don’t know the pilot at all. He just a social network’s fan of mine. I have many followers in my social network he just one of them.”
UK aviation psychologist Paul Dickens, who assesses the mental health of commercial pilots, told News Corp in a story published on Sunday that Zaharie’s online activities were “obsessive” and “reckless” and should have raised a red flag with Malaysia Airlines.
MH370 disappeared on May 8, 2014, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew aboard.
Originally published as Malaysian model ‘questioned’ by police over MH370 pilot’s Facebook obsession with her