“The authorities had been looking for a reason to search the home of the pilot and the co-pilot for several days. But it was only in the last 24 to 36 hours, when radar and satellite data came to light, that authorities believed they had sufficient reason to go through the residences,” the CNN quoted the US official as saying.
It was not clear whether the Malaysian government believes one or both the men could be responsible for what happened when the plane disappeared, the report said.
Some media reports have said that Captain Zaharie was an “obsessive” supporter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who was jailed for five years, a day before the scheduled flight.
No final conclusions have been drawn and all the internal intelligence discussions are based on preliminary assessments of what is known to date, it said.
“Other scenarios could still emerge. The notion of a hijacking has not been ruled out,” the official said.
The Malaysian prime minister yesterday said that in light of the latest developments, authorities have refocused their investigation to the crew and passengers on board.
“The last satellite communication was at 8.11 am (local time) on March 8,” Najib said, suggesting that the plane was in the air for 7.5 hours after it lost the control.
He stopped short of saying the plane had been hijacked but said, “...we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate.” Najib's statement confirmed growing speculation that the disappearance of the plane was not accidental.
Updated on: March 16, 2014 16:38 IST
