Posted on 03/19/2014 8:15:55 AM PDT by don-o
Data was deleted from a flight simulator found at the home of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet's pilot, an official said Wednesday.
"Forensic work to retrieve this data is ongoing," Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transport minister, told a news conference. He added that local and international experts had been recruited to examine the homemade device belonging to Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old captain of the Boeing 777.
It was not immediately clear who deleted the files and why.
"The passengers, the pilots and the crew remain innocent until proven otherwise," Hishammuddin added. "For the sake of their families I ask that we refrain from any unnecessary speculation that will make their lives harder.
Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar added that "the data of the games has been cleared on February 3" and that "experts are looking at the logs." Flight 370 vanished while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.
The daily news conference descended into chaos before they spoke, when distressed protesters were removed by officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Hey, Lady - why don’t you walk over to that Mars rover while you’re there?
The aircraft was hijacked by a stowaway with a knife or gun.
Doesn’t everyone have their computer to automatically delete stuff on a scheduled basis? Much ado about nothing.
Probably. Who knows about flight sim programs? Can you download different airports and then fly repeated simulations? Then delete the simulation flight and save the airport?
A lot of programs will have a listing of recently accessed files. Not uncommon for someone to work up drafts, clear the list of all the drafts, then be able to go between final products more quickly. In this context, take that how you may...but it’s a fairly normal workflow for working on audio or images.
Ccleaner? I run it regularly to clean cache, history, registry ect. If the Capt was geeky enough to put that Sim together he surely did the same thing...
I’m not saying this is perfect but with these keystone cops there are ways.
Data destruction software, sometimes called data sanitization software, disk wipe software, or hard drive eraser software, is a software-based method of completely erasing the data from a hard drive.
Data destruction software is just one of several ways to completely erase a hard drive.
When you delete files and then empty the Recycle Bin, you don’t actually erase the information, you just delete the reference to it so the operating system can’t find it. All the data is still there and, unless it’s overwritten, can be easily recovered using file recovery software.
Data destruction software, however, truly does erase the data. Each data destruction program utilizes one or more data sanitization methods that can permanently overwrite the information on the drive.
If you need to remove all traces of a virus or you’re planning on recycling or disposing of your hard drive, wiping your hard drive using data destruction software is the best way to protect yourself.
Below is a list of the best, completely free data destruction software programs available today:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/free-data-destruction-software.htm
My thought is to wonder if he deleted a suspicious airport or a simulation with some “off the wall” maneuvers.
In addition to flight school the 9/11 hijackers practiced using Microsoft Flight Simulator, a game.
Student pilots regularly use this game to prepare for their pilots license. Time on the game can be used to satisfy some of the training hours required to obtain the license.
“A personal computer-based aviation training device (PCATD), as defined by AC 61-126, is an FAA-approved, computer-based program that can satisfy a portion of the flight training required for an instrument rating under 14 CFR 61.65(e). With advances in PCATD technology, there are now basic (B-ATD) and advanced (A-ATD) aviation training devices that satisfy additional training and currency requirements required by 14 CFR Part 61.”
So that makes data deleted from his computer more important than what it might have been otherwise. Maybe something, maybe nothing. They have to check it out for a thorough investigation.
No! This can’t be true!
That plane may well be waiting somewhere to be used as a firebomb.
Did You see the panoramic view of that bay that was posted on one of the threads?
A Lot of equip in that puppy, including what looked to be a console in the center w/ screen and keys.
http://www.hawkeyemedia.com/panos/777_Avionics.asp
A personal computer-based aviation training device (PCATD), as defined by AC 61-126, is an FAA-approved, computer-based program that can satisfy a portion of the flight training required for an instrument rating under 14 CFR 61.65(e). With advances in PCATD technology, there are now basic (B-ATD) and advanced (A-ATD) aviation training devices that satisfy additional training and currency requirements required by 14 CFR Part 61.
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PCATD’s can be used for instrument training, with 10 hours loggable. They can also be used for currency for holds, approaches, and the like.
The software isn’t your typical MFS X, or Plane X 9, though I think Plane X does have an approved version that prolly runs about $150 or so.
The approved hardware isn’t the standard yoke, pedals, and throttle quadrant you can get from a hobby store for $200 or so. The approved gear has avionic stack with intercom, dual nav/com, flight director/autopilot transponder....they even make “glass panel” modules. These systems...bare-bones, start at about $4500, and are generally owned by general aviation fight schools. It costs just about as much as obtaining a private pilot certificate.
Which is what it looks like this guy had in his home.
Point is this isn’t a tetris or pong style game.
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