Flight Sim observation
I find it odd that the First Officer is outed on Australian TV as having broken security protocol by inviting a couple of highschool girls on the flight deck and trying to hook-up with them while they were on holiday in Thailand. I can venture that was not an isolated event as well. The forum's attitude here was that its unfortunate the media portrayed him like that and he shouldn't be remembered that way. Also noting the captain on that flight will likely face disciplinary action (rightly so). Even if, and I'll admit it, they don't look like the terrorist types, it demonstrates a willy-nilly attitude towards his duties and responsibilities on the flight-deck as well as security.
Captain Shah on the other hand, has had no reports of wrong doing (so far). He's demonstrated a love for flying with his #1 Carreer #2 RC models #3 Flight Sim hobby. Contrary to the FO, Capt. Shah is immediately suspect because he has an over the top computer gaming setup? You guys need to give it a rest. Its a hobby, something to throw time and money at and a pretty interesting hobby to many people.
I'm sure there are plenty of people here (myself included) whom some would think they have gone overboard on a hobby and have way too many putters or drivers. Who on here has spent more than $2,500 on a bicycle? Fishing equipment? Home theater system? Classic cars? Gun collection? Ham radio setup?
Also, I'd venture to guess that a capt. wih 18,000+ hours probably wouldn't need to 'practice' cutting the circuit beakers and flipping a u-turn in the sim. More likely, he spends most of his sim time flying WW2 fighters in dogfights or gliders over the Alps.
One more thing, from looking through capt. Shah's youtube history, it appears he was most likely an atheist and certainly not any kind of religious nutjob terrorist candidate.
Last edited by jimmydfw; 15th Mar 2014 at 04:35.