- Jonti Roos claims missing MH 370 pilot invited her to cockpit on 2011 flight
- She and friend were entertained by Fariq Abdul Hamid for entire flight
- Co-pilots smoked, chatted, and took photos with the young women
- Mr Hamid was one of 239 people on board the missing Malaysia airlines flight
A young woman claims she spent an entire flight in 2011 in the cockpit being entertained by one of the pilots who was flying the missing Malaysian Airlines plane while smoking.
Jonti Roos, who is who is currently living in Melbourne during a year-long stay in Australia, said she and her friend Jaan Maree were waiting to board their flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur three years ago when two pilots plucked them out of the queue and asked them if they would like to ride in the cockpit.
The girls, who had just finished a two-week trip to Thailand, spent the entire flight including take-off and landing in the cockpit with the two pilots, which is strictly forbidden by the airline.
Jonti Roos (centre right) claims she and her friend Jaan Maree (centre left)were entertained by Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27 (right), who is one of the pilots of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The other pilot in the picture has not been named.
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In this picture Jonty Roos and her friend Jaan Maree pose with the other pilot on the plane where they became friend with Fariq Abdul Hamid, the first officer of Flight MH370. She said both pilots were ‘friendly’ although they smoked during the flight and did not always face the front. She said she did not want to suggest incompetence, but hoped her information was useful.
Jonty Roos has told A Current Affair of her friendship with Fariq Abdul Hamid, the first officer of Flight MH370 when she and her friend Jaan Maree(above) were invited into the cockpit during a flight in 2011.
Jonty Rossi posed with the other pilot on the plane and spoke of also meeting Fariq Abdul Hamid, when they struck up a friendship in 2011. She described how he was ‘possibly a little bit sleazy’ and let her sit in the cockpit throughout the flight.
One of the pilots was Fariq Abdul Hamid, the 27-year-old first officer on board missing flight MH370, Ms Roos claims.
Throughout the whole flight they were talking to us, they were actually smoking throughout the flight, which I don’t think they’re allowed to be doing and they were taking photos with us in the cockpit while they were flying the plane,’ she told A Current Affair.
She also claimed that for much of the trip the co-pilots were not even facing the front of the plane.
Mr Hamid was one of 239 people on board the plane that disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Saturday.
Ms Roos says she was shocked when she saw that Mr Hamid was one of those missing.
‘When I realised that it was the exact same co-pilot… and that I had met him and been in the cockpit with him and have photos with him – that was quite shocking.’
Ms Roos said she came forward with her information because ‘It seems like everybody’s completely in the dark and nobody has any information.’
She does not want to suggest that Mr Hamid was incompetent and caused the crash in any way.
‘They were very friendly, but I felt they were very competent in what they were doing,’ she said.
‘I’m really not saying that I think the co-pilot is in the wrong, at all, it could have been absolutely anything.’
Ms Roos added that while the pilots were ‘possibly a little bit sleazy’ and invited the girls to stay with them in Kuala Lumpur, she never felt threatened by them or uncomfortable and that she was very sad for Mr Hamid’s family and friends.
‘When I saw all his friends and family posting on his [Facebook] wall my heart really broke for them and my heart broke for the family of the passengers. It’s just a really sad story.’