The captain of Flight 370 was in no state of mind to fly the day it disappeared and could have taken the Boeing 777 for a “last joyride” before crashing into the Indian Ocean, a fellow pilot says.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s world was crumbling, said the long-time associate. He had been facing serious family problems, including separation from his wife and relationship problems with another woman he was seeing.

The man, who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity, said Captain Zaharie was “terribly upset” when his wife told him she was leaving and believed he may have decided to take the Malaysia Airlines plane to a part of the world he had never flown in.