PUTRAJAYA: The day Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing two years ago, Datuk Kok Soo Chon (pic), the man who would be tasked to lead the safety investigation into the plane's disappearance, was in a cinema with his wife.

Ironically, the title of the movie he was watching now aptly describes his job of coordinating a massive probe team comprising members from seven countries.

"Can you believe the name of the show was Non-Stop? And now this job is non-stop," said Kok.

However, Kok, a retired civil aviation veteran, does not seem to mind and admitted that without his new job, he "wouldn't know what to do".

Kok embodies the strictness and precision of an airman as he ticked off written points on his notepad and spoke with an economy of words when chatting with reporters in his office in Precinct 15 here on Tuesday.

He had just made a televised interim statement from the investigation team into MH370's disappearance.

"We aspire to find out as much truth as possible. We are here with a mission, we have a job, a big task.

"The world is looking at us and they want to know what is happening, because closure would be good for the family and would enhance aviation safety," said the bespectacled man.

He admitted the team was under tremendous pressure, but as a dedicated airman, he considered investigating aviation's "biggest mystery" as a badge of honour.

"It is not a burden. We came into this team voluntarily and we are still working with high spirits.

Kok was appointed to head the team in 2014, which comprises air accident and incident investigation experts from the United States, Britain, France, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and China.

The 65-year-old said his working hours are random as he holds meetings with people from all over the world and different time zones.

"We are communicating late at night and early in the morning. The first thing I do before I go to work and (the last thing) before I go to bed is look at my laptop.

"My team here has to look through all the emails and news articles about the plane see if there is anything worth looking into.

"Can you imagine how many are sent to us every day?" he said, adding that the most outlandish email tip-off he received was one saying the plane had been taken by aliens.

Kok said the most difficult part of his job was the fact that he was not able to provide answers to the next-of-kin just yet.

He said the team's ultimate goal was to release a final report as stipulated under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13, which he hoped would answer all questions on MH370's disappearance.

Kok is an engineer by training, and served as the country's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general from 1999 to 2007.

Prior to his posting at the DCA, he spent four years as general manager for the construction of the KL International Airport until it was completed in 1998, where he also helped build air traffic services.

He was a former permanent representative of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) council in Montreal.

He holds an electrical engineering degree, is also a qualified lawyer with a LLB (Hons) from the University of London and a practising certificate from the Malaysian Legal Board.