they're searching a vast area of the indian ocean. when it comes to really what happened there are still many theories and many more theories than there are answers. here's our will ripley. taking off. >> reporter: it's an eerie feeling sitting in a cockpit simulator to mh-370. >> autopilot is engaged. >> reporter: veteran pilot rob johnson activates the boeing 777's autopilot 20 seconds after takeoff. >> it's automated. >> reporter: the autopilot follows way point ace long the flight path and can even land the plane if necessary. less than an hour into its flight mh-370 veered off the planned route to beijing. with the turn of a knob our simulator makes the same sharp turn as the missing plane. could the autopilot have made that turn on its own? >> no. >> reporter: nobody knows why one or both pilots decided to change course or why the plane disappeared from civilian radar.