investigation is being conducted. this is a military-led investigation. there are protocols and there s a treaty signed that should be governing this investigation that would allow other countries to step in and give assistance that we have a standing to do that. and so far the malaysians have chosen not to exercise that treaty. it s being run by the military. and we ve got real chaos. do we know why they haven t exercised that treaty? is it a point of pride? well, they re a signatory to the treaty. this is the international civil aviation organization annex 13. and if you have an accident, it sets out the protocols. the ntsb would be the american accredited representative there. they have not been involved yet in helping the malaysians. david, you say that this is turning to really one of the biggest mysteries of all time. are you encouraged by this new information, the new focus on the straits of malaka and do you
that s true. shawn go ahead. that s right, anderson. you don t know until you actually find the physical evidence. building on david s point, there are four competing theories of what s occurred here and we ve really got to look at all the facts whether it be terrorism, hijacking, pilot error or mechanical failure. at this point without any real physical evidence i think you ve got to look at all the people that are involved. three of those competing theories that are people that would have been involved in those first three and perhaps even in a mechanical failure there may be people involved. i think from an investigative perspective you ve got to look at who the people were, the people that were on the plane, the people that were on the ground, the pilots in that aircraft. and you ve got to chase those facts fully to try and develop this to full conclusion. but shawn, in terms of mechanical failure does it make sense that the transponder would be turned off? is that possible j
at this point. shawn henry, david galla, peter galls as well. follow me on twitter using #ac360. coming up next we ll continue to follow this investigation. we ll take you to kuala lumpur where complaints about the government s handling there, malaysian government s handling of the investigation are growing particularly among the families who are so desperately weight. we ll also look at some of aviation s toughest mysteries, how they were solved and why some became the focus of all kinds of extreme theories. we ll be right back. work fast d taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i m feeling better already. alka-seltzer fruit chews. enjoy the relief! check for more! well, i guess i can double check. my watch! [ male announcer ] it pays to double check, with state farm.
continue to fly? well, it implies thought was under some sort of human control. and that s the issue for the malaysians to start getting other people involved in the investigation. to start looking, getting other experts to review the radar tapes, to review making inquiries. whose radar was turned on that night? were there any war ships in the straits that had their radar turned on? we need to get as much evidence as possible from the radar to help us figure out where this plane is. david, you point out that the straits of malaka are relatively shallow. but if a plane turned and ended up in the open sea to the north even the depth there get much deeper. yeah. in the gulf of thailand and the southern parts of the straits it s fairly shallow. in fact it s shallower than the length of the plane. so if the plane was standing on its nose it would be sticking out of the water. but if you get into the andeman sea you re in 2 1/2 miles of water and that s a whole different ball game.
i think that you still can t rule terrorism out but that is one of the questions that a lot of folks have is why hasn t there been some public statement made. that is typically on the heels of a terrorist organization looking to strike fear in the hearts of citizens. they want to proclaim that they were behind it. so that certainly is a concern here. but i agree with some of the other folks in the intelligence community that until you ve got collected all the facts you certainly can t rule that out. there might be another reason for them not coming forward at this point. if this were perhaps if it was a terrorist incident, and i m purely speculating, this was part of a much larger or broader potential act and for whatever reason they wouldn t come forward at this point but at a later time. i see. so you re saying if again it was part of a terrorist act and part of a larger operation that operation may be under way or about to take place and therefore they wouldn t want to tip t