Were going to take you virt u virtually inside the cockpit to recreate the flight 370 plane. And there are no hard answers, only theories. Some a lot more plausible than others. Imaginations are running wild over the need to solve this maddening mystery. Well take a look at some of the most outlandish theories about this planes fate. Welcome to the lead, i am bill weir filling in for jake tapper today and we begin with the world lead. Its been a solid week since contact was last made with flight 370 and this has become one of the most baffling histories in the history of aviation. What happened to the 239 souls on board . Officials tell cnn that they are looking at whether lithium batteries played a role . This has caused problems with fires aboard planes in the past. A source tells cnn that the plane must have been in tact for at least five hours because the Communication System was still sending out pings during all of that time. All of this new information comes after reuters citing
Course and an area with no significant land masses. So the focus is still on finding that aircraft. We have just learned that that search is expanding. Its pushing further east and further west. The u. S. Is also trying to help. They are sending in the uss kidd to the indian ocean. And also activity on the sea floor hours after the plane went missing nearly one week ago. We are turning to our reporters all around the world. We will start with jim clancy in kuala lumpur. Reporter let me give you a little bit of perspective on what were talking about about the deliberate track the plane took. Malaysian officials are in a press briefing right now. They told us that the pilot may have attempted a turnback. Transponder went off. They can turn that off if they think theres a short and its causing a problem. Maybe thats why they turned it off. They had a problem. Then the pilot turned. They think he was trying to turn back to come back right where i am. But he didnt make the turn sharp enough
New clues in a series of frustrating dead ends as the search is stepped up for Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared in midflight three days ago. The search zone for flight 370 has been expanded and now covers a larger portion of the gulf of thailand between malaysia and vietnam. Theres new focus near thailands border following indications that the plane may have turned around. An iranian purchased two tickets for two men traveling on stolen passports. They were not asian. And a group is claiming responsibility for the planes disappearance but a u. S. Official says that group has not been identified and intelligence sources have nothing now to indicate terrorism. Our kor spocorrespondents will you the information that only we can deliver. Lets begin with the search, cnns rene marsh has the story. Its a vast area and winds and currents complicate things. This mysterious disappearance of the jumbo jet has gone hand in hand with lots of false leads and reports of the missing plane. What
Nations with many assets, our following leads where we find them and its my understanding based on new information that is not necessarily conclusive, an additional search area may be open in the indian ocean. We are consulting with the International Partners about the appropriate assets to deploy. That is a new information here and all of this unfolding as vietnamese crews found nothing at the debris field. Images showed objects were in the water and according to malaysia, the chinese say those images were released by mistake. How did that happen . My next guest is a 777 pilot with almost 30 years of experience. He is here with me. Les, what do you make of this new expanded search for the indian ocean . It says that there is limited information from any data sources. No communication directly from the crew. It indicates to me there was something catastrophic that occurred. The airplane might have broke apart. When you sat down, i wasnt really joking, but it may seem that way. Where is
Crews found nothing in an area where chinese satellite images showed objects floating in the sea. They say the pictures were released by mistake. They didnt show any debris related to the plane. That from china. Lets dig deeper into the conflicting reports about the Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Richard quest has been working his sources. Richard, what are you hearing specifically about weather . Whether technical data was transmitted from the planes engines even after that transponder was shut down . Im hearing that its not true. A Senior Source said to me that i specifically asked. Lets be clear, i specifically asked, did the plane continue to transmit data after 1 27. And that person said no. So i follow ed up with the question, is the journals story accurate . And they said no. Now, the journal sticks by its story. Theres not a person says its wrong. You paid your money and take your choice on this one, wolf. This is the sort of discrepancy that frequently happens in aircraft inves