the company search has grown from 18 to 26. the companies involved in this investigation, they re telling me at least within the first 26 minutes of that flight, the pilots were already changing the flight path. so what we originally thought was the plane had gone up, basically flying towards us on its original course to beijing and then signing off with air traffic control and then making a westerly turn, we now know within those first 26 minutes, they were in contact with air traffic control. so the pilots had intentionally changed their path, but the reason why remains a mystery. asian authority now reveals the acars system could have been shut down any time between 1:07 and 1:37 a.m., not necessarily before the co-pilot signed off. the total search area is now at more than 2 million square nautical miles. the next day we learn that files have been deleted from the captain s at-home flight simulator. but what files and why?
officials involved in the investigation, they say in the first 26 minutes of the flight the pilots were already changing the flight path. so what we originally thought the plane had gone up, flying the original course to beijing then signing off with air traffic control and then making the westerly turn, we now know within the first 26 minutes they had re-programmed the flight plan and were already starting to turn west far before they even signed off with air traffic control. so the pilots had intentionally changed their path, but the reason why remains a mystery. malaysian authorities reveals the plane s acars system could have been shut down between 1:27 and 1:37 a.m., not necessarily before the co-pilot signed off. the search area is now more than 230 square nautical miles. the files were deleted from the
flight plan if you re the co pilot or pilot. and yet if you look at the circumstantial evidence, the most potentially problematic thing for the co pilot, he was the one that communicating at 1:19, all right, good night, it looks like this plane had already turned off its course. have we heard from the captain at all? not that i know of. that s been the problem through this whole thing, the dripping of information from the malaysians. we found out a few days ago, it was the co pilot who signed off. when we get the information, sometimes it s changed, sometimes it s so late, we wasted time looking in an area we shouldn t have been looking in. before i let you go, what do
evidence this was terrorist related although you can t rule that out at this point in time. my understanding is the malaysian authorities now have searched the home of both the pilot and the co-pilot for information that could lead us to determine why this was done. i think all the evidence, chris, is pointing toward the cockpit. toward the pilot and the co-pilot. the motivation and intent as a former federal prosecutor, i m always concerned about, is unclear at this point in time. let me bring in mr. grn oltz. we re told the trans ponders and the data flow in the cockpit were turned off separately. not at the same time but separately. one, how much training do you need to do that? and what about media reports that in fact some of this was done before the pilot signed off. said, all right, good night to malaysian air traffic control. i think that final point that the signoff came after the
evidence this was terrorist related although you can t rule that out at this point in time. my understanding is the malaysian authorities now have searched the home of both the pilot and the co-pilot for information that could lead us to determine why this was done. i think all the evidence, chris, is pointing toward the cockpit. toward the pilot and the co-pilot. the motivation and intent as a former federal prosecutor, i m always concerned about, is unclear at this point in time. let me bring in mr. grn oltz. we re told the trans ponders and the data flow in the cockpit were turned off separately. not at the same time but separately. one, how much training do you need to do that? and what about media reports that in fact some of this was done before the pilot signed off. said, all right, good night to malaysian air traffic control. i think that final point that the signoff came after the