As authorities examined a flight simulator that was confiscated from the home of one of the pilots and dug through the background of all 239 people on board and the ground crew that serviced the plane, they also were grappling with the enormity of the search ahead of them, warning they needed more data to narrow down the hunt for the aircraft.
Yesterday, Malaysia's government confirmed that the plane was deliberately diverted and may have flown as far north as Central Asia, or south into the vast reaches of the Indian Ocean.
Authorities have said someone on board the plane first disabled one of its communications systems, the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, at 1:07 am.
Around 14 minutes later, the transponder, which identifies the plane to commercial radar systems, was also shut down.
The fact that they went dark separately is strong evidence that the plane's disappearance was deliberate.
Whoever spoke did not mention any trouble on board, seemingly misleading ground control.
Air force Major General Affendi Buang told reporters he did not know whether it was the pilot or co-pilot who spoke to air traffic controllers.
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