Missing Malaysian plane continues to baffle investigators

Originally published March 17, 2014

Ten days after the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370, the search for the missing jetliner has only become more mysterious.

Closing in on two weeks since MH 370 went missing, a conclusion is jelling that the airliner would not have been able to fly off course in the way it apparently did without professional assistance.

Malaysian investigators are looking into the background of each passenger on the flight to determine if they had any piloting experience.

While military radar has confirmed the plane turned around and headed over the Bay of Bengal, it isn't known if the plane then flew northwest or southwest.

Considering the well-guarded airspace over India and Pakistan, as well as U.S. military installations in Afghanistan, experts say it's unlikely the plane evaded detection if it flew northwest, making a southwest course more likely.

Malaysian authorities searched the homes of both pilots over the weekend, but say there is no clear evidence that either man deliberately took the jetliner off course.

Investigators are now scouring a massive area that extends for tens of thousands of kilometers.

The missing Malaysian Airlines flight is among the most mysterious aviation mysteries of modern times, as 10 days without confirmation of wreckage or debris from a crashed flight is baffling in our modern era of satellites and computer detection/radar systems.

The pilot and the co-pilot's homes were searched on Sunday by Malaysian authorities who removed items the size of shopping bags from the houses but did not inform reporters as to what they may have found.

A consensus seems to be jelling among Malaysian and international investigators that the plane could not have been accidentally set off course in the manner it was, pointing to deliberate action by either the pilots, hijackers or someone with extensive knowledge of the inner workings of a 777 jetliner cockpit.

China has demanded that Malaysia provide more in