Malaysia Airlines Flygning MH370 saknas (2014-03-08)

Investigators now believe the plane could have flown hundreds of miles off course to the north west.

Experts are now convinced the plane’s disappearance with 239 passengers and crew was no accident.

They fear air pirates with flying knowledge hijacked the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight and diverted it towards the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

One senior Malaysian police official said: “What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards.”

US ships are moving into the Indian Ocean to undertake a search “due west” of Kuala Lumpur, US Navy Commander William Marks of the US 7th Fleet has just told CNN from aboard the USS Blue Ridge Command Ship, positioned “a little northwest of the Malacca Strait” at 5am local time.

“As you look west, and you transition west to the Indian Ocean, ships alone are really not quite much of a solution, because of the expanse of the ocean,” Marks told CNN. “You have to look at what other assets you have.”

Marks said the navy was using helicopters and surveillance aircraft to look for MH370. “We’re looking essentially west of Kuala Lumpur ... due west,” he said.

The USS Kidd destroyer also is in the area, the navy officer said, adding that the search party now includes 57 ships and 40-some aircraft from 13 countries.

“We just have to take it little by little,” Marks said. “That’s the best we can do out here.”

One flight path suggests the plane crashed into the Bay of Bengal off the coast of India, and the other has it traveling southeast and crashing in the Indian Ocean, according to the analysis.