In the three days since the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines 777 that departed Malaysia bound for Beijing, not much new has surfaced as to the mystery of the missing plane.
Authorities, despite days of searching and investigating the disappearance, have found little for their efforts. Although, it is now determined that the airliner disappeared from radars one hour after take-off and not the 2.5 hours that was originally reported. This news makes it likely that the aircraft was over the ocean to the south of Vietnam when it disappeared.
Ten countries have assets in the search, with more than 40 ships and 34 aircraft looking for the missing jet. China, who has the most nationals on the flight, has sent four search and rescue vessels and two warships into the area to conduct a search. Vietnam has seven ships and two aircraft actively searching and has stated that they have another five planes and four ships at the ready to begin search activities.
The United States deployed the USS Pickney, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, into the region on Sunday to assist in the search. Another U.S. vessel is on its way to the area, according to the Seventh Fleet.
Malaysian police have stated that on two or three occasions, passengers, with stolen passports have tried to board aircraft with explosives, but in all incidents, were apprehended prior to boarding the aircraft. In this case, it was found that two of the passengers aboard the flight had used stolen passports to board the aircraft, but video surveillence footage shows that the two suspected passengers in question had passed through all the security checkpoints without problems or suspicion.
Although hi-jacking and the destruction of the aircraft in mid-air has not been ruled out, the United States has reviewed imagery from spy satellites over the area for evidence of a mid-air explosion over the ocean south of Vietnam and have found nothing. But, investigators point to the lack of debris saying that if the aircraft had broken up at its cruising altitude, that debris would have disbursed over a very large area and so would be more difficult to locate.
After three days, no verified debris has been located anywhere in the search area. Samples of an oil slick found in the area were collected and presently those samples are being analyzed.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on Saturday morning with 239 people aboard.