I figured mechanical until I read the part where a single Iranian man with a very generic name paid cash for the two tickets used by both the individuals sporting the stolen passport identities. That's just a little too henky.
Catastrophic event, i.e. fuel tank explosion, bomb on board, mechanical failure of structure. If it had been a mechanical issue such as an engine failure, etc., the data would have been transmitted to ground and the plane most likely could have remained airborne. A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours.
Since the reports are that the plane had turned back toward origin suggests a mechanical issue which ultimately could not be resolved and resulted in an unrecoverable failure (crash). Of course, a hijacking can't be ruled out. It's hard to believe because Kuala Lumpur has excellent security.
Hijacked and taken to a remote airport in China. Flight crew incapacitated, hijackers flew straight and level until fuel exhaustion and the plane came down in the ocean thousands of miles away from the search area. Plane hijacked, crew taken out, flown inland and intentionally crashed almost straight into the ground in a jungle area leaving a hole in the ground similar to the one in Pennsylvania. Jungle cover would make finding any wreckage extremely difficult from the air.
With the range of the aircraft, and the possibility of a takeover by people who knew how to fly the plane, or at least play with the autopilot, that big bird can be anywhere.
Yes, even if it didn't play out this way, I swear I read they had a search area of 50 square miles. For a plane that was at 35,000 feet at last contact, that just seems like a pathetically small search area. More than once the thought has crossed my mind that they aren't finding any wreckage because they aren't looking far enough out. But that's just conjecture on my part.
Here's a link to the flight track if anyone is interested.
Flight Track Log ? MAS370 ? 08-Mar-2014 ? WMKK / KUL - ZBAA / PEK ? FlightAware
Lectric102002:
" A 777-200 is certified to fly on one engine for 3 hours."
I suspect that gross weight, altitude at time of engine failure, and fuel remaining may be factors in how long a 777 can remain aloft after an engine failure. I would be interested to know the conditions that pertain to that 3 hour certification. Do you have a link to that info?