New details about a Malaysia Airlines plane are under scrutiny amid the ongoing mystery of the flight's disappearance last week.
The report in question is the indication the plane stayed airborne for four hours past its last confirmed location based on data automatically transmitted from the plane's engines to their manufacturer Rolls-Royce, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But according to CNN, Malaysian officials deny the Journal's report — saying no such data exists and the last transmissions were sent about a half hour before air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane.
RICHARD QUEST: "I specifically asked this person again and again, 'Is there data from the plane?' and the answer was, 'No.' I asked, 'Is the Journal article correct?' The answer was, 'No.'"
Both Boeing and Rolls-Royce have indicated before — they last received transmissions from the plane prior to its losing contact. But both have declined to comment on the Journal's current report. (Via The Wall Street Journal)
Search efforts have been focused on the eastern part of Malaysia along the flight's intended route, but the possibility of the plane crashing somewhere off course is not being ruled out.
According to The New York Times, focus is shifting west of the country after nothing came of floating objects shown in satellite images of the South China Sea.
And acting on the rumor the flight stayed airborne for some time, ABC reports a senior Pentagon official says the jet might have crashed into the Indian Ocean, and U.S. officials are sending a ship to the area to begin searching.
The mystery behind the plane's disappearance remains hazy. This timeline from Scripps National Desk clears up some of those details. A possible door thought to be from the jet could not be located Monday, and two days later officials questioned whether the plane's electrical systems were compromised. Malaysia Airlines officials were able to confirm Wednesday the last words from the cockpit were, "All right, good night."
