As the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 enters into its third day, authorities say they now believe they've spotted what may be a missing door from the plane.
Vietnamese searchers in a low-flying plane spotted a floating object they think might be an inner door to the disappeared Boeing 777. The object was found in the same area where oil slicks were found Saturday; however, lab results released Monday morning revealed that oil was not from flight 370. (Via The Wall Street Journal, Twitter / @BBCWorld)
Officials say it was too dark to say for sure if the floating object discovered late Sunday belongs to the plane; however, they vowed to send more aircraft to the area in the morning, and two maritime police ships are already en route to the site. (Via Fox News)
The discovery comes as officials consider the possibility that the plane somehow disintegrated mid-flight.
The Malaysia Airlines flight and the 239 people on board disappeared from radar less than an hour after taking off Saturday morning from Kuala Lumpur. The flight was heading to Beijing, and lost contact with traffic controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam. (Via CNN)
Officials say the plane's transmitters did not appear to signal any distress before shutting down, and that the flight was at cruising elevation in good conditions before mysteriously going off radar. They believe the flight may have tried to turn around, but admit that's just an early theory. (Via NBC, ABC)
While investigators scramble to figure out just what happened to the jetliner, its disappearance has already exposed flaws in global air safety as questions emerge about two passengers who managed to board the plane using stolen passports.
In a sharply worded criticism, Interpol said no country checked its database for information about stolen passports before letting passengers board flight 370. If they had, they would have realized two of the passengers boarding had done so using passports reported stolen in Thailand in 2012 and 2013. (Via MSNBC)
U.S. intelligence is currently working to figure out the identities of the two men who boarded using stolen passports. It is unclear if the stolen passports are in any way related to flight 370's mysterious disappearance.
