Missing airliner may have flown for several hours after the last radar reading was taken. The hunt for the missing airliner is expanding to the west. The u. S. Navy may send a destroyer to the strait, leading to the vast indian ocean where the white house now says a new search area may be open. During a search of clouded confusion and false leads turning into dead ends, anxious families grow even more desperate. Were taking a look at the role of the malaysian government giving conflicting accounts and holding back critical information. We have the kind of coverage only cnn can deliver. Our correspondents are standing by along with our analysts and experts. Lets begin with Barbara Starr. She has new information. B barbara . Wolf, u. S. Officials are working with malaysians and there are pings, signals that they believe very strongly came from this aircraft as it was flying west away from malaysia. These pings are now being analyzed and it is what in great part leading to the expansion of the search area into the vast indian ocean. The official says the pings coordinate, koocorrelate, if yo will, with the type of aircraft with this kind of engines. None of it has been 100 . This has been a very confusing story, the information garbled and at times not accurate. U. S. Officials are still being very cautious. But behind the scenes, there is an expectation that the u. S. Navy will move its destroyer, the uss kidd where it has been searching on into the indian ocean. This is a vast area to search but they believe now that they have some information at least that indicates this plane may have flown up to four or five hours out into the indian ocean and that may provide the final answer about what happened to this flight. Wolf . If it flew four or five hours after the transponders stopped transmitting signals back to ground station, it could have gone a lot further than the indian ocean, right . They have calculated at this point the range of the aircraft, based on the fuel that they thought would have been left from the last time they had communication with it. Thats part of why they are looking there. There are also indications, wolf, that the satellite that picked up the pings, they have been able to do some calculations about where all of this came from. So the clues are not adding up but it is far from certain and far from the final answer. Wolf . Barbara starr reporting from the pentagon, thank you. With a possibility that the plane flew for hours, maybe four, five hours longer than thought, the vast indian ocean may now become the new focus for an expanded search. Lets bring in jim sciutto. Hes working this part of the story. Jim . Wolf, speaking to u. S. Officials involved in this investigation, its my understanding that these pings are now an important clue connecting to other clues that they have that leads them to the direction of the indian ocean. The radar signature that weve been reporting for the last couple of days that showed the plane go north, take this turn and then head out towards the indian ocean, they added to that the sense of the range that barbara mentioned as well. The amount of fuel it had in its tanks could take it this far. What that creates, then, is a search area that is bigger and it creates a very big search area and much shallower areas, space and lots of ships going around, much deeper waters, much wider thats going to be a challenge Going Forward. Do you remember when we talked about the air france crash in 2009, it took place in the middle of the atlantic ocean, it took them two years to find that plane looking under the water, a very deep water with submersibles but they knew in general where that plane went down. Here they are working on less information. A very long search operation here and as they are doing that, imagine those deep waters as well. This is going to be what they are looking and listening for, the flight data recorder. We always call it the flight box. The bigger the search area is, the deeper the water is, the harder it is to find. We have emergency locators. Were going to show our viewers what that is about. I want to introduce peter goelz, cnn Law Enforcement analyst tom fuentes. Peter, lets talk about this new development and its a Huge Development now because if in fact this plane flew four or five hours after the transponders stopped sending signals, where could this plane be . Youre absolutely right, wolf. One, its good news a little bit because its showing that the agencies and malaysian government are cooperating more, looking at the radar together, the satellite data together, they are making decisions that our government and their government can agree on. Thats a plus. But as you said, this area is tremendously large. This is an impossible task. Theyve got to narrow it down more. And correct me if im wrong, as a result of this new development, the likelihood that there was a catastrophic mechanical error as opposed to some human getting involved and doing this, the likelihood of mechanical problem has dimmed. Thats right. The mechanical structural has reduced and human increased. So where does that leave the investigation now, tom . Youve led these investigations in the past. I know there is cooperation with the malaysians but there are a lot of questions out there. There is no question about that but what this means is that even from the beginning they would have been looking at the Human Element and did it get hijacked and did the pilots fly there . That tends to confirm the speculation that came from the source of the air force general or whoever he was from the Malaysian Air force that that plane did make that turn, it did go west toward the indian ocean or farther, could go as far as india or pakistan if it stayed on that course. It could have reached pakistan. It had enough fuel to do that. It had enough fuel to do that. Somebody was flying the plane in that direction on purpose. Whether it be a hijacker or the pilots themselves, someone was in control of that plane while it stayed in the air. Somebody took the transponder and turned it off. Turning it off. Well get to that in a moment. But theres no doubt, youve been checking with intelligent sources here in washington, do they think it was terrorism . Do they think it was pilot suicide . What do they think is going on here . Their assessment has been consistent and its been nothing yet to indicate an act of terror but they are not ruling outer ror. Youve heard john brennan echo that a few days ago. I asked if it changes the assessment and they said it changes nothing. Still no hard indication of terror but they leave that option open. When you look at the raw data, how reliable is this information, that there were pings coming from the engines, going up to satellites and they were determining that the flight could fly for four or five hours . Barbara just said its not 100 . Its not 100 , just like the radar is not 100 . Theres some arc to interpreting this data and i think theyve got to get the pings, theyve got to confirm it through a second or third source but i think they are headed in the right direction. It sounds more compelling that all of the agencies are now agreeing with this decision. Heres what is worrisome and i assume its its taken six days to learn all of this and you say theres good cooperation with the Malaysian Police but what about the malaysian government . Theres been a lot of confusing statements including flat denials earlier in the day that we are now reporting. I think the confusion has been the information of the different interpretations of radar and pings and transponder is really beyond the expertise of Law Enforcement. So even the best cooperation and even the military people, this has to be now the art and science of the best technicians in the world looking at that data and making the interpretations and having time to actually integrate that data from the different sources. What are you hearing from u. S. Sources . Are they satisfied . Angry . For them to send ships to the indian ocean, they must believe that this information is pretty good . Ive heard frustration early on that there was concern that all of the raw data that was not being shared. That some of the data was shared after malaysian authorities made their own interpretation, particularly when you have this wealth of experience and knowledge with the ntsb, fbi, et cetera, to share the raw data so you could make those judgments which you say is an art. Its not purely a science. The other point i would make is that it doesnt have to be a traditional act of terrorism. There is pilot suicide and other incidents that come to mind. No evidence of that but theres possibilities that investigators are considering. Someone can come man dear that plane. Not for terrorism reason but who knows. Why do they get pilots the option of turning off the transponder to begin with . Its so critical for folks at air traffic to know what is going on . Well, they give the pilots in todays planes the ability to squawk in an emergency so that if the plane is in difficulty, they can squawk that its under a hijacked situation. It would be very rare occasion where you would turn off the transponder, only in some sort of severe electrical situation. So theres a legitimate reason for a pilot to have that option . There is, but its very rare. Because there are two of these on a 777. Its very rare. It would be very seldom. I cant tell you how many people have sent me tweets asking me, why do these pilots even have that option of turning this off since its so critical and im not sure we have a good explanation for that. Guys, thanks very much. Dont go too far coming up next, a special report, the u. S. Brings a powerful new search capability for the hunt for the missing airliner. Well get details from the commander who is aboard in the region and they are searching. When it comes to good nutrition. Im no expert. 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Its now in the strait of malacca in that northwest section so that is to the west of malaysia, west of the gulf of thailand where we were previously searching. How long will it take for the kidd to get to the indian ocean . It is technically going through the strait which is the main entrance to the indian ocean. Not smack in the middle of the indian ocean. We are still very much close to malaysia right now. And the reason the kidd is moving to the indian ocean, because of the pings that went up to the satellites . Is that right . Most of the several has shifted to the west. I cant get into the details of why were shifting to the west. Thats really for the malaysian government and a few other folks to tell you. Were adjusting accordingly. Do you have specific coordinates that you are moving towards or are you going to be part of the massive search in this huge body of water . Well, what were doing right now is moving to the northwest entrance of the strait of malacca. A couple of things are going to happen. One, we have a search fairly close to the strait of malacca but what that does, as the area increases, the ships and its helicopters become less effective because they are kind of a closein search asset and the p3 and now a p8 which we are just now sending today, those are longrange search assets. Those become even more important. Tell us about the technology that youre using. The p8 is the very latest in the patrol craft technology. Up here in seventh fleet in the pacific, we get the newest and latest technology and thats part of the rebalance to the pacific. So the p8 represents a huge leap forward in technology for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance. So, yes, its a big leap forward. Its essentially the best plane the navy has going for that right now, one of the best planes in the world. So that adds a huge capability. Thats arriving later on today and well get that immediately into that search rotation. And youll be able to you need that technology. The indian ocean, the depth of the indian ocean, its a lot deeper than the south china sea, for example, the indian ocean, 12,990 feet. Thats almost 113,00 feet. The empire state building, 1,feet. The psoiden technology, how deep can that search for . Well, right now essentially when you have such a huge area, were focusing on the search and the radar we use for the surface search. So its essentially going to be the surface to the water. But really if you think about this, its a completely new game now. Before i described the box in the gulf of thailand kind of like moving chess pieces around. Now its a completely new game and now its like were on a football field. So we went from a chess board to a football field. You have to come up with new strategies and tactics. Thats developing right now as i speak. And well see with the longer range and better senses. Just to sum up, commander, the search in the indian ocean, based on new information that youve received, you dont want to share the details of that information but its solid enough for the u. S. Navy to be moving ships in that area but this is a major, major undertaking. It could take a while, right . Yeah, thats correct. And at this point fatigue starts to become a factor. You have to look at that. We have 700 sailors about in the area. Theyve been out there every day working 24 hours a day. So you have that personal fatigue. You also start to have equipment fatigue. You cannot operate equipment continuously 24 hours a day and not give it maintenance and not rest it. So were looking very closely at personal and our commitmeequipm fatigue. We flew out chaplain and grieve counselors because its demanding on a personal level. Were watching that very closely. A quick followup, jim sciutto has a question. Commander marks, thank you very much. Malaysian officials are telling our troops on the ground in malaysia that the primary search area is to the east side of the peninsula. U. S. Navy moving assets out to the west side of the indian ocean. Is it your information that this is now the focus of the search, the indian ocean and that the u. S. , because of these new indications, is giving up in effect on the eastern side or are they both covering both the chess board and football field . Well, its important to realize its a coordinated international effort. Were not out here freely and its not just something the u. S. Military does. This was request by the u. S. Government. They asked to move our ship to the west and to the strait of malacca and so we look at every request and if we can support that, we do. And so in this case we can support that and so thats where were going. But it is coordinated so certain ships and aircraft are staying on the east and then some go to the west and were moving to the west. Already, commander, thank you for sharing that information with our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Commander William Marks of the u. S. Navys seventh fleet. Hes aboard the uss blue ridge. Well check back with you tomorrow, commander. Thank you very much. Youve been a big help to us throughout the week. Good luck to all of the women of the United States navy and marine corps. Coming up, how planes can communicate by satellite pings even with the transponders disabled. More of the breaking news right after this. Humans we are beautifully imperfect creatures, living in an imperfect world. Thats why Liberty Mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Call. And ask an Insurance Expert about all our benefits today, like our 24 7 support and service, because at Liberty Mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. Plus, you could save hundreds when you switch up to 423. Call. Today. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Female announcer what will you man with your new im getting a camera . Im getting an espresso maker im getting a new smart phone female announcer during sleep trains big gift event get a 200 best buy gift card with purchase of selected beautyrest, posturepedic or tempurpedic mattresses. Or, get 24months interestfree financing. A new tv. A laptop. A game console female announcer what will you get during the big gift event . Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep were following the breaking news. U. S. Officials telling cnn Malaysia Flight 370 may have flown for hours after its last transponder signal. Tom foreman is joining us with a closer look at how planes can communicate even when the transponders are disabled. What are you finding out, tom . A modern jumbo jet is a flying communication station. Thats why its astonishing to believe that after 45 minutes it went utterly silent, that one system might fail is one thing. That all of them would fail is different. Lets talk about these Communication Systems on board. I want to start with a cockpit. Thats where you have the most basic Communication System on a plane like this. The radio. Its used by pilots all the time. They used it on this flight. Apparently without incident. Until shortly before they disappeared. Even if they were to have a catastrophic fire or a giant loss of pressure zags, the masks can easily send out a signal and nothing from this plane after it disappeared. On the underside of this cockpit is where you can find the transponders that weve been talking about so much. They work with ground radar in the sense that it works with the ground and says i see a plane there. They are electronically answering and saying, yes, we are this Malaysian Air flight and this is where were located and where we are going. The transponders were turned off in this plane. Its not a hard thing to do. They can turn it off quite easily but theres no reason why it would be turned off especially at the moment that the plane disappeared. We hear a lot of talk about the flight