#MH370: More details emerge on flight MH370, but still no jet
CNN) - New information has come to light about the path taken by Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 before it disappeared from radar screens on March 8.
The plane deviated from its planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing by turning leftward over water while it was still inside Vietnamese airspace, a senior Malaysian aviation source told CNN's Nic Robertson.
The aircraft then climbed to 39,000 feet, just short of the Boeing 777-200ER's 41,000 feet safe operating limit, and maintained that altitude for about 20 minutes over the Malaysian Peninsula before beginning to descend, the source said.
Investigators have determined that the missing jet was equipped with four emergency locator transmitters, or ELTs, which are designed to transmit a plane's location to an emergency satellite when triggered by a crash or by contact with water, the source added.
The ELTs were at the plane's front door, its rear door, in the fuselage and in the cockpit, said the source, who was puzzled over why they appear either not to have activated or, if they did activate, why they were not picked up by the satellite.
Relatives of the 239 passengers and crew have raised questions about the ELTs with Malaysian authorities, suggesting there were at least three aboard the plane, including two portable units and one fixed device.
Malaysia Airlines would not comment
Malaysia Airlines has declined to answer CNN's questions about the ELTs and other matters. The airline said it could not comment on "any questions that relate to information held by other authorities and/or fall under the jurisdiction of the ongoing investigation. ..."
As the details about the investigation emerged, the work of searching for the plane continued Friday, when a drone submerged to the bottom of the Indian Ocean for its sixth trip in search of the missing Malaysian plane.
A fifth mission had been aborted when problems with its inertial navigation system arose, said Michael Dean of the U.S. Navy.
Gist Arena
The plane deviated from its planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing by turning leftward over water while it was still inside Vietnamese airspace, a senior Malaysian aviation source told CNN's Nic Robertson.
The aircraft then climbed to 39,000 feet, just short of the Boeing 777-200ER's 41,000 feet safe operating limit, and maintained that altitude for about 20 minutes over the Malaysian Peninsula before beginning to descend, the source said.
Investigators have determined that the missing jet was equipped with four emergency locator transmitters, or ELTs, which are designed to transmit a plane's location to an emergency satellite when triggered by a crash or by contact with water, the source added.
The ELTs were at the plane's front door, its rear door, in the fuselage and in the cockpit, said the source, who was puzzled over why they appear either not to have activated or, if they did activate, why they were not picked up by the satellite.
Relatives of the 239 passengers and crew have raised questions about the ELTs with Malaysian authorities, suggesting there were at least three aboard the plane, including two portable units and one fixed device.
Malaysia Airlines would not comment
Malaysia Airlines has declined to answer CNN's questions about the ELTs and other matters. The airline said it could not comment on "any questions that relate to information held by other authorities and/or fall under the jurisdiction of the ongoing investigation. ..."
As the details about the investigation emerged, the work of searching for the plane continued Friday, when a drone submerged to the bottom of the Indian Ocean for its sixth trip in search of the missing Malaysian plane.
A fifth mission had been aborted when problems with its inertial navigation system arose, said Michael Dean of the U.S. Navy.
Gist Arena
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