The report from The Wall Street Journal said U.S. aviation investigators and national security officials were basing their belief that the missing plane kept flying on data automatically transmitted to the ground from the passenger jet’s engines.
The account has raised questions among some U.S. officials about whether the plane had been steered off course “with the intention of using it later for another purpose,” the newspaper reported, citing a “person familiar with the matter.”
The newspaper said it was unclear whether the aircraft had landed somewhere or had crashed.
But Malaysia’s acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein rejected the Wall Street Journal report at a news conference Thursday, reiterating that the plane sent its last transmissions at 1:07 a.m. Saturday.
Authorities have not ruled out the possibility the plane continued to fly, however. And given the lack of evidence, all options remain on the table.