Two passengers aboard the recently-downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beijing, China were flying on passports belonging to an Italian man and an Austrian man who had had theirs stolen in the past two years.
The users of the two passports were flying as China Southern code-share customers on the MH flight, checked in at KL at the same time and were booked to travel onwards from Beijing to the same destination, meaning they would not have needed China visas.
Malaysian authorities reportedly also are checking the bona fides of two other passengers.
In total, of the 239 on board, there were at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans on the six-hour flight, which departed KL not long after midnight on March 8.
Oil slicks
Meanwhile, two large oil slicks in the water off the southern tip of Vietnam could have come from the Boeing 777.
The slicks, according to Vietnam's government, are consistent with the kind that would be produced by the leaking fuel tanks of a crashed plane.
A total of 22 aircraft and 40 ships have now been deployed in the area by Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the United States, as well as Vietnam's fleet.
Catastrophic failure
Meanwhile, an aviation lawyer with experience in similar cases says he expects there was a catastrophic failure while flying at altitude.
Steve Marks believes there was a catastrophic problem at 35,000 feet based on his work on the earlier case of Air France Flight 447, which crashed in the Atlantic en route to Paris.
The Boeing 777 should automatically have been broadcasting reports of any problems if there were any, Marks says, and the lack of reports indicates a catastrophic failure, perhaps from the plane breaking up, from a lack of pressurisation or from a complete electrical failure.
"There would have been reporting through the radios or the computer system," Marks said. "The complete absence of any information suggests a catastrophic failure."
Terrorism experts have acknowledged scenarios including pilot error or suicide are possible.
Turned back?
There also were indications Sunday that the plane might have attempted to turn back, both military and civilian radar operators in the region have reported.
Two passengers aboard the recently-downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Beijing, China were flying on passports belonging to an Italian man and an Austrian man who had had theirs stolen in the past two years.
The users of the two passports were flying as China Southern code-share customers on the MH flight, checked in at KL at the same time and were booked to travel onwards from Beijing to the same destination, meaning they would not have needed China visas.
Malaysian authorities reportedly also are checking the bona fides of two other passengers.
In total, of the 239 on board, there were at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans on the six-hour flight, which departed KL not long after midnight on March 8.
Oil slicks
Meanwhile, two large oil slicks in the water off the southern tip of Vietnam could have come from the Boeing 777.
The slicks, according to Vietnam's government, are consistent with the kind that would be produced by the leaking fuel tanks of a crashed plane.
A total of 22 aircraft and 40 ships have now been deployed in the area by Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the United States, as well as Vietnam's fleet.
Catastrophic failure
Meanwhile, an aviation lawyer with experience in similar cases says he expects there was a catastrophic failure while flying at altitude.
Steve Marks believes there was a catastrophic problem at 35,000 feet based on his work on the earlier case of Air France Flight 447, which crashed in the Atlantic en route to Paris.
The Boeing 777 should automatically have been broadcasting reports of any problems if there were any, Marks says, and the lack of reports indicates a catastrophic failure, perhaps from the plane breaking up, from a lack of pressurisation or from a complete electrical failure.
"There would have been reporting through the radios or the computer system," Marks said. "The complete absence of any information suggests a catastrophic failure."
Terrorism experts have acknowledged scenarios including pilot error or suicide are possible.
Turned back?
There also were indications Sunday that the plane might have attempted to turn back, both military and civilian radar operators in the region have reported.
