Plane likely on autopilot
The search for the missing flight moves further south in the Indian Ocean. A report about the change in the search area states the crew may have been unresponsive due to a lack of oxygen, a state known as hypoxia. The report states the assumption was:
made for the purposes of defining a search area and there is no suggestion that the investigation authority will make similar assumptions.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss says:
It is highly, highly likely that the aircraft was on autopilot, otherwise it could not have followed the orderly path that has been identified through the satellite sightings