they were in control at takeoff. but then something bad happened intentionally or not. police are also interviewing airline mechanics, even cleaning crews, anybody who touched that airplane before it left the ground. that's back in malaysia on land, the area where the aircraft could be is enormous. 25 countries have sent search planes and ships but considering all plausible theories, that 777 could literally be anywhere on earth by now, anywhere. the u.s. navy is out there searching the indian ocean. stay there. i'm going to talk to an officer on board the "uss blue ridge." that's just in a few minutes on cnn. first, jim clancy in kuala lumpur right now. jim, tell us about this extra close look that those two pilots are getting. what are they looking for and what have they found so far, jim?

>> reporter: because it is believed that it is only the pilots that could have disabled the communications system and then switched off the transponder, it is true every single person on that airplane that touched it is going to be re-examined. the focus is on the pilots. the police searched the homes. some dispute, had they gone into the homes earlier in the week? we do know they took the flight simulator that had been built by the zaharie ahmad shah. they are examining that more closely. with so far, what they saw was entirely normal for a flight simulator program, the ability to take off and land in various

weather conditions that someone might set. their friends are being interviewed. people are talking about it there has been a lot of speculation. thus far, no solid evidence of a real motive from either of these men. they become just two more people missing from flight 370, until and unless some really hard evidence surfaces. don? >> jim, given what you just said about that simulator, why the intrigue? why do investigators appear to be fascinated with the simulator now? >> i talked to one of the people who was close to the investigation who said they are operating on one theory. they have many. perhaps the pilot or co-pilot had someone else on the plane to try to help them. there is no indication these two men in any way coordinated their assignment together on the flight. it was entirely at random. people are thinking about, is it a possibility that someone else was on the plane to help them?

>> as they do that, they would wonder immediately, how would they learn about a 777. that's where the simulator comes in. certainly the pilot and the co-pilot didn't need a simulator. that's just a theory at this point that investigators here in malaysia are following up on. don? >> all right. jim clancy, stand by. and i may bring you in as part of this panel. i want to talk about the search and what clues international investigators have to go on. at this point we are joined by mary schiavo cnn aviation analyst and former inspector general of the u.s. department of transportation. rob mccallum is a 30-year veteran of ocean exploration, whose specialty is deep water searches and seth caplan is managing partner of "airline weekly," an industry trade publication. so, mary, i am going to start with you. when the limited information that investigators have, what should they be looking for and where should they be looking? >> well, i think they need to look back at the airline. they need to look for the pilots. need to look for motives and clues and where they might have been headed and what they might have been doing and even if they have the right suspects in mind. then those clues would probably

help them to narrow in on the search areas. because without motive and some kind of indication of what they were really planning, it is difficult as everybody is realizing, to search the earth. i think that will help. >> the malaysians appears, they are getting a lot of criticism, to be less than forthcoming about this investigation. have they hampered their own investigation? >> well, it's difficult to say what they have done up until now. i have to say, i was personally surprised they waited to look at the pilot's home and search the pilot's home and get his flight simulator. and we haven't heard much about the co-pilot either but in the united states, for example, after 9/11, that started immediately, every passenger, everybody that touched that plane, the security, they were all considered suspects until they were basically proven innocent. >> okay. i have been wanting to ask you this since this all started. and the longer this goes on, i am just flabbergasted that nothing -- where is this plane? it is unbelievable that it has been almost 11 days and nothing. >> and nothing and no tips, no

of clues, no sightings, no callings. after 9/11, things were just flooding in. you just couldn't even keep track of so many clues and people having seen something or heard something or heard somebody say something or noticed something in the airport, nothing. the silence is very odd. it could be frightening or it could be indicative of something. >> does the silence speak anything? usual people say silence speaks volumes. does that speak towards anything? does it speak toward the possibility of terrorism? does it speak toward the possibility that the plane is just in some place and we haven't found it? anything? >> well, to me, i mean it's one extreme or the other. i think the one extreme is that there wasn't a plot. something happened and/or there they certainly didn't do that on 9/11. >> i don't know if rob is flabbergasted by this.

you do deep water searches. you're an expert at ocean exploration. if that jet is in the indian ocean, searches are up against -- that's a big thing to be up against. maybe we should not be so surprised. >> yeah. for us as searching the sea floor, it is really important to narrow that search area down as much as possible. it is something like 200 knots. if you're searching in a ship you're searching at a tenth of that speed. if you're on sonar you're searching on a tenth of that speed so it is critical to our success. >> even if the jet has been in the ocean ten days, how does this impact the investigation? >> from our point of view, not a great deal. we are not bound by time on when

the aircraft crashed. we have found aircraft, ships, submarines, military hardware that's been in the ocean for decades. obviously there's a drive to find out what happened to the aircraft. from our perspective it is better to be accurate rather than fast. >> i want to you give me some scenarios. we've been talking about different theories about what happened. is there a chance that a jet that large could have handled somewhere on land without y country detecting it or is that implausible? >> it is highly unlikely. that a plane like this certainly, a plane in addition that was in some sort of trouble could have handed, let's say, unscathed on some remote island going undetected. very unlikely. it could have crashed somewhere on land? we draw a circle using the radius of where it could have traveled during all those hours,

we don't know where it was. certainly plausible that it could have been somewhere on land but more likely in water because there is more water. again, if you look over to where the plane could have gone down. much harder to have something like that go undetected. to protect the scale of the mystery hear, and the, what the investigators are facing trying to find it. consider that air france 447 went down off brazil. we knew more or less where it went down. there was debris floating not long after. the plane had emitted distress signals. yet it took nearly two years to find a lot of that wreckage on the ocean floor. >> seth, i'm going to pose this question to you. had i told you had i had you on this show two weeks ago, i'm going to give you this scenario. there is a plane that goes missing in the middle of the night and we won't know what happened to it for ten, 11 days. you would say, no way, don. that would never happen.

>> not that we would know this little. again, as i mentioned the air france crash. certainly. in case it did take really two years before we had some good idea once the voice and data recorders were recovered and then another year more or less to narrow it down. so there have been crashes that weren't obvious within a short period of time. that we would have this little indication, there is not a lot of press dental for it. >> i'm willing to guess, i'm willing to bet you would say that we would not be in this position where we knew absolutely nothing. virtually almost nothing about what happened. >> i want to go back to kuala lumpur. that they should have a conversation rate now. we're talking about the investigation here. go ahead.

>> one of the people close to the investigation says they believe the plane may have been taken to a high altitude. perhaps 40,000 feet or more programs to renter the passengers unconscious. is that even possible? wouldn't the overhead oxygen have automatically deployed? >> yes, they would have. just taken the plane up to 45,000 feet wouldn't have automatically depreciatized the plane any way. i worked a case nam of years back where they took to it 42,000 feet. the biggest risk baltimore your engines couldn't handle it. you have to climb at a slow rate of speed, particularly at that altitude. it was a dual engine flameout. so the engines couldn't handle the 42,000 foot height and the rate of climb. so at 45,000 feet, unless the plane depressurized, the oxygen mask would fall and they have the little canisters that everyone knows what they look like after the valujet crashed. they were very much an issue. they're little canisters that generate the oxygen.

so that would not have killed the passengers and they would have been oxygen for the period of time the canisters will supply it. >> is a catastrophic mechanical failure completely out of the question now in your point of view? >> well, you know, it would be if we had any other clues whatsoever. i still find it difficult that we could have what clearly must be a multinational plot to deliver a plane somewhere else. they certainly didn't handled it in malaysia. and there is a complete total information or news blackout. and the suicide theory doesn't make sense yet either because we don't have a motive. and maybe it is because the police haven't finish their investigation and haven't really investigated the pilots. in any crime, motive is just as important as opportunity. we don't have a motive yet and i don't understand the seven hours. if it was a ability suicide, why

play the for seven hours. if you're deciding whether or not to do it, presumably the co-pilot and others on the plane would have picked something up. so to me, no, i'm still not willing to rule out entirely the possibility of the catastrophic mechanical failure. we still know the transponder they're saying has been turned off. we just don't know why. >> very interesting. most people think if it had been a terrorism plot, someone would have said something by now. thanks to everyone. we'll get back to some of you throughout this broadcast. coming up, the pain from the underwater ends in 30 days. what happens then? plus, frustrations and tensions are rising over the investigation. did malaysian authorities botch this and waste valuable time? that's next. . they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married,

they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense. so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 a month? yup. all 5 of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line, anytime, for $15 a month. low dues, great terms. let's close! new at&t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business. starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care for you or your family.

this is developing news into cnn. this involve another commercial aircraft. a delta 757 losing part of its

wing while in the air tonight. a flight from atlanta to orlando. we're told everyone is okay. we're told the incident did not impact the jet's ability to fly. no word yet on a cause and a delta spokesman call the situation highly unusual. again they're saying the plane reported that an access panel had come off the plane's wing while in flight. can you imagine being on that plane? a flight from, to atlanta, georgia, from orlando, florida. the crew followed procedures, we're told. declared an emergency. the plane was able to land, offload passengers without incident. since we have mary schiavo here, that is quite lucky to be in the air and to land. >> lucky on a couple fronlts. it is a 757. the engines are on the wings. that could have been fog that got into the engines and injured

the blades. been much more catastrophic. on the wing on a 57 and it is a tough old plane. they're very old planes now at this point so that might play into it as well. once a plane hits 20 years, it is supposed to have an aging protocol. so it is very fortunate the kind of plane it was. it was probably not very comforting. it would have been a very strange sight. you would have seen the parts, the struts, right. it kofbl a little disconcerting. >> but it's good, the parts and the struts and everything inside that panel were working because they were able to land safely. let's get back now to our special coverage. we'll talk about this search. this is brand new video. this shows the pilot and co-pilot of flight 370 walking through security at kuala lumpur's international airport. this is new into cnn.

it shows the pilot and the co-pilot walking through security at kuala lumpur's international airport before the flight took off. ten days ago. it was before. we don't know when the video may have been taken. families are waiting in agony for word of their loved ones. police are examining a flight simulator the captain kept in his home. i want to bring in our analysts. brett larson has been giving us great information with the technology here. china is getting furious. india suspended its search in frustration. what's going on here? >> i think they completely have from day one. the plane flew over penang. it was picked up on radar.

the mill very early on alerted the government. they did nothing with it. they let the chinese look in the wrong place. they let us look in the wrong place. now apparently they're not letting us into the passenger list completely. they're not sharing data. they on their own cannot trace the passengers and the crew. the fbi kneads to do and it the cia and the national security agency would have the most complete files. and they're not letting this through. so you know, they're in denial when their own pilots, possibly the co-pilot or somebody, a citizen, hijacked this airplane themselves don't want to admit it. >> i'm glad you said that. as we talk about, they're at everyone. from the pilot to the co-pilot to the passengers, people are saying that is disrespectful to look at those passengers, those four people on board. absolutely i agree with that. but they have to look at every single scenario, every possibility. background checks on the passengers. what are they looking for that

hasn't already turned up? >> well, more people with stolen passports. you have to have that complete list of passport numbers. you have to be able to check it against the data bases or chinese data bases. if you're going to wait, you know, a week, ten days, you're losing track of this airplane completely. the longer they wait. for india, what did they pick up on their radar? did they pick anything up? they have very sophisticated military. i think they would have seen something but i have yet to hear anything. what disturbs me most about this is there has been no chatter of any sort suggesting this was terrorism. you would think somebody would come up on a phone call and say, hey, it worked. nothing has come up so far. >> brett larson? >> i think this brings up a lot of interesting points and a lot of interesting angles, a lot of looks at technology. >> he says no chatter. >> we've gotten a lot of scrutiny for our nsa and how

they're tracking all of us. i think when we step back and take a look at this, we have to understand that we're not dealing with, this isn't an accident that happened in our country. this isn't an accident that happened in europe where they have more of these systems in place like this to go wrong. these disparity countries spread out that have vast rural areas that don't have the technical resources we have. something like this happened off our coast, we have the best technology in the military and we're there and we could have found this. any sort of leads we would have traced them down a lot quicker. >> you brought up a very good point when we were having our discussion. up, listen. the tracking system, the satellites and what have you. we were talking about that northern track. we shouldn't be so sure that that plane would be picked up and those particular areas. i want you to talk about that again. why is it? i thought it was very important that you brought that up. >> well, don, i spent a lot of time in central asia. that was my last assignment. i was in charge of that.

you have the entire military infrastructure in that part of the world is decayed. it doesn't work. there is nobody even manning the sites let alone manning them in the middle of the night. it would be very easy to get a jet in that air space. the problem would be hiding it once it got on the ground. so if wasn't picked up in central asia, it doesn't surprise me at all. even kazakhstan is a fairly advanced country but even their radar isn't very good. >> do you want to discuss that, mary? >> it depends. i'm reluctant to pick on other countries of the world because i'm remembering back to september 11, 2001. we've had the same problems. i've worked cases, not terrorism cases but i've worked terrorism cases where air traffic controllers fell asleep. i've worked cases where they aren't paying attention, the radar is not being monitored. in the u.s. it is very easy to get complacent and especially at night. even in the u.s. we shut down towers. we shut down certain facilities

at night. that's what we do. and we do it to save money. and i imagine other countries do the same thing. >> i want to get this answer quickly because i'm up against a break. we did say we would talk about whether time is running out with the pings. 30 days? is that correct? >> 30 days on the battery for the pingers as they call it. the nontechnical term. but other things are dissipating. if there was any explosive residue. if there are parts of the plane that can show what happened to the damage. the wave action, i remember on alaska 261 when we worked on that one. it was important to get a jackscrew was ejected from the plane. it controls the horizontal stabilizer. it was important to get that to see if there was any grease on it. that was important. so the ocean water can work its toll and so can a jungle if it is there. >> i want to talk about crowd sourcing. we'll get to that possibly in this broadcast. if not next week as we look for this plane. coming up you'll hear from a dad of one of the passengers and the

pain he is going through. we must remember the family members here. what he would tell his son. next. plus -- >> think about like olympic rings. you have a circle and then another circle. when all three of those, five of those, three come together, that one little cross is where the plane would be. just like your car. >> how crews are using satellite information and the jet's final ping to pimt its last location. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.

the recent increase in cafeteria prices is not cool. when you vote for flo, we'll have discounts. ice-cream discounts. multi-cookie discounts. pizza loyalty discounts! [ kids chanting "flo!" ] i also have some great ideas on car insurance. [ silence ] finding you discounts since back in the day. call or click today. i like her.

in case you're just joining us on cnn. this just in. another bizarre situation involving a commercial flight. a delta 757 losing part of its wing while in air tonight. a flight from orlando to atlanta. the crew declared an emergency. the plane handed. everyone is okay. we're told the incident did not impact the jet's ability to fly. no word yet on the cause of this but a delta spokesman call the situation highly unusual. 239 on board with the stunning lack of information, it seem the passengers and crew of malaysian airlines flight 370 have at times been reduced to

just a number. it is almost too much for one family. he recollect the image of his grandchildren begging their dad not to take that flight. >> for family of the passengers on flight 370, the wait is excruciating. if i had two or three, this father tells us, i might be able to accept it. but this is my only son. he is waiting for his son. 34-year-old, an i.t. specialist headed to beijing for a new job. surely they must find the plane, he says. that's all i hope for. the whole world is out for it. i ask him, what if they don't? he answers, if not, well, only god knows. it is in god's hands. it is fate.

he tells me he worked 20 years as a security guard to put his son through college. and at home, a wife and two young children also wait for him. he was responsible for everything, his father says, even these clothes i'm wearing. whatever country he was in he would call. once a week he would come see us with the whole family. he really took care of us. >> he was telling me that the two younger children didn't want to see their father to go beijing. so they clung to his legs and refused to let him go out the door until he promised to bring them chocolates and presents when he got home. very sad. >> before we leave, he tells us to call any time with any news we have. he hardly sleeps, he says. and now he never turns his phone off. not even for a moment. cnn, malaysia. >> investigators have searched

the home of the pilots of malaysian flight 370. what we could learn from clues >> i'm so glad we're doing this segment. we have to remember these families. what they're going through. time is passing by. we have no wreckage, no debris, no evidence of any kind. should these families hold on to any bit of hope as long as there is no evidence no, obvious sign the plane is gone for sure? >> well, i think human nature is such that people do hold out hope for as long thaes possibly can. they cling to stories of maybe kidnap victims that are found decades later and these ideas. it is really hard to have closure when you don't know. when you really are coping with this idea of not knowing. >> yeah. one of the -- i watched piers morgan's show the other night.

there was a young lady whose husband had taken off going to mongolia. and he said to her, i'm going to leave my wedding band. and i'm going to leave my watch. if something happens, i want the older boy to get the band, the wedding band. i want the younger boy to get the watch. and she said come original silly. don't talk that way. you'll come back. and slemd but right now, there is no finality. no word. she wants to hear something. she is holding out hope. she wants to hear something, wendy. >> it is interesting, the stories of premonition that's come up whenever there's tragedy on. one sense you could think a certain proportion of people generally are afraid of flying and we have a lot of separation anxiety when we leave our family. maybe that's all that was. other people and plenty of psychologists believe the unconscious knows all. on some level he might have known this would be his last flight. >> i completely believe in that

100%. we have to consider the idea the plane could be gone. and passengers are gone. but that we simply may not find any evidence for such a long, long time. if it becomes apparent, at what point do loved ones have to step worst here? >> it will be different for everybody and every family. they may hold on to keeping someone's bedroom intact and tlaul clothing there for years while they're waiting to hear. i think that it really is too soon for anyone in the family to lose hope at this point. they're hearing all this speculation about things that could have happened, that maybe the plane handled somewhere. so to begin grieving right now is probably too early for most of these families. >> this is an odd question but i have to ask you. we're talking about finality. is it worse? what's worse? holding out hope and not knowing or having some finality knowing,

okay, there was a terrorist situation or there was, that it crashed? >> well, people grieve in different ways and for different lengths of time. and of course, once you finally are able to get through the dwreefg process and of course the big healer will be time for all these people. the further they get away from this tragedy in the future. others may hold out hope for a really, really long time. definitely psychologically to get through the grieving process within a year, for instance, is helpful. if they're still holding out hope for a year from now it extends the pain for a very long time. >> yeah, yeah. thank you. appreciate it. >> coming up, i'm going to speak live with someone on board a u.s. navy ship. right now they are searching for flight 370. stay right there. like this before. but something about spending this time together -- sailing past ancient glaciers in alaska --

makes you realize how old time is and how short life is. she can take all the time she wants. princess cruises. come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your seven-day cruise from just $549. call your travel agent or 1-800-princess. call your travel agent ...return on investment wall isn't a street... isn't the only return i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. sunny or bubbly? cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? wheels or wheeeels? everything exactly the way you want it ...until boom, it's bedtime.

your mattress isn't bliss: it's a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the all-new sleep number classic series. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. starting at just $699.99 for a queen mattress. he's the softy: his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock: your setting is 60. that works. he's the night owl. his side's up while you're in dreamland. you're the early bird. up and at 'em. no problem, because you're in it together... keeping the love alive. and by the way - snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for that. crazy? only if sleeping peacefully with your soulmate is crazy. find your sleep number setting only at one of our 425 stores nationwide. you can afford a sleep number bed, you can't afford another mediocre night's sleep. know better sleep with sleep number.

25 countries have joined the search. the united states is one of them. a navy destroyer with specialized helicopters on board is in the northern indian ocean. military jets with recon equipment flying missions day and night. so far like every other search crew over the past ten days,

they have found nothing yet. so on the phone with me now is the spokesman for the u.s. seventh fleet. navy commander william marks on board the uss blue ridge. commander, as i understand it, you're in the south trying to see. tell us about how you're searching for something you aren't sure is even there. >> it is quite a challenge. it is something we've never seen before. right now we have the uss kid, our class destroyer moving a little bit north. they went through the strait two days ago. they're now moving north toward burma. they searched about 1,000 every single day. they'll fly sorties continuously through the day. about three and a half hours each. each time they fly they'll search about a couple hundred

square miles. come back, refuel and then right back out. they keep it going throughout the day. i should also point out we have two fixed ring patrol aircraft. those are land based flying out of kuala lumpur. they fly, their range is well over a thousand miles. and then once they get there, they have another four hours on station. so yesterday we had to fly all the way to the bay of bengal. do a four-hour search and then come back. like you said, we have not found anything. we can definitely see things on our radar. we've seen small debris, wooden crates, trash. but nothing from an aircraft wreck. >> can you talk to me more about the methodology there? is it a grid system? or are you taking particular areas and you'll find out? we'll go out this far, this direction, this day, or this

direction this time? talk to me more about the methodology. >> it does start out as more of a general grid system. we're actually, there were 25 countries crick. it started nine, ten and then moved out. even with a grid system, there is quite a bit of flexibility. so for example the p-8 yesterday, they had another couple hours of search time and they had to make a decision. do they search an area that has not yet been covered or do they go search an area where they saw a little bit of return coming on their radar but they were not sure what it was. they made the decision to go ahead and search the area with the radar return. there is a lot of flexibility. especially when you consider the size of the area. we have some very intelligent pilots. they're making the best of it. >> we know you're very busy.

we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. i want to bring in chad myers. he is in the cnn weather center. this search area keeps expanding. >> i wanted to ask commander marks. he is here. the kidd is up heare. i wanted to ask why ma, where malaysia thinks the plane is because of the last ping. maybe we can get him back tomorrow or the next day. they'll be very, very busy. i wonder if those helicopters can fly over land? oh, commander, you're still there. >> i listen to you on the news all the time. >> thank you. i have the map of where the malaysian government has put these little arcs. i'm sure you've seen them. your ships are not near the arcs. are you searching a different

pattern or are you doing something completely different? or do you have other information? >> the two, the northern most arc you see goes over land. we're not really flying over land. we have permission from malaysia to fly over their territory. any time you fly over anyone's land, you need their permission. right now, malaysia, the southern most arc, no one is down in that area. to be honest, it will get out there a thousand, maybe 1,200 nautical miles from their base in kuala lumpur. that only gets you halfway to the bay of bengal. it is such a huge area. no one is really even begun to look in that southern most track yet. >> how long will you be out there searching? >> great question. when we started out in the gulf

of thailand, it had defined boundaries and defined parameter in there. and normally in the u.s. navy, what we do is the first 72 hours. that's critical to finding people and survivors. and the first thing we do was launch a helicopter. that's what we do immediately. you have a central point. you have a starting point to look and your helicopter starts there. totally works its way out. now we have a whole ocean. and quite frankly, it is a pretty unprecedented scenario. i can't tell you how long we'll be out here. we have 300 to 400 sailors right now. we had 700 at one point in this operation and they're doing a great job. and this is a 24-hour business for them out here. >> good luck to you, sir. >> just unbelievable. >> thank you, thank you, commander. when you look at the size of the indian ocean. they're in the south china sea. it is overwhelming to think about the amount of area that

they have to search. >> it truly is, buddy. i added this up because i can do an area search on a google map. we're looking at about 2 million square miles. if you only go 200 mile one way or the other of this last potential ping, if you weren't with us, i don't have time to show you why we have this red arc here and this arc here but trust me, it is part of an incomplete gps locator. the plane was somewhere along here at 8:11. if you go 100 mile either side of that, you get something almost two-thirds of the united states to search for one airplane. >> chad myers, appreciate it. coming up, i'm going to speak with a military and survival expert who says we should hold out hope. we should hold out hope that everyone on board that flight is still alive. he said it is very much possible. plus, more on our breaking news. a delta flight here in the u.s.

losing part of its wing while in the air tonight. things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense. so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 a month? yup. all 5 of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line, anytime, for $15 a month. low dues, great terms. let's close! new at&t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business.

starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care for you or your family. that moment you enjoy it at home. geico motorcycle. see how much you could save.

in case you're just joining us, another bizarre situation involving a commercial flight. this is just into cnn. a delta 757 losing part of its wing while in the air tonight. in the air. a flight from orlando to atlanta. the crew declared an emergency. the crew landed. we're told everyone is okay and we're told the incident did not impact the jet's ability to fly. no word yet on the cause. a delta spokesman calls it highly unusual. we'll continue to follow this as we get more information.

now to more on the missing malaysian airlines flight 370. i would like to bring in survivor e.j. snyder. he says there is still hope at the passengers and crew members are still alive here. so what makes you such an optimist about this, e.j.? >> optimism and a positive attitude will get you through anything in life. you have to stay positive. for the loved ones, even more so. you never want to give up hope. you give up hope and you already lost. so until you have definitive anxiouses on where the plane is at, you never give up hope. you have to stay positive. >> you have a similar situation. is there a situation where people have survived anything like this? >> there are historical cases where people have been shipwrecked on islands, on boats, and airlines that have gone down. the actions on the ground of those that rise up to greatness that are the leaders of the situation of chaos that are calm

that get people through and keep them alive. >> e.j., i'm not sure how well you know the area that they're talking about. these two different arcs. so considering where the flate may have been landed, 370, may have landed, even crashed. is there a legitimate survival possibility even ten days later? >> ten days can be a long time. the human spirit is an amazing thing and it can endure a lot of difficult things and difficult situations. it is up to those on the ground to assess the situation right up front. take care of casualties. separate the dead and wound. if there are dead, and then start taking action as a survivalist would. take action to extend your period of life. your survivability and chances of being rescued. there is a certain order we do those in. shelter, everyone will need water. especially those injured and start setting up signal fires

and ways to search the rescuers, by air accident foot or on the boat. >> let's hope your optimism is right. thank you for joining us on cnn. one of the biggest mysteries ever. a plane and all of its passengers disappeared over michigan. more than six decades later, the crews and their families are still waiting for closure. there's a new form of innovation taking shape.

at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal.

the world are asking the very same question. how can a plane big enough to carry so many passengers vanish without a trace? in fact it has happened before. tonight, a story of flight 2501. a story with still no ending. >> 64 years later, and the pain is still there for darlene larson. she was just 5 years old, her father leo wooler was flying home to his wife and seven children after a business trip. on june 23rd, 1950, he boarded northwest flight 2501 heading to minnesota. it never made it. vanishing somewhere over lake michigan. >> i was awoken by my mother's crying. she did her best to tell me what had happened. that my father was gone and would not be coming back. >> flight 2501 was at that time america's worst aviation disaster. the plane accept for some bits

of human remains was never found. the cause never determined. the 58 passengers never recovered. >> it is hard a concept because you don't have something to hold on to. like a funeral or a casket or a grave. i was certain he was wandering around the streets of chicago with amnesia and he would one day realize where he was and come home. >> there in lies much of the mystery. why was this plane so far off its course? the author has interviewed more than 200 family members of the passengers from night 2501. they don't understand that it really happened. it is hard to conceive of of it. the mystery of what happened to flight 2501 has plagued these people for 64 years. haunted by the family's stories,

they've been hunting lake michigan for the plane's debris. >> ultimately finding that plane on the bottom of the lake would provide the final answers. that's what we hope can happen with the malaysia airlines accident. we need answers. >> answers that the families of flight 2501 never got. darlene larson and her six siblings grew up without their father. her mother never remarried. and asked that her ashes be spread at the suspected crash site in lake michigan so she could find her husband in death. a single gravesite where some of the human remains are buried marks the loss of all aboard the fateful flight. the living still coping. it is an erie thing wondering what actually happened. >> while most of us are riveted by the mystery of malaysian airlines, darlene can't bear to pay attention or watch the news. she said it is too close, too

familiar. cnn los angeles. >> thank you very much. i'm don lemon. we'll have much, much more on the search for malaysia throughout the evening right here on cnn and cnn.com. thank you so much for joining me only the. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love.

ink from chase. so you can. [ male announcer ] she won't remember this, being carried in your arms. but after a day spent in the caribbean exploring mayan ruins and playing pirates with you in secret coves, she won't exactly be short on memories. princess cruises. come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your seven-day cruise from just $549. call your travel agent or 1-800-princess. sunny or bubbly? cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? wheels or wheeeels? everything exactly the way you want it ...until boom, it's bedtime. your mattress isn't bliss: it's a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the all-new sleep number classic series. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. starting at just $699.99 for a queen mattress. he's the softy: his sleep number setting is 35.

you're the rock: your setting is 60. that works. he's the night owl. his side's up while you're in dreamland. you're the early bird. up and at 'em. no problem, because you're in it together... keeping the love alive. and by the way - snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for that. crazy? only if sleeping peacefully with your soulmate is crazy. find your sleep number setting only at one of our 425 stores nationwide. you can afford a sleep number bed, you can't afford another mediocre night's sleep. know better sleep with sleep number.

at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next.

comcastnbcuniversal. you're watching "cnn newsroom." welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. straight to our top stories now. the mystery deepens. an expanded search area covering thousands of miles. where is flight 370? intense scrutiny on the plane's captain and copilot. what have investigators found so far? celebrations in parts of ukraine as the voters in crimea decide to join russia. our top story, the search