we'll see you back here at 6:00. on the broadcast tonight, it kept flying for hours after it dropped off the radar. that is what investigators now suspect about flight 370. but if so, who was at the controls and where were they headed? nbc news exclusive. videotape evidence. an insider who says general motors knew about a dangerous defect and didn't fix it as people lost their lives. what lies beneath after that awful explosion in new york. a hard look at the crumbling and some say vulnerable pipes under so many cities and towns. and keeping the faith. the francis effect, a year later. "nightly news" begins now. good evening.

i'm lester holt sitting in tonight for brian. a stunning new revelation in the search for that missing malaysian jetliner is throwing a lot into question tonight, from the area being searched to what possibly could have been going on inside the cockpit. it now aheres that the 777 continued flying for hours after it vanished from radar. we know that, sources say, because the plane was transmitting discreet automated signals after the controllers lost sight of it on their radar screens. it's a puzzling clue that vastly expands the possibilities of where the plane ended up, and it leaves some experts to wonder aloud if this plane might have vanished because somebody wanted it to. nbc's tom costello continues to lead our coverage. he joins me thou with the very latest. tom, explain to me what these signals are. >> reporter: yeah, they are described as pings, and also

described to us as a wireless route they're stays on even when you're not really surfing the internet, transmit organize not transmitting precise information like a location. now, as it appears the plane headed out over the indian ocean the emphasis appears to be changing. it is now friday morning in southeast asia and the search for flight 370 is shifting to the west as u.s. government sources tell nbc news there is evidence that the plane's automated system gave off faint pings for up to four hours after going off radar. that means the plane could have traveled up to 2500 miles in any direction, a vast ex-pans of the globe that includes the indian ocean. >> what it doesn't tell us, though, what direction, whether it went west, east, north, south, because we have no radar coverage. so at this point we just know that the plane was still operational and probably didn't have a mechanical malfunction or failure. >> reporter: at the request of the malaysians, the u.s. destroyer uss kidd is now moving into the strait of malacca, and the white house says the search

area could expand even further. >> based on new information that is not necessarily conclusive, but new information shows a search may open in the indian open and we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy. >> reporter: u.s. government sources say also likely it appear morse likely that malaysia military radar did pick up the plane making a u-turn and reversing course, over malaysia and towards the indian ocean. meanwhile, search teams today were unable to find any debris in the area of the location where chinese satellites spotted something south of vietnam. today, the chinese say releasing some of the images were a mistake, but what we know is controllers lost contact with 370 somewhere between malaysia and vietnam. no radar, no radios, no identifying transponders. >> you turn it three clicks to the left and the transponder is off. >> reporter: 777 simulator instructor mitchell castto says if the plane did make a u-turn, it would be a deliberate action.

that could go wrong with the >> there is absolutely nothing that could go wrong with the airplane that would cause the transponder to turn off and the plane to automatically start to do a turn. >> the plane vanished. we have extended the search area because it is our duty to follow every lead, and we owe it to the families. and trust me when i say we will not give up. >> reporter: still, after six days no sign of flight 370. meanwhile investigators continue to look at the backgrounds of the crew, the 53-year-old captain and his 27-year-old first officer. so far, we're told, they have turned up nothing of concern, lester? >> tom, thanks. all right. we're joined again tonight by greg faith, former air safety director with the national transportation safety board. also a veteran pilot. he is in daytona beach, florida. greg, i know we risked getting into the loop of the cause, but let's walk through what we just heard there. the plane sending signals hours after it goes off radar. the transponder we're told it

has to be manually clicked off. is this looking less and less to appear that it is not an accident? >> exactly, lester. that's one of the first things that three days ago when they weren't finding wreckage in that search area, that really started to concern me. and then when the evidence started to come forth with the military radar, the facts that the airplane had made a u-turn, that was really suspicious. and when i think back at silkair and some of the things that were taking place, you had to look at out of the ordinary, if you will. that is what really got me interested in the fact that this was an intentional act and not an accident. >> and i'm painfully aware the pilots are not here to defend themselves, you mentioned 1997, silk air, the plane deliberately flown into a river by the pilot. we're getting into a criminal area here, but what would they need to do to at least run that possibility through? >> typical accident investigation looks at, basically, the pilots' background. they do a 72-hour history of the pilot. they try to determine personal life and things like that.

but with silk air we had to take it much deeper. we actually got into a lot of personal issues with the pilot. we looked very far back in his background and we saw that there were some psychological issues that were developing, thanks that were out of character. i think that's what investigators on the criminal side and the accident investigation side will really have to get into determine what the path of this flight was. all right, greg, thank you very much. as the search for the missing malaysia air flight enters the seventh day, a team in massachusetts, scientists are looking closely at this and could be called in to help. they have a skill set and equipment as well as experience that few possess. but as nbc's stephanie gosk found out, locating wreckage down below could take a very long time. >> reporter: june 1st, 2009, air france 447 plunged into the atlantic where the water is more miles deep and the terrain more rugged than anything on land. floating wreckage was found within days, but the search for

flight data recorders lasted more than two years. >> it was akin to looking in the mountains for a shoe box with a flashlight. >> reporter: they asked for help in massachusetts. scientist there's have a secret weapon, the remus 6,000. >> exactly. exactly. people are not in it. it's flying its own, navigating on its own. >> reporter: a robot submarine, that relies on sonar pulses to match the ocean floor, capable of covering 25 square miles in a single day. how do you figure out what is a rock and what is a piece of fuselage and what's a fish? how does that work? >> yes, well, actually it will show fish, and it will show changes in terrain. it's also the grouping. if we can see a lot of strong signals from one location, you would get an indication there is a lot of man-made objects there. >> reporter: in may 2011 this was the image the sub captured, a very telling blur. the remus went back and captured

high definition photos. mark dannet looked at them first. >> the first one i remember was a backpack on the bottom. >> reporter: you found a backpack? a bitter sweet moment. >> the celebration was yes we did find it. we'll come to a conclusion here. >> reporter: but it was the scene of the tragedy. >> yes, that is right. >> reporter: the scientists hope the phone will ring. but the range of subs ready to find flight 370. >> it is small, compact. packs a punch. >> reporter: what they need is an identifiable area, a hay stack, to begin a slow search for the needle. >> just like painting the wall or cutting the grass, kit be really boring too. but it's the only way to get the job done and be sure you're giving yourself every opportunity to find the aircraft. you don't want to miss it. >> reporter: finding air france 447 was a triumph not just of technology but of determination. the team at woods hole is ready to do it again. stephanie gosk, nbc news, woods hole, massachusetts. and as stephanie noted it is a slow and painstaking process. for more on how the team will

start its search down below, head to our website, nbcnews.com. tonight crews in new york are still working the scene of the massive explosion that leveled two apartment buildings, killing at least seven people. while the investigation is in its early stages, the blast raises serious concerns across the country about aging gas pipelines, including some that date back to the 1800s. nbc's ron allen has our report. >> reporter: whatever set off the explosion was so powerful, more than 24 hours later the inferno was still not completely out. hundreds who live nearby are homeless. >> i thought i was going to die, i kept saying don't you die in this apartment. your kids need you. >> everything, my whole house is destroyed completely. >> reporter: now investigators look deep into new york's old underground infrastructure. one gas line under suspicion is 127 years old. beyond new york, the nation has some 100,000 miles of gas pipes

50 years old or more, according to researchers at duke university. they also found thousands of gas leaks in boston and washington, d.c. using a street level detection vehicle. at least a dozen leaks in d.c. were potentially explosive, according to their analysis. >> more surprising was the fact that when we went back four months later, 3/4 of those dangerous leaks had not been fixed. >> reporter: from this explosion in san francisco in 2010 to this one a year later in allentown, pennsylvania, gas incidents cause an average of 17 deaths every year, and $130 million in property damage. if gas caused the blast in new york, with seven fatalities, it would be one of the nation's deadliest accidents of its kind. from this vantage point, a close-up look at the utter devastation. that hole over there, that pile of debris is where the two apartment buildings once stood. firefighters are still here. the conditions are harsh, the

temperatures frigid. it's windy. when you look at that pile of debris, you get a sense of how difficult it's going to be to conduct a thorough search and rescue operation for any survivors or victims. today, federal investigators say it is still too dangerous for them to get a close look at the site. >> we are operating under the assumption at this point that it is a natural gas leak. >> reporter: while emergency crews check nearby buildings for leaks, dozens of families have no place to call home. and tonight with as many as five people still unaccounted for, new york's mayor says the search and rescue operation continues. lester? >> ron allen here in new york, thank you. and a terrifying scene at the popular south by southwest festival in austin, texas. police say a driver intentionally drove a car into a crowd of people last night after apparently trying to avoid a checkpoint. two people were killed and two dozen injured. police say the 21-year-old suspect is set to face capital murder charges. he could get the death penalty if he is convicted.

there is late word this evening of a plane accident on the runway at philadelphia international airport. the nose landing gear on a us airways jet collapsed during what initial reports say was an aborted takeoff. passengers were evacuated down the emergency slides. the runway was then shut down. there are no reports of any serious injuries. tonight a bipartisan group of senators says it has a deal to extend unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed for five months. approval by the senate would restore jobless benefits for nearly 2 million americans cut off at the end of last year, and it would put pressure on the house to act. and a quick note to follow up our series of reports this week about the crisis in syria. more than five million children have been affected by the war there. and today in washington, senators from both parties called on president obama to put forward a new strategy to help those children and address the growing humanitarian crisis. still ahead as we continue on "nbc nightly news," our

exclusive investigation. a general motors engineer who says gm knew about a dangerous defect and didn't fix it as people lost their lives. and later, photographic evidence of a man you know who was way ahead of his time. can you identify the famous man in this picture?

we are back now with our nbc news scloouchlt general motors is under new scrutiny after telling federal regulators that problems with some of its cars linked to deaths surfaced earlier than first thought. tonight, a look into why gm did not implement at least a partial fix nearly a decade ago. nbc's gabe gutierrez is at gm headquarters in detroit for us. gabe, good evening. >> reporter: lester, we're talking about several gm molds from '03 to '07, including the cobalt and pontiac g5s. according to hundreds of pages of court documents and video depositions of gm engineers,

reviewed by nbc news, general motors developed a partial fix to the ignition switch problem back in 2005 and decided not to announce to owners that it was available. general motors is now acknowledging that a potential problem with its ignition switches first surfaced in 2001, that is three years earlier than previously reported. video depositions obtained by nbc news show that nearly nine years ago gm engineers proposed a limited solution to make sudden ignition shut-off less likely, a problem that gm now acknowledges is now linked to at least 12 deaths. the testimony also shows that other gm officials made a business decision not to spend what a plaintiff's expert has described as about a dollar per car on what they called only a partial fix. >> they knew how to fix the problem or substantially reduce the problem and solely for cost reasons chose not to reduce the problem. >> reporter: that's lance cooper, a georgia attorney who

sued and settled with gm on behalf of the family of brooke melton, a 29-year-old who died on her birthday in 2010 when her '05 chevy cobalt crashed. >> it was her birthday. i just kept thinking, it's her birthday, it just can't happen on her birthday. >> reporter: according to the information, her ignition shut off, turning off the power system, and locked her brakes. >> she hydroplaned, went across two lanes of traffic and was hit in the side by another car. >> reporter: this is the type of car key at issue. gm says in its recall that weight, like a heavy dangling key chain, can cause it to move. see that large opening? in 2005, gm engineers proposed redesigning the key to replace this slot with a hole. gm says this design was initially approved but later cancelled. instead, the company ordered these inserts for any customer who came into a dealership complaining of an ignition problem. only 474 inserts were handed out.

lawyers at this deposition last june asked gary altman the former program engineering manager for the chevy cobalt, why. >> it made a business decision not to fix this problem, and five months later sold her a vehicle with the problem in it. >> object to form. argumentative. lack of foundation. >> you can answer. >> that is what happened, yes. >> reporter: altman, who is still with gm, went on to say the reason gm decided not to make the key fix in 2005 was that the change could not 100% fix the problem. altman also said he did not agree that the car was unsafe. >> the car could still be maneuvered to the side of the road. >> reporter: we found altman at his home outside of detroit. you mentioned something about a business decision and that you were the one that rejected it. >> i'm not going to comment on that. >> reporter: and asked him to clarify his testimony. why did it take so long for these recalls to happen? >> i can't answer that question. >> reporter: a high level executive told me gm is deeply troubled with some decisions

that were made. >> one single death is enough to make a recall. >> reporter: the justice department is also looking into whether gm may have broken a federal law that requires car makers to report problems to the government promptly. congress is also planning hearings, and lester, while gm officially declined to comment on camera about our investigation, gm officials made it clear that they are cooperating fully with federal regulators. >> gabe gutierrez tonight, thank you. when we come back, remembering a famous voice from hollywood rarely seen, but often heard at the movies.

hal douglas has died. you might not know his face, but you perhaps have heard his voice dozens, perhaps hundreds of times over this year. >> once upon a time is how these stories usually begin.

>> his legendary baritone was heard in trailer for thousands of movies and documentaries and trailers, comedies and movies alike. he is among the top hollywood voice-over artists ever, although he primarily worked from new york and later from his horse farm in virginia. hal douglas was 89 years old. long before the cell phone or instagram it turns out colin powell was into the selfie phase. today on throwback thursday, he the former secretary of state shared an image he took of himself 60 years ago. the facebook post has since racked up for man 75,000 likes. it also included the caption "eat your heart out, ellen", an attempt to compete with ellen degeneres's famous snapshot at the oscars. when we come back, what a difference a year makes. the francis effect.

finally tonight, it was a year ago that pope francis stepped onto the world stage walking onto that vatican balcony, a little known cardinal from argentina who would become one of the best known and best loved figures in the world. in the past year, he has begun to transform the catholic church, what's being called the francis effect. nbc's anne thompson has watched it happen. >> reporter: pope francis is the shepherd who loves to be close to his sheep.

comforting the sick, walking with the poor, welcoming a scene-stealing child. at ease, with an accessability nobody anticipated a year ago. >> he looked out at the crowd, i thought oh my goodness this man utterly overwhelmed. >> reporter: instead, he would overwhelm the world, simply by being himself. in his first eight months, drawing 6.6 million people to the vatican, nearly triple the number that came in all of 2012. it has been a surprising year for an institution under fire and resistant to change. this pope asked people to pray for him as he did on twitter today and that first night. and i had a front row seat for much of it. meeting pope francis on his flight to rio for world youth day. hearing him ask, who am i to judge on the way back? and a private audience in january with the university of notre dame.

he is listening to the faithful. trying to learn as they follow catholic teachings on contraception and divorce, a dialogue welcomed at the church of the holy trinity in new york city. rita and greg dorgan met and married here. >> because he is sending that message, i feel comfortable in saying no, come back. it's really not what you imagine it to be or how it was like when you were a kid. >> reporter: so far, surveys find no improvement in church attendance. but they're optimistic. >> after the hearts were filled, seats will follow. >> reporter: there is an attitude change, says this woman in chicago. >> i met people when i said i'm a campus minister. i work at loyola. they say oh, i love your boss. i said how do you know my boss? pope francis. >> and he remains a master, a shepherd happy with his flock. anne thompson, nbc news, new york.

that's our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you for being with us. i'm lester holt. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. nbc bay area news starts now. right now at 6:00, the search for the missing malaysian airlines jet stretches 30 thousand square miles, almost the size of the state of eindie indiana. >> the malaysian government ordered some searchers to redirect toward the indian ocean.

the pentagon confirming that u.s. planes and an american destroyer are headed there. also a high tech company from silicon valley is offering help. >> it's a startup and fairly new but quickly growing business of satellite imaging using technology to take high-resolution individual crow and pictures of what's on the ground from space. today we learned that one of those imaging companies is searching for that missing plane. as the search continues for malaysia air flight 370. >> we are continuing to investigate any possibilities. >> reporter: silicon valley technology is helping out thanks to a mountain view startup called sky box imaging. >> we can see things the size of