I'm going to bring this up again, for the third time, because I'm becoming more and more convinced it will play a part in the final outcome.
The plane lost contact/communication at ~1:22 am, when it failed to turn over contro of the flight path to Vietnamese controllers. This could be the beginning of the incident whether it be from electronic failure or human intervention. Regardless, the plane continued to fly and be identified for another hour and nineteen minutes. It is most likely this identification was from the plane itself, not land based radar. During this hour plus flying, the plane changed course, apparently heading for home, when the identification signal stopped. It was 2:41 a.m.
Whatever caused the initial loss of contact with the Vietnamese controllers could account for any future failures at voice communications--that's why the crew never called out for help nor notified home of their plight. Perhaps the communication failure was being addressed as they continued on, discovered to be more serious that originally believed, and the crew decided to turn back. During the return flight, whatever caused the initial communication failure compounded into a failure of the broadcast system that identifies the plane, and so the plane "disappears" from ground receptors at 2:41 a.m. How far did it travel in that hour and nineteen minutes? What direction was it traveling? Did the plane continue to fly after the identification signal stopped? If so, how much longer?
All the above is just speculation, of course, based on limited information. However, I'm beginning to think they will find the plane far from where the initial search has taken place. Further, and for no logical reason, I'm starting to doubt the terrorist angle. I offer these thoughts as fodder to us all in a general discussion of this mystery, and in an attempt to move away from the tin foil hat explanations of aliens, Bermuda Triangles, and complicated kidnapping plots.
Plausible. But what event could 100% disable the communications system on the airplane while still allowing it to fly for AT LEAST another 1:20? Remember that it's a modern 777 with three VHF radios, two HF radios, satellite phone, and satellite datalink. It also likely had satellite internet access. These systems would be isolated for safety and redundancy so that one incident couldn't take them all out.