Since the governments and news organizations have not been able to find anything substantial out about the bizarre disappearance of flight 370, I figure that I will try constructing my own theory. Here goes..
Facts / Analysis
The copilot was in his 20’s. The pilot was in his 50’s. People in their 20’s are much more impressionable and more likely to participate in terrorism. Learned that from all of the television after 9/11.
It was largely reported that people’s cell phones were “ringing”, despite there not being anyone answering. Either the entire population on the flight were too timid to stand up to terrorists, or perhaps they were unconscious. Also, after the plane diverted (and probably changed altitude), it supposedly flew over Malaysia again. Cell towers would have been available and instant messages or emails or phone calls could have made it through. Even if a person was unconscious, as long as their phone was on, it would have been receiving emails. Mail server logs would show that the phone accessed it. I would expect that further analysis could correlate the IP address of the phone from the logs to a cell tower somewhere. Roaming would prevent data access, though, but text messages usually work when roaming, so anyone who sent a text messages should be able to track it. That is another potential way to locate the last known location of the plane.
The ACARS system was disabled from the cockpit, but not from the underbelly of the plane. So at least one deviant person must have been in the cockpit, not out and about the cabin.
The plane reportedly had enough fuel to travel for 8 hours.
Conclusion
I believe that the copilot killed the pilot. The pilot then slumped over the controls and the plane descended. The pilot then got the pilot out of his seat and took over the controls. Then he switched off the ACARS transmitter and whatever other location tracking systems there were that were turned off. Then he changed course. Then the copilot radio’d the tower one last time that all was ok. He probably got on the intercom and told the passengers that there was turbulence and that they were changing course to bypass it. Since nobody used or answered their cell phones, I believe that some sort of toxic gas was used in the plane that most likely killed the passengers. The copilot probably put on his oxygen mask to prevent the fumes from getting to him. Then the copilot flew the plane, alone, toward the east-Africa or the middle east where he intended to land the plane and use it for a yet-to-be-determined illicit purpose. If he did land the plane successfully, they would have immediately worked to conceal the plane. They would have had to hide it in an abandoned air field with a hangar. Any war torn nation in the region would probably have at least one abandoned air field. Once inside, they probably cut all power to the aircraft to shutdown all electronics – killing the only remaining functional transmitter. Then, they probably began to unload all of the bodies of the passengers and then worked to paint a new registration number on the plane.
A worst-case scenario would put that plane back in the air with a new tail number and full of either drugs or bombs. But since the sale of drugs can fund planes, such a hijacking would probably not take place. So it would have to be for bombs.
So my final conclusion is… Flight 370 was hijacked and is going to be re-purposed as a flying bomb.
Update: My perspective of this whole incident has changed quite a bit as the media has released new information about what might have happened to the plane. A former pilot also released his own assessment and I think that his assessment paints a picture that could make some sense. There are still many unanswered questions, though.
New Theory – Fire
The plane was carrying lithium ion batteries in the cargo bay. The batteries caught fire and the toxic smoke rendered the passengers unconscious. The pilot, being in the sealed cockpit, had more time than the passengers to act. He tried to turn the plane around, but heroically tried to fly over the ocean to minimize the risk to people on the ground. The fire got out of control faster than he expected. He had to act quickly. Electricity to the communications systems was disrupted. The pumps that pump oxygen were not working. The pilots brought the plane into higher air hoping that the high altitude would extinguish the fire, but since oxygen was not working, they were quickly rendered unconscious. The plane continued to fly on auto pilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean.