4 questions about missing Malaysian plane answered

He asked: "Why did the Malaysian military see the plane on their radar but not report it immediately?''

A: The Malaysian Air Force's official line is that its radar operators spotted the plane but didn't have any reason to suspect it. This is why they didn't attempt to contact the plane or scramble jets to intercept it. Many aviation and defense experts say there are grounds to doubt this. They speculate the air force failed to spot the unidentified plane entering its airspace, or if it did, didn't respond to what could potentially have been a national security threat. Admitting that would be a highly embarrassing and sensitive for any air force, and could be the reason for the delay in publicly confirming that the plane did turn back.

Aylen Meir, 25, of Munich, Germany, in Bangkok and on her way to Australia to work as an au pair.