Official: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was programmed to turn west
(CNN) - The United States is asking Malaysia for more transparency in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Malaysian Minister of Defense Monday night and encouraged his government to share what they know, as soon as they know it.
So far the investigation has been full of Malaysian authorities withholding key information, or releasing it, denying it and creating mass confusion.
What we do know about the missing plane?
The disappearance may have been carefully planned. CNN learned Tuesday that the sharp left turn that the plane made was programmed into the plane's software.
A law enforcement official tells CNN that the first key turn off the plane's scheduled route was almost certainly programmed by somebody in the cockpit.
Who was that "somebody"?
U.S. officials, citing Malaysian authorities, say an initial search of personal computers and email traffic from the 53-year old pilot and 27-year old co-pilot of the missing plane found nothing to indicate they planned the route change.
And U.S. officials have now reviewed cockpit conversations between the missing plane and air traffic controllers and say they heard nothing suspicious in those communications either.
As for the search for the plane itself, the total area now being searched stands at 2.97 million square miles - an area nearly the size of the entire continental United States.
New evidence supporting plane's altered course
Also today, the Thai military said it was receiving normal data from the missing plane until 1:22 am when it disappeared from its radar.
New evidence in Flight 370 search explains plane's path
Six minutes later, the Thai military detected another signal - possibly the missing plane - heading in the opposite direction.
The data is the second radar evidence to show the plane did indeed turn off its scheduled route.
Kyung Lah is in Kuala Lumpur where she spoke with an old friend of the missing plane's pilot - a man who also flew the very same plane that is missing.
Retired Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Nik Huzlan tells Lah he believes it wasn't pilot interference or mechanical failure - it was "some form of unlawful human interference."
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Conspiracy theories examined
CNN's has learned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called his Malaysian counterpart Monday night.
The two men not only talked about America's continued support but also transparency. Secretary Hagel pressed the Malaysian government to be forthcoming with the information they're gathering.
Meanwhile, we learned from Malaysian officials today that an initial search of the personal computers and email traffic belonging to the pilot and co-pilot found nothing to indicate the sudden deviation in the plane's route was pre-planned.
It is a slow drip of information that is spawning countless conspiracy theories about what happened to the jet.
One theory out there points to a U.S. military base on the Island Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about the theory and said he'll "rule that one out".
New theories about the missing Boeing 777 come with each passing day.
CNN's Erin Burnett fact checks each theory with Richard Quest, Jeff Wise, a private pilot, and an aviation journalist. Robert Goyer, a land and sea pilot and aviation journalist and Jim Tilmon a CNN Aviation Analyst.
Search area for Flight 370 is nearly the size of the U.S.
Where is Malaysia air flight 370?
Twelve days after the passenger jet disappeared with 239 people on board, there is still no sign of the missing plane.
The search area is nearly 3 million square miles - an almost impossible task for the 25 different countries looking for the Boeing 777.
Tom Foreman is OutFront with the latest.
Official: Someone in cockpit rerouted missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
A law enforcement official tells CNN that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's route was re-programmed by someone inside the cockpit.
New evidence in Flight 370 search explains plane's path
But U.S. officials say an initial search of the pilot and co-pilot's personal computers and e-mail founding nothing to indicate they planned to change course.
CNN's Martin Savidge is in a triple seven simulator to demonstrate how easily a Boeing 777's flight path can be rerouted while in flight.
Fmr. Flight 370 pilot: It was 'some form of unlawful human interference'
Retired Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Nik Huzlan has flown missing flight 370 and has known the Boeing 777's pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah for 30 years and tells CNN's Kyung Lah that he does not believe that it was a catastrophic mechanical failure or the pilot - that led to its disappearance.
"From the second and third day I came to my own private conclusion that there must be some form of unlawful human interference," Huzlan said.
Watch Erin Burnett OutFront at 7pm ET for more of our interview with the former Malaysian pilot.
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