Things just aren't adding up.
The Wall Street Journal quoted the 777 engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, as saying the engines transmit data to them while in flight, and that the two engines on this one did so for about 4 hours after the transponder was either turned off or malfunctioned. You gotta assume R-R knows what they're talking about, and I've not heard any other airlines with 777s with R-R engines disputing their claim, which they surely would.
Article also said the data R-R received is being analyzed to determine the planes flight path after the transponder turned off. So, presumably a follow-up report will be forthcoming.
Did the WSJ reporter get it wrong interviewing R-R? Possible, but by now you'd have to assume they would have come clean and admit their mistake, given the implications such an allegation implies.
Meanwhile, some Malaysian official claimed the report of 4 hours of additional flight data from the engines isn't true? Puts that ball squarely in R-R's court, and I can't imagine they'd be very happy being accused of lying about it on the international stage. And it should be simple enough for them to prove if it's true.
Let's say the engines did continue to run, meaning the plane continued to fly. Terrorism? Maybe. Or maybe not. Recall the crash landing of a US carrier in Iowa several years ago. Some sort of explosion took out all that plane's hydrolic systems, leaving the pilots without rudder or aileron controls and thus unable to steer the aircraft. The only way they could make the plane turn was by increasing power in one engine and decreasing it in the other one. And they were at least able to crashland it finally, albeit with lots of loss of life but lots of survivors too.
Could something similar have happened to flight 370? Perhaps something catastrophic happed that knocked out the transponder and radio communications and some flight controls, leaving the pilots struggling to keep it in the air and control its direction until it eventually crashed into the sea, hundreds or thousands of miles from where anyone expected it to be.
Well it's got my interest and I look forward to hearing further developments.