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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Mystery of Flight 370

Aired April 10, 2014 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. 8:00 p.m. here on the East Coast of the United States, 8:00 a.m. off Australia's west coast.

Breaking news in the search for Flight 370, after a string of new developments today that raised some hope and that raised some fresh questions as well, we're waiting for word from Australian officials about a possible new ping sound in the water. Now that will make five pings if it is verified and could narrow the search zone even further. Again, word on that verification anticipated any time now.

We're also hearing from Malaysian sources that it was Flight 370's captain -- there on the left -- not the first officer who uttered those final words to air traffic control. Remember that has gone back and forth, initially they said it was the copilot.

New claims as well from a senior Malaysian official and a source close to the investigation suggesting a plane descended sharply after crossing the Malay Peninsula. That and much more, happening tonight.

Let's start with our Michael Holmes at search headquarters.

So the Australian Air Force, Michael, detecting another signal close toward the other four that were heard, how did they detect it?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's fascinating, Anderson. What they are, they're called sonobuoys, or buoys. They are dropped from aircraft and they are being spread around the search area as an added tool if you like. Some electronic ears listening for anything from Malaysian Flight 370. The Orion air force plane they can carry up to 80 of these things and they've been peppering the ocean near the Ocean Shield vessel, the one that has already picked up four pings from that towed ping locator since last Saturday.

They drop a line down a thousand feet and then they listen basically. And it seems one of them got a hit, a ping within the frequency range for a data recorder. And so that has given more optimism, even more optimism to those searches. Preliminary data, though, it has to be said -- Anderson.

COOPER: And let's talk about that preliminary data. I understand the testing was done overnight to try to analyze if the signal came from Flight 370. Do we know when we'll get an update on that or what the process is? HOLMES: Well, yes, hopefully today. Yes, you're right. The plane gets the signal back from these buoys. And they have sent that data off. We're in Perth, they sent it to Adelaide actually where it's being examined. Adelaide, you know, a couple of thousand miles from here. But it is being analyzed. We're waiting to hear what that data says.

But as we said it's within the frequency range of a data recorder. And also one of the search spokesman said that it does appear to be a manmade signal. But again, always caution with these things but that would be ping number five.

COOPER: And now we're learning there's confirmation it was the captain who gave the last word from the plane. I mean, how are -- are they sure about that? Because initially they said it was the co-pilot and what leaked out as being the last words weren't in fact the last words, so how do they know it was the pilot?

HOLMES: Yes, well, now what they did was they got - it really is extraordinary, isn't it, that, you know, several weeks into this, we're still only just getting confirmation of things like this. Initially they said it was the co-pilot, they said the wording was different to how it really is. Now they've got apparently five fellow pilots together and got them to confirm, pilots who knew both the co- pilot and the pilot, they say it was the pilot, and he said that phrase that we know well, now, "Good night, Malaysian 370."

And that's pretty standard sort of language to be used when you're exiting one radar area and going into another. But again it all points to this confusion that we've getting from Malaysian authorities throughout, who said what, who did what, and when, which is all crucial information to the investigation -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. It certainly is. Michael Holmes, thanks very much. We'll continue to stay tuned there in case we do get final confirmation that in fact there was a fifth ping. Continue to monitor those efforts to analyze that latest underwater signal.

The tone, as you heard, from Australian officials, notably cautious, they've drawn praise from experts by either getting ahead of the fact nor seemimg to hold back relative information and for their consistent tone throughout this search, that is however, as Michael mentioned, the way that many are characterizing or is not the way many are characterizing Malaysian officials.

Tonight, AC360's Randi Kaye tonight is "Keeping Them Honest."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frustration with the Malaysian government started early on beginning with the flight plan.

MR. WEN, FATHER OF PASSENGER ON BOARD (Through Translator): Malaysia talked nonsense and lies, which delayed the search and rescue for eight days. We want an explanation for this. KAYE: It was the satellite company, not the Malaysian government which figured out the flight plan and provided vital information to narrow the search area.

CHRIS MCLAUGHLIN, SENIOR V.P., INMARSAT: I can say there is a strong correlation with the southern route and absolutely no correlation with the northern. It went south.

KAYE: But despite that information, Malaysian authorities kept directing some searches in the complete opposite direction, including the coast of Vietnam.

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, ACTING MALAYSIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: Until we have said that we have located MH-370 search and rescue operations will continue in both corridors.

KAYE: Those searches taxed limited resources and the clock was ticking every second on the plane's black boxes. Eventually they did abandon the search in the northern corridor and focused solely on the Southern Indian Ocean but valuable time was lost.

(On camera): Also in early March, U.S. investigators determined the plane had flown for hours after its last communication based on satellite data from systems on board. The Malaysian reaction, they denied it. But only days later the Malaysian prime minister told reporters the plane had indeed flown for about seven hours after that last communication.

(Voice-over): And what about the last words from the cockpit?

AHMAD JAUHARI YAHYA, MALAYSIA AIRLINE CEO: As far as the pilot com or the pilot communications, I understand according to the record it was about 1:19, I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1:19 where we got the last transmission from the cockpit that says all right, good night.

KAYE: Not exactly. They got that wrong, too. Admitting later on it was actually "Good night, Malaysian 370." A mistake that quite frankly is hard to fathom since they had the transcript of air traffic control's communication with the cockpit. Not only was that incorrect, but so was their original statement about who said it.

YAHYA: Initial investigation indicated it was the co-pilot who basically spoke the last time.

KAYE: Now sources tell us it was the captain. More than a month of dubious information and denials.

HUSSEIN: We have done quite an admirable job.

KAYE: And still no airplane.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Well, for transparency, the new ping, the possible altitude change, there's a lot to talk about tonight. I'm joined by aviation correspondent Richard Quest, CNN aviation analyst and private pilot Miles O'Brien, former Department of Transportation inspector general Mary Schiavo, who currently represents accident victims and their relatives.

Let's talk about this latest sound, which again has not -- we haven't gotten an official word that it is a fifth ping. But if it was, and it came from a sonobuoy, that would be -- again it would help them narrow it down?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, it will be another brick, if you like, to help build the wall that will lead you to where the plane maybe at its final resting place. Every time they get another ping that is hugely beneficial. And that's why Angus Houston, the search coordinator, had made it clear. He doesn't get any second chances, he said. He's going to keep aiming to get pings and throw everything at it until he's absolutely certain that the batteries are dead.

COOPER: It's interesting, Miles, because when we had Commander Marks from the Seventh Fleet on last night, he was estimating maybe a day or two more of listening for ping sounds before they give up on that and go -- and go under water. I wonder if they would extend that if they get a fifth ping.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: I think if they have any reasonable expectation that those batteries are still good and the pingers are still pinging, they will continue doing what they're doing. So I think we have a few more days at least of that.

You know, aviation is all about extra margin, so when a company says 30 days of battery life that battery is probably good for -- you know, at least add 20 percent, which would put it at approximately 35 or 36 days, maybe even a little bit longer. So, you know, my concern was that the pingers were activated in the first place.

As we saw with Air France 447 apparently they didn't operate at all because there was some sort of damage or problem. But once they start pinging, the batteries should be good assuming they've been maintained properly.

COOPER: You know, Mary, there's this new information from sources who tell CNN that the plane disappeared from military radar for about 120 nautical miles after it crossed back over the Malay Peninsula. That would mean -- if that's true that would mean that the plane dipped in altitudes to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet.

Do you buy that? I mean, because altitudes have been all over the place, so many different sources have been saying so many different things over the last month.

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Right, we haven't received any reliable altitude information yet. And just think about the practicality of it. They were at 35,000 feet. And then for 125 miles they're going to drop 30,000 feet of altitude and then turn around and climb back up for another 30,000 feet of altitude if they had time to do it. It's a maneuver without a purpose. Because they weren't invisible. So I think that there was just a problem picking them up on the radar, and so they surmised, they must have lost altitude.

COOPER: Richard, are you skeptical about this altitude information?

QUEST: I think there were certainly altitude differentials. I think certainly something happened to the altitude, which we don't know, which brings me to the point, we're now four weeks on. If you look at all the other big investigations, whether it's Qantas with the engine, Air France 447, British Airways at Heathrow, the 777, roughly four to five weeks after the event you get either a preliminary report or a statement of facts.

And it doesn't tell you much more other than what they factually know to be correct. And that is what we are now missing here. The Malaysian authorities now -- the investigative authorities, there really is no good reason not to say the plane took off. The plane did this. We reported this. We saw that. The altitude was this.

You're not asking anybody to draw any inferences. And they ask -- and the question, and I can hear somebody saying, but there's a criminal investigation underway. It wouldn't impact that one iota. So I think we're getting to the point where the investigation has to now provide its first preliminary report.

COOPER: Miles, you're skeptical of this radar data, aren't you?

O'BRIEN: Very much so, Anderson. You know, we keep talking about how this was a pattern of radar evasiveness. But even if they did go down to 4,000 feet there's not many pilots who would suggest that flying over water that close to the Malaysian land mass that at 4,000 feet you wouldn't be painted by radar. If you really want to avoid radar you get down to about 100 feet off the surface, and he wasn't going to do that at night.

So I don't buy that for a moment. He was at altitude over the Malaysian land mass, then he dips down to 4,000 feet. This is the Malaysians embarrassed that they have a bad radar system as far as I can see.

COOPER: You know, Richard, it's interesting, you talk about other investigations. I mean, I'm trying to think, has there been an investigation like -- or a crash like this or a missing plane like this where there has been no debris?

QUEST: No.

COOPER: I mean, that's the extraordinary thing. They're hearing pings, but no debris.

QUEST: Correct, no debris, and they're still searching and they've refined the search area 500 miles to the west to look for the debris on the forward track basis. But no debris. And I think that's the other big problem with this investigation. Because there is so much scrutiny on individual words, things frankly you wouldn't normally look at.

What the final words were, it wouldn't be as significant.

COOPER: Right.

QUEST: Who said what.

COOPER: Who said what.

COOPER: Anything about it. It wouldn't normally be significant. It would get lost in the morass of the investigation, but in this case because there is nothing there, Anderson, there is not a single fact upon which you can hang your hat yet as to what happened and why.

COOPER: All right, we've got to take a quick break, and also a quick note. We've just gotten a new map of the search area from the Australian officials. By the looks of it, it has narrowed yet again. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to analyze this more closely when we come back.

We're also going to look at what actually happens when airliners go down in the water and the kind of clues that can be found in debris, that can help investigators figure out what went wrong.

Later we'll go into the flight simulator to explore why the 777 might have descended if in fact that new radar information that a source has given is correct in the hours before the final satellite contact was lost.

Also, a very scary moment on stage for Hillary Clinton and how she narrowly avoided what could have been a serious injury. Somebody throwing something at her. We'll explain what was thrown and who it was.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: If you're just joining us, we've just gotten a new map from Australian authorities of the search area for today. It's once again smaller than yesterday, which in turn was smaller than the day before. So they are refining that search area.

We are still waiting to hear perhaps shortly the analysis of a possible new black box ping. That would be the fifth one. And that's not all. New ships including an American vessel joining the effort and trying to make sense of new reporting on the plane's flight path before it went down.

Now the hope on day 35 and from the beginning that any or all of it or some other breakthrough entirely will soon lead to tangible, physical, salvageable evidence from the aircraft itself.

Our Gary Tuchman reports from the kind of wreckage it could be found and what it would say about how the 777 went down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not a speck of wreckage has been found from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 raising the question, is it possible all the wreckage sank?

JIM TILMON, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: The chances of not having debris very, very remote.

TUCHMAN: Expert said the amount of debris on top of the water would vary based on the scenario of how it went down. For example, if it went down on a steep dive at high speeds, that's what happened to an Alaska Airlines jet that plunged into the Pacific off the coast of California in 2000 killing everyone aboard. Much of the wreckage sank, but not all of it.

SCHIAVO: The wings were torn off. Large parts of the fuselage were torn apart. And there was a very large debris field and the debris field was sparely scattered. And even weeks later parts and pieces and personal effects were still being combed from the ocean including by fisherman.

TUCHMAN: What if there was a catastrophe in the plane's last few seconds? Would it explode in the air before crashing? That's what happens with TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island in 1996 and Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

SCHIAVO: In any case of an explosion in the air, the debris field is not scattered in terms of feet or hundreds of feet. It's miles. And Lockerbie, Scotland, it was scattered over many, many miles. Some pieces found as far away as 10 or so miles at least. And in the case of TWA 800 same thing the debris field was very, very wide.

TUCHMAN: Then there's this scenario, a hijacking of an Ethiopians Airlines flight in 1996. In that case the pilots ran out of gas during the hijacking, and were forced to make an intentional landing in the Indian Ocean. Even that kind of landing would result in significant debris above the water.

TILMON: Remember water is like concrete so if you hit it hard enough, and it just destroys the airplane's integrity. And you're going to have pieces that are going to be there. And it'll open up things like compartments and sections of the airplane that have items that will float.

TUCHMAN: Indeed that sentiment is widely agreed upon by experts. Here at the accident lab at the University of Southern California's Aviation Safety Program, the director says crashes on the water will almost certainly leave floating debris. The lingering question, how far away would it float?

The best-case scenario for the Malaysia Airlines plane would be the type of landing made by U.S. Airways pilot, Captain Sully Sullenberger, on the Hudson River in New York City. But that is by far the most unlikely scenario. TILMON: Sully did an incredible job of flying, but he landed on a river. And the river is pretty relaxed, let's say, by comparison with an ocean where you've got swells of 10, 12, 16 feet. And it's pretty difficult to make that kind of a landing on water.

TUCHMAN (on camera): The search of course continues for the wreckage. The landing scenarios just mentioned, all part of the investigation.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, this was neither the Hudson nor a miracle, that much is clear. It seems like nothing else is, though, and that could soon chance.

Back with us, Mary Schiavo, who you saw in Gary's piece, also safety analyst David Soucie, author of "Why Planes Crash: An Accident Investigator's Fight for Safe Skies." Also analyst David Gallo, co- leader of the search for Air France Flight 447 and director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

I mean, David Soucie, when you look at that -- the so-called miracle on the Hudson, again, just to reiterate, completely unlikely on this kind of water in the Indian Ocean.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, you know, I thought that at first, but as I'm watching the search go on it's time -- there's times where it's fairly relatively calm out there. You do have the swells as opposed to the surface waves and that sort of thing. So, you know, I'm not ruling that out still.

COOPER: But still, I mean, the plane has not been found and no debris has been found so I mean --

SOUCIE: That's what makes me think it didn't break up.

COOPER: Right.

SOUCIE: You know? And so if you think about that --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: But it would still have -- it would still have sunk.

SOUCIE: Well, yes, it would have, of course because -- except for the fact that it was outfitted with outflow valves that you could turn on and they can close manually, but they have to be manually done. In the Sullenberger landing, those were automatically deployed so it floats. This aircraft is someone is incapacitated and unable to do it, of course they're incapacitated, I doubt they'd be able to land it that way, so it raises a lot of questions.

COOPER: Mary, is there any conceivable scenarios that investigators would look at or that you can think about that would not leave debris? SCHIAVO: Well, sure, not that it wouldn't leave debris but it would leave debris where you didn't find it. There was a crash of South African Airways in the Indian Ocean way back in '87, and the black -- one of the black boxes was found at 16,000 feet under water. They looked for debris, but they looked the wrong place, they looked east and the debris went west. And then there was one on the job, a seat actually had to give rewards to people to turn in the debris and eventually found I think it was 194 pieces. So sometimes it is there, but you just can't see it. So that could also be a scenario here.

COOPER: David Gallo, I mean, after this length of time what could still possibly be floating?

DAVID GALLO, CO-LED SEARCH FOR AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447: Well, if you can keep water from entering into the air pockets it can float still today and for a long time to come. I mean, there are some things that have been floating in the ocean for decades. You know, the same waters, Anderson, not in World War II, a major Australian war ship went down, the HMS Sidney, not a trace of the Sidney. You know it wasn't for years --

COOPER: Without a trace.

GALLO: Without a trace. And this had 600 men on board.

COOPER: Right.

GALLO: It was in the battle with the German raiders, so there was actually a battle going on off the Australian coast. And there was --

COOPER: Took them some 20 years or so to find it?

GALLO: David Mearns --

COOPER: Right.

GALLO: Blue Water recovery just found it a couple of years ago. But the only thing that was found was a single raft that showed up on Christmas Island, way to the north, thousands of miles north, many years later.

COOPER: That's incredible, an entire ship can go down, and 600 people on board, and one raft be the only thing --

GALLO: Yes, and they were looking very hard for that, the Australian Air Force was out there, combing that area. That was very fairly close to shore. But for the longest time, we wondered how do you lose a warship without a trace, without a single life preserver, without a bit of wreckage that came off that ship as it sank?

COOPER: And David, on this latest ping, we know it from a sonar buoy, are they as effective as the pinger locater? Because the sonar buoys only go down, what, a thousand feet?

GALLO: Yes, you want to get below the thermal layer of the ocean where the sunlight heats up the ocean water so it can block some motion --

COOPER: And that's what --

(CROSSTALK)

GALLO: Thousand meters -- it depends, it changes day by day, but a thousand meters and less.

COOPER: So they're pretty -- so sonar buoys are pretty effective.

GALLO: They're very quiet, there is no ship attached to them so they can just sit there. And usually in an array so there's many of them listening all at the same time.

COOPER: The fact, David Soucie, they still have divers in the water looking for debris. I mean, that seems like just a complete shot in the dark.

SOUCIE: It seems like they're just -- looking for luck. There is no reason for why they are where they are. It just doesn't make sense to me why they have divers.

COOPER: I mean, and David Gallo, you know, somebody who's diving for wreckage of a World War II planes, and not without any equipment really, just, you know, himself and a few other divers, and unless you know exactly where to look, I mean, you can be 10 feet away from it and not see it.

GALLO: Well, you can be 10 feet from Titanic without the right kind of lighting and you won't realize Titanic sitting there. It's that pitch black --

COOPER: Really?

GALLO: Positively, been there myself. So yes. Positively.

COOPER: That's incredible.

And, Mary, the U.S. Navy is now contributing a supply ship, the USS Caesar Chavez to the search. Does that tell you anything?

SCHIAVO: It does, you know, the supply ship is, you know, kind of like the Wall Drug in South Dakota, it's this big store in the middle of nowhere. Well, that's the ship and it will provide food and fuel and repairs and tools and anything they need. So it says to me they're getting ready to move in for the long haul and provide some much needed support to the ships that have been out there for weeks.

COOPER: All right, Mary, appreciate it, David Soucie and David Gallo, thank you.

Stay with us. More breaking news ahead. Martin Savidge is in the flight simulator. He's going to help us drill down on some new details about how low Flight 370 may have flown the night it vanished. We'll look at the theories that investigators are looking at. Plus a voice we have returned to again and again in this story. We're going to talk to Sarah Bajc whose partner, Philip Wood, was one of the three Americans on Flight 370. We'll see what she makes of all these latest developments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: As we reported earlier tonight in the search for Flight 370, a possible new ping. The fifth so far has been picked up by sonar buoys, we're waiting new analysis of it any minute now and confirmation. There's also new information about the flight itself.

Malaysian sources saying the pilot, not the co-pilot was the last person on the jet to speak with air traffic controllers.

Also tonight some sources telling us that Flight 370 dipped in altitude between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. I want to caution, though, there's a lot of skepticism among the panel that we've been talking to about that. So let's drill down on it right now.

Martin Savidge is in the 777 flight simulator. With flight instructor and commercial pilot Mitchell Casado. Richard Quest and Miles O'Brien also join me again.

So, Martin, this idea that the aircraft could have descended to anywhere between from 4,000 to 5,000 feet for some 120 nautical miles, what happens when a 777 is flying at that altitude?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'll point out, Anderson, that Mitchell and I are both part of that skeptic parade you're talking about. We're at 7,000 feet, we could never take you in enough time down from 35,000 feet to 4,000. And it is daylight, you might have noticed. We did it for the purpose of demonstration so you could see it a lot better. But when you take the plane down, this is the simulator, in the Strait of Malacca, testing the speed and distance.

So now, the aircraft beginning to level off. Taking us to 3,500 maybe, 4,000, this is it. We're at a speed of just over -- we're settling. But we're going to get into about 250 knots. It flies fine here. But if you're a pilot of a 777, this is a jumbo jet, what would you be feeling flying at 4,000 feet or so?

MITCHELL CASADO, PILOT TRAINER: It is such a weird altitude to be flying a big jet. Normally we're up at higher altitudes so it is very inefficient to fly.

SAVIDGE: Normally, this low if anything were to go wrong, you don't have anything to fix.

CASADO: Yes, you're minimizing the options, also flying in the soup of the day. One of the reasons we fly so high is to get above that weather, down here you're just dealing with all that.

SAVIDGE: So Anderson, it is not like the plane can't fly at this altitude. It can. It's not like it's going to be crazy or out of control or difficult. It is just a very low altitude for a very big jet.

COOPER: Would it actually avoid radar detection at that altitude? It still seems pretty high.

SAVIDGE: No, no, I mean, Mitchell, I'll ask you.

CASADO: No, no, there is no way.

SAVIDGE: It is way, way, still too high. If your goal is to avoid radar that is -- you're not doing it.

COOPER: And Richard, the other thing is, I mean, it is still too high to -- it is high enough that you would still hit radar but it is also low enough that somebody on the ground would have a better chance of seeing it.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you would certainly notice a 777 steaming along at 4,000 feet. And that would certainly be very busy waterways. And also what sort of fuel burn are you doing at 4,000 feet? Because by then, Mitchell, you must be really burning up quite a bit of gas.

CASADO: Yes, we're burning over 8,000 kilograms per hour per engine right now, which is easily double of what you would be doing at 35.

COOPER: So this notion, I mean, again -- not only earlier was there a lot of skepticism about it, but when you see it in the simulator, you certainly see. Miles, what do you think about it disappearing and then reappearing? Do you buy that?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: No, I don't buy that whole radar avoiding scenario whatsoever. If the altitude changed as much as we've heard all the way up from 45,000 feet at one point. We were talking about, we've heard 12,000, 4,000 now. If any of that is true I suppose you could build a scenario there was a struggle going on in the cockpit potentially. None of that has anything to do with radar evasion. That is a plane skimming along at 100 feet off the surface.

And pitch black conditions you would never try that. Going across Malaysia with 7,000 peaks you definitely wouldn't try that. As I said to go to 4,000 feet in that busy shipping channel and to expect you would be below radar that is pretty lousy radar if you're not picked up on radar at that altitude.

COOPER: And I guess the most important bit of information really in this hour is really the sonar ping. This idea of a fifth sonar ping that a sonobuoy picked up.

QUEST: Yes, they're analyzing it, no doubt. Michael Holmes said no doubt, of the Australian area. We haven't got number five there yet, and wouldn't have until Angus Houston confirms it. We should be hearing in the next hour or so whether they will all hold another press conference, which of course will keep us all here late.

COOPER: Speak to yourself, we'll see. Coming up, Gentlemen, the simulator, thank you guys very much. We're going to see what it is like to still be waiting for answers after all this time when someone you love was on that flight. We are going to speak with Sarah Bajc, whose partner, Philip Wood, was on the plane. We have talked to her over the last several weeks. She wants to keep attention on the people on board this plane and also keep pressuring the searchers. Keep pressuring authorities to continue being transparent and giving out as much information as possible.

Also ahead tonight, another emotional day in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. The prosecutor asked him questions on how he treated his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Also tonight breaking news from the White House, the face of Obamacare, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is stepping down, details on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: What is frustrating is the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been with all its twists and turns and false leads for family members of those on board, the wait has been beyond excruciating. Philip Wood is an IBM executive from Texas who has been working in Beijing for the past two years.

He was one of the Americans on board. Philip's partner, Sarah Bajc, joins me. Sarah, there is clearly a lot of missteps by the Malaysians in this investigation. How are you dealing with the fact that every few days it seems like something in the story changes or something in the information changes or comes to light?

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER OF MISSING PASSENGER, PHILIP WOOD: Well, like most of the other families I continue to just push by asking more questions. Sooner or later we're going to get to the truth. I mean, either we're going to find the plane, and there will be a conclusion found as to why it was taken, or why it was crashed, and so whether the continued data that we're getting is constantly changed or not we still have to keep asking for it.

COOPER: At this point, as you know obviously the searchers are hearing pings that they say are consistent with airplane black boxes, five total instances. Obviously, we have not seen a shred of debris. Do you believe the pings are coming from Flight 370?

BAJC: It is impossible to tell. I mean, from what I have read about this technology that exact same ping signal could come from other things. And it is a possibility that there was some piece of equipment submerged there that nobody is remembering or it has migrated from another location. But I have also read the data from experts that seem to believe that it is the plane. So I mean, I can't judge. I'm no expert in this.

COOPER: We have talked in the past when you have been on your Facebook page finding Philip Wood, which helps you and Philip's family and friends to keep up the energy and hope for the search. I know you have been getting answers to questions as you said you have had for sometime. What are the main questions that you still have? What do you feel is not being explored?

BAJC: Well, we still don't know why or how. And you know it is a real quandary, because on the one hand I want to be a logical and thoughtful person and say OK, I get it, the plane has crashed and we need to find the black box. The scientific inquiry says that there was probably an instant on the plane and the pilots were just able to get everybody help and then they ran out of fuel. But emotionally it is impossible to accept that because then it means there is no more hope. And you know if we run out of hope we stop asking questions and then the investigation dies. So we just have to keep asking until we find something.

COOPER: You talk about holding onto hope. Do you still have hope that Philip is alive somewhere? I know in the past when we talked about it you talked about feeling his spirit. Is that still the case?

BAJC: It is still the case. But I think I felt his spirit since I met him. And so you know, maybe what I was confusing as physical presence has always been how his soul has connected to mine. I mean, I'm prepared that that is an explanation for how I feel. But at the same time, hope is the only thing that we have. And the minute we give that up we have to fall into a grieving cycle, and we can't do that until we have evidence. I think that a lot of the authorities think we're just being irrational. But we're not, we're protecting our health and we want answers and we have to keep pressure on the government agencies to find those answers.

COOPER: And I know that is why you are continuing to speak out. And Sarah, I do appreciate you being on tonight. I wish you the best.

BAJC: Thank you very much, Anderson.

Up next, Oscar Pistorius grilled for a second day by the prosecutor known as "The Bulldog" sticking to his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR PISTORIUS: I didn't intend to shoot. I was pointed at the door because that is where I believed that somebody was. When I heard a noise -- I didn't have time to think and I fired my weapon. It was an accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Also ahead, a near miss that kept the Secret Service busy when a protester threw this at Hillary Clinton in the middle of a speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Crime and punishment tonight in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. The South African athlete was grilled for a second day by the prosecutor known as "The Bulldog." His questioning was just as aggressive as yesterday. As you know, Oscar Pistorius says he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp because he thought she was an intruder. The prosecutor flat out called the sprinter's version of events a lie. Steenkamp's parents have been watching and listening to every word of their daughter's killer testimony. Only those in the courtroom can actually see Pistorius on the stand because he's chosen not to testify in camera. Here is Robyn Curnow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRIE NEL, PROSECUTOR: Two people they were there, one doesn't. It would be two.

PISTORIUS: I don't want to argue, my lady.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A prosecutor ready for a fight. A defendant unwilling to back down.

NEL: You are not willing to concede anything.

CURNOW: And the judge pushing to keep order.

JUDGE THOKOZILE MATILDA MASIPA, HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA: You possibly think this is entertainment. It is not. So please restrain yourselves.

CURNOW: It was a wide-ranging second day of cross examination in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. One in which the prosecution touched on all charges against the Olympian. And finally revealed its narrative of what they believed happened on Valentine's morning. After a push from Defense lawyer.

NEL: I will push my case to say you got up, you had an argument, that is why she ran away screaming.

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Finally, through objection, managed to force the state to give their version of events. Pistorius and Steenkamp had a heated argument in the bedroom and as he chased her into the bathroom, she screamed in terror.

CURNOW: The prosecution's story is a stark contrast to Pistorius' version of events that he mistakenly shot Steenkamp thinking she was an intruder. Earlier, Nel read aloud takes message dispute between the Olympian and his girlfriend. Pistorius says some of her messages were untrue.

PISTORIUS: She exaggerated on some of the things she said.

CURNOW: The Olympian questioned about why Steenkamp wrote, I'm scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me.

PISTORIUS: I think she is scared about feelings, that she felt about me.

NEL: She is not scared about the argument, she is scared about what she does.

CURNOW: The prosecution skipping between events and charges in the questioning.

PHELPS: It was obviously his strategy. He was getting Pistorius' mind to jump between all the charges before he essentially went for the kill on the murder charges.

CURNOW: Questioning that once again captivated the courtroom. Reeva Steenkamp's mother revealing to a British newspaper, "I look at Oscar the whole time to see how he is coping, how he is behaving. I am obsessed with looking him. It's just instinctive. I can't explain it."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Steenkamp's mother says that he must feel my eyes boring into him. Oscar Pistorius throughout the whole of today's cross examination never once made eye contact with the state prosecutor. And of course he will be back here again on Friday. Robyn Curnow, CNN, Pretoria.

COOPER: Up next, someone throws a shoe at Hillary Clinton during a speech. Clinton's reaction when we continue.

Later breaking bread with Anthony Bourdain and talking about his new season premiering this weekend of "PARTS UNKNOWN."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Susan Hendricks is joining us with a AC360 Bulletin -- Susan.

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, Investigators in Murrysville, Pennsylvania say they still have no idea why a 16-year- old student allegedly went on a stabbing rampage in his high school armed with two kitchen knives, 21 people were wounded, including a student who said it all happened so fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT HURT, STABBED DURING RAMPAGE AT PA HIGH SCHOOL: I was walking down a hallway with a friend of mine, Gracey Evans, and then it just like all hit. She was screaming. I was just standing there. And then just everything just went -- like I didn't even know what was going on. I was just so surprised I could barely move because I got stabbed in the back and it was just -- I had to have help going to the next room. And her putting pressure on my wound to make sure, I didn't bleed out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Some good news, Brett Hurt was able to leave the hospital today.

Breaking news in Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning her cabinet post. She came under intense criticism for the botched roll out of the Obamacare web site, healthcare.gov, last fall. And a women threw her shoe at Hillary Clinton while she was making a speech today in Las Vegas, the protester was taken into custody by the Secret Service. It is not clear why the woman dropped the shoe, but Hillary Clinton joked about it saying she didn't know why solid waste was happening.

COOPER: All right, Susan, thanks very much. The new season of Anthony Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN" starts this weekend here on CNN. In the first episode, Anthony travels to Punjab, India. He and I spoke about that and about how "PARTS UNKNOWN" has inspired me to see food in another way. When we sat down at a restaurant here in Manhattan. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN": You're eating.

COOPER: I mean, honestly, your show has started to make me think about food. And about that it is more than just fuel, and that -- I don't know. I actually went to tangier because you had gone there. And I enjoyed your show on it. And I thought yes, that would be a cool place to go. So you have had a big impact on me.

BOURDAIN: Well, I've done some good in the world. We're eating well, nice choice.

COOPER: You went to Punjab, and you're eating more vegetables, you don't seem to have a history with it.

BOURDAIN: You know, India, that is a place I can eat vegetarian for a long time and happily. The food is so well prepared. It is spicy, delicious. Indian culture is very old and rich.

COOPER: You're eating honest stuff like on the street, like stalls, like going to a Sikh festival, for me, a large part of going to India is not wanting to get sick.

BOURDAIN: The hygiene may not be what you like. Yes, there is the possibility you may spend a little extra time on the thunder bucket. But yes, it won't kill you. My long experience on the road, you can eat at the hotel buffet. It is the killer, if one of my crew goes down, it is that buffet, the spaghetti bolognese.

COOPER: That is my safe food. Literally, we were are in Ukraine, and I insisted that my crew had spaghetti bolognese.

BOURDAIN: What do you think we should do after work? I feel like we should go out for some nice bolognese, and at the hotel as you put the three-day old bolognese mix at the heating table to slowly foam up, unlike the street stall where they think they will see you in the next few days. You eat that, you're slamming shut like a book on the plane coming home. You're saying I think it was a little old.

COOPER: Wow, this destroys my safe food.

BOURDAIN: You say bolognese, I say vector. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Be sure to tune in for the season premier of Anthony Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN." This Sunday at 9 p.m. here on CNN. That is it for this edition of 360. Thanks for watching. Remember set your DVR, for whenever it works for you, never miss a broadcast, a prime time edition of "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next.