Here's What Congress Thinks Happened To Flight 370

In the midst of the exhaustive hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished on March 8 while carrying 239 people on an intended flight between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, China, some members of Congress have their own theories about what happened to Flight 370. And they're not shy about sharing their thoughts — from the plane being stolen by terrorists, to suspicious flight simulators, to pilot suicide.

Here are a few of our legislature's takes on what happened, and where, to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

1. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas)

Rep. McCaul made it clear during his recent appearance on Fox News Sunday that he's concerned with the missing flight's possible implications for terrorism, and McCaul wasn't afraid to invoke memories of 9/11.

If the flight ended up in Indonesia, he said, "It could be used later on as a cruise missile, as the 9/11 hijackers did. That's something we have to use our imagination in these situations." McCaul claimed in a subsequent Fox News appearance that the flight "could have landed somewhere, filled with explosives and then sent somewhere else to cause some great damage."

2. Rep. Peter King (R-New York)

The chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Rep. Peter King, has no doubt been pressed about what he thinks has happened. And despite scant evidence of where the plane went, or where it could be found, he's zeroed in on its pilots.

Right now it’s leaning toward suicide, either the pilot or co-pilot or someone else who got into the cockpit. So then the question is why did he fly over the Indian Ocean? It could be for religious reasons or professional shame, or his family is collecting on his insurance policy.

King, who has a reputation as one of the Hill's most belligerent and strident voices on issues of terrorism, doesn't suspect the plane is begin harbored somewhere as some means of plot, as McCaul suggested.

If it were terrorists, they would have crashed it into a population center, business district or military base.

3. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan)

Not everyone's speculations are as in-depth and elaborate as those of terrorism, suicide and insurance fraud. Rep. Mike Rogers has speculated about the possible pre-planning implications of a flight simulator found in the chief pilot's home, and voiced a grimly realistic assessment.

This plane still may be at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and I think a lot of folks that I talk to believe that's probably the most likely, the most probable circumstances—is that in fact it is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. But you cannot quite yet rule out everything else because we don't have the physical evidence we need to come to that conclusion.

4. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-California)

Rep. Sanchez shares at least one point of view with her aforementioned colleague from Texas, Rep. McCaul: She's pretty damn sure the flight's disappearance was deliberate, thanks to reported information regarding the disabling of its communications systems.

In short, she believes that "something was happening in that cockpit." She does not, however, share McCaul's fears of a potentially explosive-laden terrorist threat.

I think that’s pretty far-fetched. Michael has a great imagination. First of all, it’s difficult to find a landing strip and hide it. How many people would be involved to do that? As you know, a secret is hard enough to keep between two people, let alone 239 passengers and crew members, the airport people and people who thought this up. For me, it’d be too grand a conspiracy.

Hmm. Possibly, our elected officials would better serve the American public by keeping their imagination private and their facts on the table?