For relatives of Bob and Cathy Lawton

For relatives of Bob and Cathy Lawton, a missing Australian couple, the possibility of a terrifying drawn-out fate at thousands of feet reflected their
deepest fears.
“That’s one of the worst things I could have hoped for,” Bob’s brother David Lawton told News Limited newspapers.
“Even if they are alive, what did they have to put up with?”
Prime Minister Najib Razak declined to use the word hijack when he briefed the press Saturday, but said new data suggested a “deliberate action” to divert
the plane.
The Boeing 777’s communications appear to have been switched off manually before the jet veered westward and flew for hours. What happened during that time
remains a mystery. But one report of the plane fluctuating from low to high altitude fuelled fears the passengers may have been well aware they were in
terrible danger.
The New York Times said the jet had reached 45,000 feet – above its approved altitude limit – before it “descended unevenly to 23,000 feet.” It cited
Malaysian military radar signals, but the data have not been confirmed by the authorities.