Stumbled across this forum while looking for info and it seems to be one of few places on the internet right now that is attempting a serious discussion about all this so I hope no one minds my intrusion..
As regards the pilot's wife leaving him, no truly reputable sources seem to be reporting that. I've seen a few say it's been confirmed as untrue by Malaysia but have no source for that so can't be sure. However, I think we all know that if a detail like that were true it would be all over the news networks as they are desperate for new information to allow further speculation so I think it's safe to assume that is not true.
Same goes for the ridiculous article in the Mail on Sunday about the pilot being a political 'fanatic'. Here in the UK, the Mail is well known for fabricating and twisting stories to ridiculous extremes. It has a nasty habit of assuming anyone with a foreign name is a terrorist, is trying to steal our jobs or is the cause of cancer. I would seriously encourage everyone to avoid both the Mail and the Mirror like the plague.
Now, i'm not a Pilot or an aviation enthusiast so I'm going to stay well away from the technical discussion (no need to add further speculation from someone who has no idea what they're talking about - enough of that on CNN). But i'm going to throw my two cents in here on a couple of other points:
The suicide theory makes very little sense to me. While i'm aware similar has happened before, it seems to me that whoever was flying the plane was going to incredible lengths to remain undetected (lengths that would require skill, knowledge and I would imagine planning). Makes zero sense to do any of that, especially to that extent, if you are intent on killing yourself. Similarly, most suicidal folks don't want to kill another 200+ innocent people along with them. Sure, the pilot could have had a sudden breakdown but thousands of people have breakdowns every year and they don't all go on a murder spree. Yes, there are exceptions but they are incredibly rare.
As for terrorism, I can't see any logical reason to go to the expense of making a plane disappear just for that sake alone. The fact no one has officially claimed responsibility is key here, I think. The way I see it the only explanations for this would be
1) No terrorists involved
2) Plane has been hijacked and hidden to be used in another attack of some sort in the future - which seems ludicrous to me. There must be cheaper, easier and less time consuming ways to get hold of a plane - particularly when it comes to the large terrorist networks. 9/11 was about making a point. The hijacking of those planes was not purely to crash them into WTC but to make a point using an American airline with mostly American passengers. The terror is not just to make people fear this could happen but more importantly that it is them specifically that is being targeted. And even more importantly, it's about making maximum impact (really didn't wan to make that pun but cannot think of another word) by being as unexpected as possible. In the case of MH370, it would achieve little. Even if being prepared for some future attack, the world is now on alert, aware that something
could happen. Makes far more sense to implement an attack when the target is unsuspecting and will not get a chance to stop you (which, let's face it, probably could have been accomplished in this instance).
3) This was a dry run for some potential attack in the future - This seems more likely, I think. Can't see a terrorist network having any issues whatsoever with 200+ lives for a practise run.
4) The plan went wrong. This is the theory i'm leaning toward at the moment. Now this could mean either there was intent to actually attack and something went wrong OR it was a dry run that went wrong. Both scenarios would explain a lack of anyone coming forward to claim responsibility, especially if it was a dry run. When you think about it, with all this coverage any terrorist network is getting a lot of information about what works and what doesn't, what the authorities pick up and what they don't.
I guess the theory of it being an accident could still be feasible? I may not be an aviation geek but I am a Titanic geek and if that has taught me anything it's that a random sequence of extremely coincidental events can come together to make a situation previously thought unthinkable, thinkable. It's rare. But it happens.
Those are my thoughts anyway. Sorry for the ramble.