Originally Posted by Lonewolf
Carjockey:
I was under the impression that Viet Nam ATC alerted someone in Malaysia ATC. (around 0130-0140 or a bit after, when their attempt to contact the aircraft they expected went for naught) What happened within the various bits of Malaysian bodies who keep track of such things remains unclear. I am not sure that the assumptions you are making are correct, but your questions are well asked.
I think that this incident may have uncovered a potential loose end in the regional ATC system. Or maybe not. This might be a situation where the regional system looks good "on paper" but in practice may need some fine tuning.
But whatever. I remember that during the major hijacking/ATC incident on 9/11 that there was a lot of confusion during the first few minutes. And those planes were within the same system, in the same country and under radar the whole time.