I just don't understand why there is ANY way that a pilot can TURN OFF the transponder and suddenly the plane cannot be tracked on radar anymore.  That's exactly what Wolf blitz said on CNN today.  
i mean, the possibilities... hijackers... suicidal pilots... why give the 2 dudes in the cockput the ability to make a plane invisible?  And why doesn't radar work anymore?  I mean, during war, our enemies don't wear transponders lol, and we still see them on radar... this plane sure didn't look like a stealth bomber lol...
if something happened, then there were cell phone texts/calls.  I bet that is the single most important factor here.  Back in the day, the govts could just write up a safe, believable narrative and put it on the news, and 2 days later, the story is old news and we never hear about it again.  Today?   Today, you have a million ways a mystery text could appear from someone on that plane, and voila, the story crumbles.  
it's a weird time we're living in.