MALAYSIA PM: IT WAS 'DELIBERATE' ....SEIZED IN THE SKY? Missing Plane Was Hijacked, Malaysian Official Says.... U.S. Official: Key Evidence Of 'Human Intervention'... WSJ: 'Sharpened On Sabotage'... Expert Needed For Key Scenario To Play Out... CNN: Classified Analysis Shows Likely Crash Location... REPORT: Bizarre Altitude Changes While Under Pilot Control... THEORY: Steered Toward Andaman Islands...

AP  | by  EILEEN NG and JOAN LOWY Posted: 03/14/2014 11:50 pm EDT Updated: 03/15/2014 12:59 am EDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Investigators have concluded that one or more people with significant flying experience hijacked the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, switched off communication devices and steered it off-course, a Malaysian government official involved in the investigation said Saturday.

No motive has been established and no demands have been made known, and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official said that hijacking was no longer a theory. "It is conclusive," he said.

He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane's communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar.

The Boeing 777's communication with the ground was severed just under one hour into a flight March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian officials previously have said radar data suggest it may have turned back toward and crossed over the Malaysian peninsula after setting out on a northeastern path toward the Chinese capital. Earlier, an American official told The Associated Press that investigators are examining the possibility of "human intervention" in the plane's disappearance, adding it may have been "an act of piracy." more