MH370 The authorities are unwilling to provide details of the flight path of Flight MH370 immediately after turning back from the South China Sea.

During the daily press briefing at KLIA today, the authorities were asked to confirm if radar data had shown that MH370 had passed through at least two aviation waypoints, in a zigzag pattern, before heading out to the Bay of Bengal.

Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) secretary-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman was unwilling to confirm or deny this, despite being pressed on the matter, stressing that investigators had gone beyond this stage.

"We have gone beyond that. We have satellite information which showed that the plane flew until 8.11am. We are concentrating our effort now to find the aircraft," he said.

However, one of Azharuddin's answers revealed that the poser over whether the two waypoints were passed could provide crucial clues.

"I think that is something we are going to investigate," before repeating his assertion that the focus now should be finding the plane.

At one point, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein chimed in, stating that upon finding the blackbox, questions about the flight path would be answered.

Previously, numerous media organisations, based on little information released by the authorities, had postulated that the plane could have turned back near the Igari waypoint off the coast of southern Vietnam before heading towards the Vampi and Gival waypoint along the northern point of the Straits of Malacca, and later proceeding to the Igrex waypoint in the Andaman Sea.

However, satellite information later suggested that a signal sent at 8.11am, about six hours after MH370 was caught on Malaysian military radar, showed that the aircraft could be in one of two long "corridors", very far away from Malaysia.

The "northern corridor" stretches from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, while the "southern corridor" stretches from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Other salient points from the press briefing follows:

Radar data

Some countries have provided radar data to the investigators, but the authorities are not at liberty to publicise details as there are sensitive information involved.

However, it was revealed that Australia and Indonesia had pledged to provide radar data to help the search in the southern corridor.

Southern corridor

The southern corridor - which involves vast open oceans - has been described as "more interesting and much more challenging".

French investigators experienced with the search for Air France Flight 447 are advising Malaysia on what type of equipments are needed for locating the blackbox in this area.

Flight simulators

Three flight simulators, including Microsoft's Flight Simulator 9 and Flight Simulator X , were in pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah's computer. Some files were deleted on Feb 3 and attempts to recover it are underway.

The police says that they have brought in experts to examine the computer.

Background checks

There were 15 nationalities on board Flight MH370. Background checks on the passengers have been received from the respective countries involved except Russia and Ukraine.

There was one Russian and two Ukrainians on board.

Investigations

Although there is a media spotlight on the fact that the police had recovered a flight simulator from the pilot's home, the authorities stress that there should not be any speculation out of respect for the families.

High-level team to Beijing

A "high-level" team which includes representatives from the prime minisiter's office, the DCA and military will be sent to Beijing to speak to the families of those on board Flight MH370.

The team is headed by Lieutenant General Ackbal Abdul Samad from Royal Military Air Force, and assisted Ahmad Nizar Zolfakar and a senior 777 pilot. They will travel to Beijing immediately.